🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut
Dazu Beishan Rock Carvings — Chongqing Northern Mountain Gallery
Late Tang to Southern Song (892 – 1178 CE) · Chinese Buddhist with Song gentry patron
Beishan 264 caves with 10k slender Song statues 892–1178 at Dazu north hill.
🇳🇬 Nigeria · Rock art
Iwo Eleru Cave
Middle Stone Age to Iron Age (92,000 BP–500 CE) · MSA/LSA forest foragers
Iwo Eleru Rock Shelter in southwest Nigeria forest is Later Stone Age to Iron Age shelter 92,000–3,000 BP with 13ka calvaria of early modern human with archaic features (Iwo Eleru skull) sparking…
🇱🇦 Laos · Temple complex
Vat Phou and Associated Settlements (Wat Phou)
Chenla to Khmer Empire 5th–12th c CE (peak 6th–12th c) · Khmer / Chenla Hindu (Shiva Lingaparvata)
Khmer linga sanctuary (5th–12th c) at foot of Phu Pasak sacred spring mountain, aligned 1.4 km axial processional causeway from Mekong baray to cliff-top shrine.
🇬🇷 Greece · Temple complex
Delos Archaeological Site
Archaeic to Hellenistic-Roman 9th c. BCE–69 BCE, sacred from Bronze Age · Greek (Ionian) to Hellenistic-Roman
Sacred island birthplace of Apollo - entire island is UNESCO open-air museum.
🇻🇳 Vietnam · Temple complex
My Son Sanctuary
Champa Kingdom 4th–13th c CE (peak 7th–12th c) · Cham Hindu (Shaiva, formerly Champa)
Champa Hindu temple valley (4th–13th c CE) with 70 red-brick Shaiva towers (kalan) along Thu Bon River, the longest continuous Hindu-Byzantine tradition in Vietnam.
🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient city
Heijō Palace (Heijō-kyō)
Nara Period 710–784 CE (with brief return 745–784) · Yamato / Nara Japanese (Ritsuryo)
Imperial palace of Heijō-kyō capital (710–784 CE) modeling Tang Chang'an, 1.2×1.6 km enclosure with Daigokuden audience hall, Suzaku Gate and Eastern Palace Garden ponds.
🇨🇳 China · Archaeological wonder
Jiayuguan Pass (First Strategic Pass Under Heaven)
Ming Dynasty 1372–1540 CE (major 1484 rebuild) · Ming Han Chinese
Ming western gateway fortress (1372–1540) on Hexi Corridor terminus of Great Wall, 33,500 m² bastioned rammed-earth and brick rectangle abutting Qilian foothills and Black Mountain gorge.
🇺🇦 Ukraine · Rock art
Kamyana Mohyla North Grotto — Melitopol North Shelter Group
Mesolithic to Medieval (9000 BCE – 1200 CE) · Azov steppe pastoral to Nogai Turkic
North end shelters with cart/chariot and Turkic tamga palimpsest.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Archaeological wonder
Komchen
Formative to Early Classic 350 BCE–600 CE · Maya (Komchen formative)
Formative slate-ware town before Dzibilchaltun, 350 BCE–600 CE.
🇬🇷 Greece · Temple complex
Delphi Sanctuary
Geometric to Hellenistic-Roman 8th c. BCE–395 CE; temple 510 BCE · Ancient Greek (pan-Hellenic)
Apollo's oracle sanctuary on Parnassus - spiritual center of ancient Greek world.
🇮🇳 India · Archaeological wonder
Rani ki Vav (Queen's Stepwell)
Solanki Chaulukya 1022–1063 CE · Gujarati / Solanki Hindu (Maru-Gurjara)
Jewel-box stepwell (1022–1063 CE) built by Queen Udayamati in memory of Bhima I, 64 m long with seven descending galleries and 500+ principal sculptures.
🇳🇬 Nigeria · Earthwork
Sungbo's Eredo (Ogun) – Yoruba's 160-km Earthwork Rampart
Late Iron Age / Yoruba (Ijebu) · Ijebu Yoruba (Oloye Bilikisu Sungbo tradition)
Largest single monument in Africa: 160 km curvilinear ditch-and-bank snaking 20 m deep through rainforest around medieval Ijebu kingdom (800–1000 CE, Darling charcoal).
