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The catalogue
1,251 places to sift through. Narrow by kind, country, period or how firmly each one is established — contested and pseudoarchaeological claims are labelled here, never hidden.
🇹🇯 Tajikistan · Fortress
Kushan–Sasanian 1st–7th c → Samanid–Timurid 10th–15th c · Kushan–Sasanian → Samanid → Timurid Pamiri (Darvaz)
Karon — Pamir mountain city-fortress (1st–15th c CE) 2000 m on Darvaz plateau, Panj gorge, excavated 2010s Bobomulloev (Tajik Academy).
🇺🇸 United States · Ancient city
Bronze Age (regional) · Bronze Age
Outer Chaco Canyon Settlement B — Chaco Canyon (55-41) at Chaco Canyon, United States is a Bronze Age (regional) ancient city of the Bronze Age tradition, built c.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Late Classic (Río Bec) · Maya (Río Bec)
Classic Río Bec city (c.500–800 CE) anchoring Xpujil town with famous Structure I — 53-m-long three-tower pyramid with three summit temples and false non-functional stair theatrics...
🇵🇪 Peru · Ancient city
Late Intermediate – Late Horizon (900–1536 CE) · Chachapoya (Levanto) → Inca (mitma gate)
Hilltop Chachapoya fortress-village (900–1470 CE, Inca-enhanced 1470–1530) 26 km SW of Chachapoyas city: D-shaped 4 ha walled enclosure 3–5 m high following limestone ridge, enclosing 40+ circular…
🇮🇹 Italy · Submerged site
Etruscan to Medieval (273 BCE colony – 1320 CE sack) · Etruscan / Roman Republican / Imperial
Etruscan-cut Tagliata channel port — 70 m rock-cut harbour canal now tidal 0–1 m, Rome earliest colony harbour.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Ancient city
Hellenistic to Byzantine (c.200 BCE–700 CE) · Cappadocian royal → Roman client kingdom
Augustan island-promontory city at Ayaş with hillside theatre, harbour islet and Achilles agora mosaics.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Late Classic–Early Postclassic (600–1200 CE) · Maya (Eastern Yucatán – Cupul province)
Late Classic–Postclassic eastern Yucatán dense town (600–1200 CE) 35 km SE of Tizimín, 6 sq km with 3 core groups (Group A palace 70×50 m, Group B temple pyramid 8 m, Group C ballcourt) of…
🇨🇳 China · Ancient city
Chalcolithic (regional) · Chalcolithic
Western Henan Necropolis South — Henan, Erlitou (54-06) at Henan, Erlitou, China is a Chalcolithic (regional) ancient city of the Chalcolithic tradition, built c.
🇧🇯 Benin · Ancient city
Medieval (12th–18th c) · Songhai / Hausa / Niger bend trade
65-ha double-rampart Niger entrepôt 12th–18th c linking Bura-Gao ceramic chain with Hausa–Songhay frontier.
🇲🇹 Malta · Ancient city
Early Historic (regional) · Early Historic
Sacred Hypogeum Platform B — Hypogeum, Paola (59-23) at Hypogeum, Paola, Malta is a Early Historic (regional) ancient city of the Early Historic tradition, built c.
