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The catalogue
2,183 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.
🇮🇹 Italy · Archaeological wonder
Classical Antiquity (800 BCE–500 CE) · Medieval
Olous Submerged City Blocks South in Pozzuoli Bay, Italy is a Classical Antiquity (800 BCE–500 CE) archaeological wonder attributed to Medieval culture.
🇨🇱 Chile · Ancient city
Moche (100–800 CE) · Moche
Shallow Ancient City in Coquimbo, Chile is a Moche (100–800 CE) ancient city attributed to Moche culture.
🇦🇫 Afghanistan · Ancient city
Hellenistic Seleucid–Graeco-Bactrian (300–145 BCE) · Seleucid–Graeco-Bactrian (Euthydemus)
Ai Khanoum — Hellenistic Lower Agora Extension in Takhar Province, Afghanistan is a Hellenistic Seleucid–Graeco-Bactrian (300–145 BCE) ancient-city attributed to Seleucid–Graeco-Bactrian (Euthydemus).
🇯🇴 Jordan · Tell
Iron to Nabataean (c.900 BCE–200 CE; peak Moab 900–600, Nabataean 100 BCE–100 CE) · Moabite → Nabataean → Roman
Lehun (Khirbat al-Lehun) is a Moabite hilltop fortress-citadel (1 ha) with casemate wall, extramural Iron II town (3 ha) and Nabataean temple platform on the Ke...
🇯🇴 Jordan · Ancient city
Late Roman/Byzantine to Umayyad · Roman/Byzantine → Umayyad Arab
Black basalt desert castle (qasr) on the shores of seasonal Burqu Lake and Roman strata — possibly Byzantine Valentinian outpost incorporated into Umayyad qusur (~700 CE) — isolated in Harra basalt…
🇦🇫 Afghanistan · Ancient city
Mature Harappan (c.2500–1800 BCE) · Harappan colony (Indus diaspora on Oxus)
Northernmost Harappan colony on Oxus (Darqad) — lapis procurement hub 250 km from Badakhshan mines.
🇮🇶 Iraq · Tell
Early Dynastic to Old Babylonian (c.3500–1750 BCE; peak Umma 2600–2004 BCE) · Sumerian (Umma) → Akkadian → Ur III → Isin-Larsa
Tell Jokha is ancient Umma, fierce rival of Lagash (Girsu) in Early Dynastic border wars — Stele of Vultures (Eannatum c.2450 BCE) and the Umma–Lagash Gu'edena...
🇮🇳 India · Ancient city
Early to Late Harappan (c.3000–1700 BCE, five phases) · Harappan (Sindhi–Kachchhi)
Harappan island fort Bakarkot in eastern Kachchh — five-phase Harappan–medieval citadel.
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan · Ancient city
Hellenistic Greco-Bactrian (c.3rd–2nd cent BCE) · Greco-Bactrian
Greco-Bactrian hilltop watch-post visually linked to Uzundara — frontier limes above Kugitang valley.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Tell
Hittite Empire (c.1600–1200 BCE; peak Sapinuwa 1500–1200 BCE as second capital) · Hittite (Old → Empire)
Sapinuwa (Ortaköy, Çorum) is the Hittite Empire's second capital and military–religious administration — Building A with 3000+ Hittite cuneiform tablets (larges...
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Epiclassic–Postclassic 900–1521 CE · Matlatzinca (Otomanguean)
Volcano-plug fortified Matlatzinca capital with 2 km perimeter wall, jaguar relief and Aztec barracks 1474.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Tell
Chalcolithic to Byzantine (4000 BCE–1200 CE; peak EBA–Phrygian) · EBA → Hittite → Phrygian → Lydian → Byzantine
Central Anatolian plateau capital lower town — Hittite karum to Phrygian burn.
🇯🇴 Jordan · Hydraulic works
Roman Hadrianic (129 – 130 CE) with Byzantine reuse · Roman Gerasene Gerasa Decapolis under Hadrian
9 km Hadrianic Ceys Channel 130 CE to Gerasa reservoir above Cardo at 610 m.
🇹🇳 Tunisia · Ancient city
Numidian to Byzantine (2nd c. BCE–7th c. CE) · Numidian / Roman / Byzantine
High-plateau Jugurthine citadel (1,017 m) with Byzantine pentagon fort.
🇬🇷 Greece · Archaeological wonder
Iron Age (1200 BCE–500 CE) · Classical
Dwarka Gomati Submerged Wall East in Pavlopetri Coast, Greece is a Iron Age (1200 BCE–500 CE) archaeological wonder attributed to Classical culture.
🇹🇭 Thailand · Temple complex
Khmer Bayon (late 12th–early 13th century CE, Jayavarman VII) · Khmer (westernmost Khmer outpost)
Westernmost Khmer laterite sanctuary (late 12th cent, Jayavarman VII) — 'City of Lions' on Khwae Noi 43 km west of Kanchanaburi.
🇪🇨 Ecuador · Ancient city
Integration (800–1532 CE) · Manteño (Manta) culture
San Isidro — Muisne? Actually Cerro Jaboncillo — Manteño City in Manabí Province, Ecuador is a Integration (800–1532 CE) ancient-city attributed to Manteño (Manta) culture.
🇩🇿 Algeria · Ancient city
Roman (Augustan to Byzantine, 27 BCE–7th c. CE) · Mauretanian / Roman
Sulphur spa city with 8-pool bath complex and mansio hotel.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Temple complex
Archaic to Roman (700 BCE – 400 CE) · Karian–Ionian Iasians with Athenian attachment
Harbour hill temple atop agora overlooking double harbours and garum vats.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Temple complex
Hekatomnid to Roman (351 BCE – 300 CE) · Hekatomnid Karian to Roman Mylasa
Mountain Zeus sanctuary 680 m with Maussollian androns on sacred way from Milas.
🇺🇸 United States · Ancient city
Iron Age (1200 BCE–500 CE) · Local Neolithic
Machu Picchu Outlier Terrace in Colorado Plateau, United States is a Iron Age (1200 BCE–500 CE) ancient city attributed to Local Neolithic culture.
🇮🇱 Israel · Ancient city
Nabataean–Byzantine (100 BCE–636 CE) papyri archive · Nabataean then Byzantine (Nessana)
Nessana — Byzantine Church Annex Papyri in Southern District, Israel is a Nabataean–Byzantine (100 BCE–636 CE) papyri archive ancient-city attributed to Nabataean then Byzantine (Nessana).
🇲🇦 Morocco · Ancient city
Mauretanian to Late Roman (2nd c BCE–5th c CE; peak 1st–3rd c CE) · Mauri / Phoenician / Roman
Moorish–Roman Tamuda at Tetouan with Punic fort and garum factories destroyed AD 40.
🇦🇫 Afghanistan · Ancient city
Chalcolithic to Bronze Age (c.4000–2000 BCE, Helmand Culture) · Helmand / Mundigak–Shahr-i Sokhta
Helmand Culture capital 55 km NW of Kandahar — 75×32 m Bronze Age palace with 10 m sequence.
