Archaeological discoveries preserved by nature

ACTUALLY, ALL ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES WERE PRESERVED BY NATURE, BUT THESE ARE INDEED IMPRESSIVE: 5 amazing archaeological discoveries preserved by nature: From Oetzi the Iceman to frozen woolly mammoths (Michael Kuhne, AccuWeather.com). The first item on the list is the Dead Sea Scrolls:

The Dead Sea is a salt lake bordered by Jordan, Israel and the West Bank. It is fed by several tributaries including the Jordan River.

Due to its high salinity and low elevation inside a deep basin, the climate of the Dead Sea region is unique. Atmospheric humidity in the area is relatively low and nearby regions are arid, which provided a very conducive environment for the preservation of the scrolls over the course of thousands of years.

"The fact that they survived for twenty centuries, that they were found accidentally by Bedouin shepherds, that they are the largest and oldest body of manuscripts relating to the Bible and to the time of Jesus of Nazareth make them a truly remarkable archaeological find," according to the U.S. Library of Congress.

The mummies of Pompeii are also on the list. More on them and on the destruction of Pompeii here and links.