🇮🇳 India · Temple complex
Saka–Gupta 1st c BCE–6th c CE · Saka–Gupta Brahmanical (Vishnu–Varaha) — Early Classical
Eran Gupta Temple Complex — ancient Airikina (Saka–Gupta 1st c BCE–510 CE) on Bina River at Sagar, famed for earliest Gupta temples and Eran boar (Varaha) inscription of Toramana (510 CE) and Alchon…
🇮🇶 Iraq · Ancient city
Early Dynastic to Old Babylonian (Isin-Larsa contemporary) · Sumerian-Akkadian Eshnunna kingdom
Akkadian-Old Babylonian city-state of Eshnunna (c.3000–1760 BCE) controlling Diyala basin between Sumer and Elam, famous for the Laws of Eshnunna (c.1930 BCE, ~60 laws predating Hammurapi by two…
🇧🇴 Bolivia · Ancient city
Late Horizon Inca Imperial (1463–1536 CE) · Inca (Tawantinsuyu – Tupac Yupanqui / Huayna Capac)
Gigantic Inca imperial town (c.1463–1530s, Tupac Yupanqui) on eastern Andean slope guarding Cochabamba–Antisuyo frontier: Kallanka great hall 78 m long × 26 m wide × 13 m high (largest roofed Inca…
🇲🇹 Malta · Ancient city
Iron Age (regional) · Iron Age
Outer Hypogeum Settlement Central — Hypogeum, Paola (59-16) at Hypogeum, Paola, Malta is a Iron Age (regional) ancient city of the Iron Age tradition, built c.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Tell
Middle Bronze to Neo-Assyrian · Hurrian → Mitanni → Assyrian
Neo-Assyrian library mound Huzirina with 600 tablets outside the gate – scholarly twin to Nineveh.
🇮🇳 India · Ancient city
Mauryan → Sunga–Satavahana 3rd c BCE–5th c CE · Sunga–Satavahana Vidisha — Early Historic Central India
Besnagar Vidisha Ancient City — capital of Dasharna janapada and Sunga Sungabhadra (3rd c BCE–5th c CE) on Betwa-Bes confluence 3 km north of Vidisha, excavated 1913–15 by Marshall–Lake and 1963–64…
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Early Classic · Maya (Northwest Yucatan)
Grided Classic metropolis (350–650 CE) on NW Yucatan desert — 79 quadrangles, 30k at 300/km² without cenote.
🇿🇼 Zimbabwe · Ancient city
Medieval (regional) · Medieval
Royal Great Zimbabwe Terrace Outer — Great Zimbabwe (57-35) at Great Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe is a Medieval (regional) ancient city of the Medieval tradition, built c.
🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village
Yayoi Early 300 BCE → Middle 100 BCE → Late 100–300 CE → Kofun transition · Yayoi (Yamato central chiefdom)
Yamato 42 ha double-moated Yayoi town (300 BCE–300 CE) at Karako–Kagi — 1.8 km moat with 107 houses and 70 Dotaku molds.
🇺🇸 United States · Earthwork
Mississippian Middle Cumberland (1000–1350 CE) · Mississippian (Mound Bottom phase)
Major Mississippian town (1000–1350 CE) on Harpeth River meander: 14 platform and burial mounds including 13-m-high Monks-Mound-scale Mound A (90×70 m base) within 10 ha palisaded plaza, plus Pack…
🇸🇾 Syria · Ancient city
Late Uruk (LC5) · Uruk colony cult centre
Uruk hill-citadel (c.3500–3300 BCE) perched 160 m above Euphrates on limestone jebel opposite Habuba — sacred twin controlling Uruk colony from above.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Formative to Classic 500 BCE–850 CE (Monte Albán I–V; apogee IIIa 250–500 CE, IIIb–IV 500–850) · Zapotec (Beni Zaa); later Mixtec reuse
Zapotec capital on artificially levelled 400 m hilltop (6 km²) commanding Oaxaca Valley confluence: Main Plaza (300×150 m), South and North Platforms, Pyramid of the Dancers (Temple I) with Danzantes…
🇪🇬 Egypt · Ancient city
Bronze Age (regional) · Bronze Age
Little Saqqara Platform A — Saqqara, Serapeum (59-27) at Saqqara, Serapeum, Egypt is a Bronze Age (regional) ancient city of the Bronze Age tradition, built c.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Pyramid
Late Classic Maya, c.550-850 CE (Río Bec, Late Classic) · Maya (Río Bec)
Río Bec Group V Structure V-N central pyramid: 20×15 m base, 18 m high with false twin towers, steep stair (55°) to ornamented temple with Chaak masks and medial moulding.
