🇮🇳 India · Ancient city
Lothal
Mature Harappan 2450–1900 BCE · Indus Valley / Harappan
Harappan port town (2450–1900 BCE) on Sabarmati palaeochannel near Gulf of Khambhat, famed for 37×22 m brick basin interpreted as dockyard and tidal lock.
🇨🇳 China · Ancient city
Yin Xu (Ruins of Yin at Anyang)
Late Shang Dynasty c.1300–1046 BCE (Anyang period) · Shang Chinese
Late Shang capital (1300–1046 BCE) on Huan River, premier Bronze Age urban site of East Asia covering 30 km² with palatial foundations, royal tombs (Fu Hao intact 76), 150,000 oracle bones with…
🇵🇰 Pakistan · Ancient city
Taxila
Gandhara 6th c BCE–5th c CE (Achaemenid to late Kushan) · Gandharan / multi-empire (Persian, Greek, Buddhist)
Palimpsest city spanning Gandhara civilization 6th c BCE–5th c CE with three successive cities (Bhir Mound, Sirkap, Sirsukh) and Buddhist monastery complex Dharmarajika.
🇨🇳 China · Ancient city
Capital Cities and Tombs of the Ancient Koguryo Kingdom (Ji'an)
Koguryo Kingdom 37 BCE–668 CE (Five Kingdoms period) – tombs 4th–7th c · Koguryo (proto-Korean in Manchuria)
Forty tombs of Koguryo Kingdom (37 BCE–668 CE) on Yalu, including General's Tomb (400 CE) – 31 m stepped pyramid of cut granite 12 layers recalling Mesoamerican form, and murals of lotus, hunting and…
🇮🇹 Italy · Buried city
Herculaneum
Roman · Roman
Roman seaside town buried under 20 m pyroclastic flow from Vesuvius 79 CE, preserving wooden furniture, upper storeys, frescoes and unique carbonized papyri scrolls (Villa of the Papyri, now being…
🇹🇷 Turkey · Tell
Toptepe
Neolithic-Chalcolithic (c.6000-3500 BCE) · Kırklareli–Karanovo to Gumelnița-Karanovo VI
Toptepe — buried neolithic-chalcolithic tell/village at Kırklareli Province.
🇭🇳 Honduras · Ancient city
Ciudad Blanca / City of the Monkey God
Classic to Postclassic (500–1500 CE, peak 1000–1400) · Unknown Mosquitia culture (possibly Pech/Cahut) linked to Mesoamerican sphere
Recently confirmed pre-Columbian urban complex in Mosquitia rainforest, revealed 2012 LiDAR, excavated 2015 with plazas, earthworks, ballcourt, caches of jaguar effigy vessels (500+ sculptures) dated…
🇬🇷 Greece · Submerged site
Pavlopetri
Early Helladic to Late Minoan · Minoan-influenced / Mycenaean
World's oldest known submerged town (c.3500–2800 BCE, occupation to 1000 BCE), submerged by earthquakes c.1000 BCE, with intact streets, two-storey houses, tombs, garden terraces off islet; never…
🇹🇷 Turkey · Underground city
Derinkuyu Underground City
Byzantine (with Hittite/Phrygian antecedents debated) · Byzantine Cappadocian / earlier Phrygian/Hittite use
Deepest excavated underground city in Cappadocia, connected to Kaymaklı and 200+ subterranean complexes via 8 km tunnel. Rolling stone doors 500 kg, ventilation shafts, chapels, wineries.
🇮🇹 Italy · Buried city
Pompeii
Roman (foundation Oscan 6th c BCE, Roman from 80 BCE) · Roman
Roman city of 12,000 buried by Vesuvius eruption 24 August 79 CE under 4–6 m pumice and ash, preserving streets, villas, Forum, amphitheatre, baths and plaster casts of victims.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Buried city
Troy (Hisarlik)
Early Bronze Age to Byzantine (Troy I c.3000 BCE – Troy IX 85 CE–500 CE) · Anatolian / Mycenaean-associated / Greek / Roman
Mound of Hisarlik with 9 settlement layers Troy I–IX (3000 BCE–500 CE) plus Homeric epic city Troy VI/VII.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Ancient city
Ani
Bagratuni Armenian Kingdom · Armenian
Medieval Armenian capital (961–1045) at peak 100,000 inhabitants, Bagratuni palaces, Cathedral of Ani (1001), Tigran Honents church with frescoes, double city walls.
🇯🇴 Jordan · Ancient city
Petra
Nabataean to Roman (312 BCE–363 CE earthquake) · Nabataean / Arab
Nabataean caravan city (312 BCE–106 CE) carved into sandstone cliffs: Al-Khazneh Treasury, Theatre, Monastery Ad-Deir, Royal Tombs, and hydraulic system capturing desert flash floods.
🇺🇸 United States · Buried city
Cahokia Mounds
Emergent Mississippian to Stirling phase · Mississippian (Illinoian)
Largest Mississippian centre (650–1400 CE) with 120 mounds including Monks Mound (30 m, 1000x700 ft base, largest earthen platform north of Mexico).
🇲🇽 Mexico · Tell
Tepeticpac (Tlaxcala hill town)
Prehistoric · Regional Chalcolithic-EBA
Tepeticpac (Tlaxcala hill town) — buried prehistoric tell/village at Tlaxcala State.
🇵🇰 Pakistan · Ancient city
Mohenjo-daro
Mature Harappan (2600–1900 BCE) · Indus Valley / Harappan
Largest city of Indus Valley Civilization (2500–1900 BCE) with grid plan, Great Bath (12x7 m citadel tank), granary, brick drains and standardized weights; script undeciphered. Abandoned c.1900 BCE.
🇬🇷 Greece · Buried city
Akrotiri (Thera)
Middle to Late Minoan (LM IA) · Cycladic / Minoan
Minoan Cycladic town buried under pumice by Theran eruption c.1620–1530 BCE (S: 1600 BCE), preserving 3-storey buildings, drainage, vivid frescoes (Spring, Ship Procession) comparable to Pompeii.
🇿🇼 Zimbabwe · Ancient city
Great Zimbabwe
Iron Age (Zimbabwe Period: Great Zimbabwe 1100–1450 CE) · Ancestral Shona (Karanga)
Capital of Kingdom of Zimbabwe (11th–15th c) with dry-stone walls up to 11 m (Great Enclosure) without mortar, Hill Complex and Valley Enclosures controlling Indian Ocean gold trade.
🇵🇰 Pakistan · Ancient city
Harappa
Harappan (3300–1300 BCE; mature 2600–1900) · Indus Valley
Type-site of Harappan civilization, walled city on Ravi with citadel, granaries, bead workshops and early example of town planning succeeding pre-Harappan Ravi phase.