🇺🇸 United States · Earthwork
Effigy Mounds National Monument
Late Woodland 500–1200 CE, effigies c.700–1100 CE · Late Woodland (Ancestral Ioway/Ho-Chunk?)
31 bear-and-bird effigy mounds marching on Mississippi bluff.
🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient village
Esan Jomon Site
Middle Jomon (3500–2500 BCE) · Middle Jomon
Middle Jomon volcanic piedmont village (3500–2500 BCE) — pit houses with Esan obsidian workshop.
🇮🇳 India · Temple complex
Konark Sun Temple
Eastern Ganga 1243–1255 CE · Odia / Kalinga Hindu (Surya)
13th-century (1243–1255 CE) Kalinga-style Sun temple built as colossal 30-m high chariot of Surya with 24 giant stone wheels (9.5 ft sundials) pulled by seven horses, originally 68 m shikhara…
🇱🇾 Libya · Ancient port
Phycus Naustathmus (Zawiyat Hamama)
Archaic Greek to Byzantine (6th c. BCE–7th c. CE) · Greek (Cyrenean) / Roman
Rock-cut shipsheds and breakwater on Phycus headland north of Cyrene.
🇮🇷 Iran · Hydraulic works
Qanat of Zarch, Yazd
Achaemenid to present ~700 BCE–present · Persian (Median/Achaemenid onward)
71 km 2,115-shaft Zarch qanat - world's longest - still feeding Yazd after 3,000 years.
🇮🇳 India · Ancient city
Dholavira
Mature Harappan 2650–2100 BCE (with Early/Late phases 3500–1800 BCE) · Indus Valley / Harappan
Harappan metropolis (2650–2100 BCE) on Khadir island in Great Rann of Kutch, the fifth largest Harappan site covering 100 ha with citadel, middle and lower towns and monumental water management.
🇮🇳 India · Temple complex
Khajuraho Group of Monuments
Chandela period 950–1050 CE · Chandela / Bundelkhand Hindu and Jain
Eighty-five (25 surviving) sandstone temples (950–1050 CE) of Chandela dynasty, celebrated for Nagara shikharas rising in clustered peaks and intricate sculptures.
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan · Temple complex
Shāh-i-Zinda Necropolis
Qarakhanid to Timurid 11th–15th century CE · Qarakhanid / Timurid Islamic
Eleven medieval mausolea (11th–15th c) lining narrow alley on Afrasiyab tell above Samarkand, enshrining Kusam ibn Abbas (cousin of Prophet) and Timurid royal women and generals.
🇬🇷 Greece · Temple complex
Malia Palace
Minoan 1900–1450 BCE · Minoan
Third Minoan palace with mysterious kernos stones for ritual offerings.
🇷🇺 Russia · Rock art
Kalbak-Tash II Yaloman Central Panel
Bronze Age to Early Medieval · Andronovo, Saka, Turkic
Central Yaloman terrace 200 m above Chuya at 723 km tract, a 40-m-wide sandstone cliff with 180 peckings of Kalgutinsky elk, Saka deer-masks and Turkic horsemen.
🇮🇳 India · Ancient city
Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park
Early Hindu 8th–11th c + Gujarat Sultanate 1484–1535 CE · Rajput / Chalukya Hindu + Gujarat Sultanate Islamic
Concentrated ensemble of 8th–16th c heritage within 1,329 ha: Chalukya hill fort and Lakulisa temples on Pavagadh (737 m cone), and Sultanate Champaner – pre-Mughal Islamic city (1484–1535) of Mahmud…
🇮🇳 India · Hydraulic works
Kallanai South Sluice — Grand Anicut Vennar Distributary Head
Chola Early historic to Medieval (100 – 1030 CE) · Tamil Chola hydraulic statecraft
South Vennar regulator of 2nd-c Chola anicut with Rajendra I inscriptions 1012 CE.