An atlas of Earth’s mysterious places — megaliths, pyramids, lost and sunken cities — with the evidence shown plainly: what is verified, what is contested, and what is still unknown.

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The library

Sources & further reading

Every claim in the atlas points somewhere. This is where those trails lead: excavation reports and journal papers, the books that defined a site, plus news, films and podcasts sent in by members and checked before they appear.

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All6,217 Websites5,427 Journal articles480 Reports189 Papers58 Articles42 Books13 Theses5 Documentaries3

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480 sources · Journal articles

Journal articledoi.org

Monte Verde: A Late Pleistocene Settlement in Chile (Vol.1 & 2)

Tom D. Dillehay · 1997 · Science

Dillehay flagship paper overturning Clovis-first

Monte Verde

From the atlas bibliography · Published 1997Open source

Journal articledoi.org

The Wari Empire in the Andes

Katharina C. Schreiber · 1992 · Scientific American

Middle Horizon imperial argument and wall city model

Wari (Huari) Archaeological Complex

From the atlas bibliography · Published 1992Open source

Journal articledoi.org

The Royal Tombs of Sipán: Evidence of Moche Religion and Social Structure

Christopher B. Donnan · 1990 · National Geographic

Preliminary academic announcement of intact find

Huaca Rajada – Sipán (Royal Tombs of Sipán)

From the atlas bibliography · Published 1990Open source

Journal articledoi.org

Olmec Basalt Source Identification

Robert F. Heizer, Howel Williams · 1965 · Science

Basalt provenance 80 km Tuxtla proof

La Venta (Tabasco)

From the atlas bibliography · Published 1965Open source

Journal articledoi.org

Pinson Mounds: Internal Chronology and Regional Affiliations

Robert C. Mainfort Jr., Mary L. Kwas · 2004 · Southeastern Archaeology

C14 dating and exotic material sourcing

Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Park

From the atlas bibliography · Published 2004Open source

Journal articleresearchgate.net

The Archaeology of Monks Mound, Cahokia

M. L. Fowler · 1997 · Illinois Archaeology

Stratigraphic and construction sequence

Monks Mound

From the atlas bibliography · Published 1997Open source

Journal articledoi.org

Chemical Analysis of Maya Blue in Bonampak

María José Yacamán · 1996 · Science

Pigment composition explaining preservation

Bonampak

From the atlas bibliography · Published 1996Open source

Journal articledoi.org

L'Anse aux Meadows and Vinland: An Abandoned Experiment

Birgitta Linderoth Wallace · 1991 · Acta Archaeologica

Parks Canada long-term director: dating, butternuts, women at site

L'Anse aux Meadows

From the atlas bibliography · Published 1991Open source

Journal articledoi.org

Historical Implications of a Pattern of Dates at Piedras Negras, Guatemala

Tatiana Proskouriakoff · 1960 · American Antiquity

Famous paper proving Maya stelae recorded dynastic history (birth-accession-death)

Piedras Negras

From the atlas bibliography · Published 1960Open source

Journal articledoi.org

Maker's marks on adobes of Huaca del Sol

Michael Moseley · 1975 · American Antiquity 40

Huaca del Sol and Huaca de la Luna

From the atlas bibliography · Published 1975Open source

Journal articledoi.org

Sedeinga: a forgotten Meroitic necropolis

Vincent Francigny et al. · 2019 · PLOS ONE

Peer-reviewed cemetery analysis 2019

Sedeinga Pyramids

From the atlas bibliography · Published 2019Open source

Journal articledoi.org

Dur-Kurigalzu revisited

Tim Clayden · 2017 · Iraq 79

Reanalysis of Kassite building techniques

Ziggurat of Dur-Kurigalzu (Aqar Quf)

From the atlas bibliography · Published 2017Open source

Journal articledoi.org

Dating the Xitle eruption

Siebe et al. · 2004 · Journal of Volcanology

Cuicuilco Circular Pyramid

From the atlas bibliography · Published 2004Open source

Journal articledoi.org

Borsippa under the Second Dynasty of Isin etc

J. A. Black · 1981 · Iraq 43

Ziggurat of Borsippa (Biris Nimrud)

From the atlas bibliography · Published 1981Open source

Journal articledoi.org

Meidum

Miroslav Verner · 2001 · The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt

Entry on Meidum evolution

Pyramid of Meidum

From the atlas bibliography · Published 2001Open source

Journal articledoi.org

The Small Step Pyramids of the Third Dynasty

Günter Dreyer, Werner Kaiser · 1980 · MDAIK 36

Corpus of seven minor pyramids

Pyramid of Seila

From the atlas bibliography · Published 1980Open source

Journal articledoi.org

The Pyramid of the Niches at El Tajín and Solar Calendar

Rex Koontz · 2009 · Ancient Mesoamerica

Calendar count validation

El Tajín

From the atlas bibliography · Published 2009Open source

Journal articledoi.org

Construction Technology at Huaca Pucllana: Anti-Seismic Adobe

Isabel Flores Espinoza · 2005 · Bulletin de l'Institut Français d'Études Andines

Why library adobes = seismic engineering

Huaca Pucllana

From the atlas bibliography · Published 2005Open source

Journal articledoi.org

The Causeways of Caracol

Arlen F. Chase, Diane Z. Chase · 2001 · Ancient Mesoamerica

Causeway network and polity territorial model

Caracol

From the atlas bibliography · Published 2001Open source

Journal articledoi.org

The Huaca del Sol: Construction and Chronology

Santiago Uceda · 2001 · Bulletin de l'IFEA

143 million bricks and labor organization

Huaca de la Luna (Moche Ceremonial Pyramid)

From the atlas bibliography · Published 2001Open source