🇪🇬 Egypt · Pyramid
Headless Pyramid
Old Kingdom, 5th Dynasty, ~2422 BCE (or First Intermediate 10th Dynasty) · Ancient Egyptian
Headless Pyramid (Lepsius XXIX) east of Teti at Saqqara, c.2422 BCE Menkauhor?, 52.5 m base, rubble mound.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Pyramid
Layer Pyramid
Old Kingdom, 3rd Dynasty, ~2645 BCE · Ancient Egyptian
Unfinished layer pyramid of Khaba at Zawiyet el-Aryan (c.2645 BCE), 84 m base, accretion-layer technique.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Pyramid
Mazghuna North Pyramid
Middle Kingdom, 12th–13th Dynasty, ~1800 BCE · Ancient Egyptian
Northern Mazghuna mudbrick pyramid, Dahshur south (c.1800 BCE), 52.5 m base, unfinished Sobekneferu candidate.
🇭🇳 Honduras · Ancient city
Copán
Classic 426–822 CE (dynastic Copán, peak 695–820) · Maya (southeast Petén sphere, Copán kingdom, non-Maya frontier)
Premier Classic southeastern Maya capital and sculpture capital: Acropolis with 4,500 glyph Hierarchical Stairway (longest Classic Maya text – 72 steps, 2,200 glyphs recording 14 kings), Rosalila…
🇸🇩 Sudan · Pyramid
Meroe North Cemetery Pyramid Field (Begarawiya)
Meroitic Kingdom (300 BCE–350 CE, preceded by Napatan 750–300 BCE Napatan early pyramids) · Kushite (Meroitic, post-Napatan, Egyptianised)
Northern royal necropolis of Kingdom of Kush at Meroe — Begarawiya North: 45 steep pyramids (Napatan to Meroitic 300 BCE–350 CE) of sandstone, 8–30 m base, 12–30 m high with chapel reliefs, steep 70°…
🇵🇪 Peru · Archaeological wonder
Chavín de Huántar
Early Horizon / Formative 1200–500 BCE (Old Temple 1200–900, New Temple 750–500 BCE) · Chavín (Early Horizon Andean formative tradition, culmination of Kotosh-Urabarriu)
Andean Formative mother temple (1200–500 BCE) at 3,180 m near Cordillera Blanca with U-shaped Old Temple (1000×100 m) and New Temple Plaza, Lanzón monolith (4.53 m granite anthropomorphic feline with…
🇸🇩 Sudan · Pyramid
Hillat el-Arab
New Kingdom to Third Intermediate/Napatan (1200–750 BCE) · Egyptian colonial and Kushite (Napatan)
Napatan rock-cut cemetery 3 km south Jebel Barkal (1200–750 BCE), pyramids 4–6 m base, rock tombs.
🇸🇩 Sudan · Pyramid
El-Kurru Royal Pyramid Field (Napata Ancestral)
Early Napatan (Tumulus c.890–750 BCE, Napatan pyramids 750–650 BCE) · Kushite (Early Napatan, 25th Dynasty founders, Egyptianised post-Piye)
Ancestral royal cemetery of Kush at Napata (890–650 BCE, Tumulus generation to early Napatan) with 20 pyramids (Ku. Tum. 1–6 early tumulus-pyramids 12 m, Ku.
🇸🇩 Sudan · Pyramid
Jebel Barkal Pyramid Necropolis
Napatan period (750–300 BCE, peak 700–500 BCE) temples from New Kingdom 1500 BCE · Kushite (Napatan, Amun priests of Barkal)
Pyramid field at sacred mountain Jebel Barkal (Napata capital, 750–300 BCE): ~30 pyramids 10–15 m base clustered at north, west, south groups around 98 m mesa with pinnacle.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Palenque
Late Classic 226 BCE–800 CE (apogee 615–800 CE Early–Late Classic) · Maya (B'aakal / Palenque dynasty; Western Maya lowlands)
Maya Classic capital of B'aakal on Chiapas foothills with low jungle: Temple of Inscriptions (22 m pyramid with 69-step Hieroglyphic Stair recording dynastic history and Pakal's vault; Pakal the…
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
El Tajín
Early Classic to Epiclassic 600–1200 CE (apogee 800–1150, Veracruz Central tradition) · Classic Veracruz / Totonac (Gulf Coast, central Veracruz cultural tradition)
Classic Veracruz capital (600–1200 CE) famed for Pyramid of the Niches (365 niches – one per solar day – 18 m high with 365 + 7 step symbolism, seven-storey enclave temple), 17 ballcourts (most of…
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Monte Albán
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…
🇸🇩 Sudan · Pyramid
Soleb
New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, ~1380 BCE · Ancient Egyptian (imperial Nubia) and Napatan
Largest Egyptian temple in Nubia (Amenhotep III, c.1380 BCE), 135 m long, with Napatan pyramid cemetery.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Uxmal
Late Classic to Terminal Classic 600–1000 CE (apogee 800–950, Puuc apogee 850–925) · Maya (Puuc tradition, Northern Maya lowlands)
Greatest Puuc architectural city of northern Yucatán (600–950 CE) with veneer mosaic stonework, Puuc columns, Chac masks and lattice façades: Pyramid of the Magician (Adivino, 35 m high, oval…
🇺🇸 United States · Earthwork
Monks Mound
Mississippian 900–1200 CE (peak 1050–1200) · Mississippian (Cahokia)
Largest earthen structure in the Americas north of Mexico and centerpiece of Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site.
🇸🇩 Sudan · Pyramid
El-Kurru Pyramids
Early Kushite (El-Kurru phase 860–310 BCE; Piye 747–716 BCE) · Kushite (early Napatan)
Earliest Kushite royal necropolis (860–310 BCE) with 22 pyramids for Napatan kings including Piye (Piankhi), founder of Egypt's 25th Dynasty, Taharqa, and early ancestors.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Temple complex
Saqqara – Serapeum and Step Pyramid Complex
Early Dynastic to Greco-Roman (Djoser 2670 BCE; Apis catacombs New Kingdom to Ptolemaic, 1400–30 BCE) · Egyptian Pharaonic (Memphite)
Great necropolis of Memphis: Step Pyramid of Djoser (Imhotep, 2670 BCE) – world's oldest large stone structure – plus 17 pyramids including Teti, Unas (Pyramid Texts), underground galleries, and the…
🇮🇷 Iran · Temple complex
Choqa Zanbil (Dur Untash)
Middle Elamite (c.1250–640 BCE) · Elamite
Elamite holy city built by King Untash-Napirisha (1250 BCE) to honor god Inshushinak: immense 105×105 m square ziggurat (originally 53 m high, 5 storeys) at center of three concentric walls with…