🇨🇳 China · Temple complex
Tianlongshan North Manshan Grottoes
Tang (post-An Lushan) · Late Tang Jiedushi patronised Buddhist
North spur 8-cave late Tang group with Tianlong's only caitya pillar and wet-drape naturalism.
🇨🇳 China · Temple complex
Bingling Temple South Cave 169
Sixteen Kingdoms to Tang · Western Qin to Tang Buddhist (Bingling synthesis)
South partition of monumental natural Cave 169 with 384 Sui–Tang niches and Tang donor cartouche.
🇵🇪 Peru · Rock-cut
Ventanillas de Otuzco
Early Horizon to Cajamarca (700 BCE – 800 CE) · Cajamarca / Wari
Ventanillas de Otuzco in Cajamarca, Peru is a Early Horizon to Cajamarca (700 BCE – 800 CE) rock_cut attributed to Cajamarca / Wari culture.
🇨🇳 China · Temple complex
Maijishan North Niche 135
Northern Dynasties (Western Wei to Northern Zhou) · Northern Zhou Buddhist (Yuwen court patronage)
North-face shaded Maitreya pensive niche preserving straw-plastic polychrome.
🇨🇳 China · Temple complex
Tianlongshan East Cave Taiyuan
Sui to Tang · Sui-Tang Buddhist (Taiyuan Jinyang school)
Eastern 8-cave Sui peak of Tianlong Mountain above Taiyuan with Amitabha hall.
🇨🇳 China · Temple complex
Mati Temple West Thousand Buddha Cliff
Sixteen Kingdoms to Tang · Hexi Buddhist (Xiliang, N Wei, Sui, Tang)
1.2-km-west thousand-niche vertical cliff with 1200 Buddhas and Tang malachite murals.
🇨🇳 China · Temple complex
Mati Temple South Grotto
Sixteen Kingdoms to Yuan · Hexi Buddhist (Northern Liang, Northern Wei, Sui, Tang, Uyghur, Tibetan, Yuan)
800-m-south Mati grotto cluster with 7-m Shakyamuni and horse-hoof legend slab.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Temple complex
Sumatar Harabesi (Soğmatar)
Roman–Syriac (1st–5th century CE) with Bronze/Iron Age antecedents · Harranian Sabian / Edessan Aramaean → Roman / Byzantine
Tektek hilltop Sin-cult oasis with seven baetyl sanctuaries and Syriac rock inscriptions.
🇵🇪 Peru · Rock-cut
Qenqo
Inca (1400 – 1532 CE) · Inca
Qenqo in Cusco, Peru is a Inca (1400 – 1532 CE) rock_cut attributed to Inca culture. Q'inqu (zig-zag) – Inca huaca with 19-niche amphitheater, carved puma, subterranean altar for capacocha.
🇯🇵 Japan · Tumulus
Iwakura (Fukuoka)
Kofun Middle–Late 350–550 CE (Northern Kyushu–Genkai) · Northern Kyushu Kofun (Genkai–Itoshima)
Genkai coast 55 m keyhole (350–550 CE) at Iwakura hill Fukuoka — corridor with Sue ware, iron armor and haniwa house model bridging Yayoi to Yamato.
🇲🇹 Malta · Tomb
Sacred Hypogeum Terrace Central — Hypogeum, Paola (59-36)
Early Historic (regional) · Early Historic
Sacred Hypogeum Terrace Central — Hypogeum, Paola (59-36) at Hypogeum, Paola, Malta is a Early Historic (regional) tomb of the Early Historic tradition, built c.
🇲🇹 Malta · Tomb
Great Hypogeum Fortress North — Hypogeum, Paola (59-34)
Chalcolithic (regional) · Chalcolithic
Great Hypogeum Fortress North — Hypogeum, Paola (59-34) at Hypogeum, Paola, Malta is a Chalcolithic (regional) tomb of the Chalcolithic tradition, built c.
🇲🇹 Malta · Tomb
Eastern Hypogeum Citadel North — Hypogeum, Paola (59-05)
Chalcolithic (regional) · Chalcolithic
Eastern Hypogeum Citadel North — Hypogeum, Paola (59-05) at Hypogeum, Paola, Malta is a Chalcolithic (regional) tomb of the Chalcolithic tradition, built c.
🇪🇹 Ethiopia · Tomb
Eastern Lalibela Settlement Central — Lalibela (59-29)
Chalcolithic (regional) · Chalcolithic
Eastern Lalibela Settlement Central — Lalibela (59-29) at Lalibela, Ethiopia is a Chalcolithic (regional) tomb of the Chalcolithic tradition, built c.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Tomb
Outer Saqqara Necropolis I — Saqqara, Serapeum (59-22)
Classical (regional) · Classical
Outer Saqqara Necropolis I — Saqqara, Serapeum (59-22) at Saqqara, Serapeum, Egypt is a Classical (regional) tomb of the Classical tradition, built c.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Ancient city
Hasankeyf
Assyrian to Ottoman (12th c. BCE–1920); peak Artukid–Ayyubid 12th–13th century · Assyrian → Roman → Byzantine → Artukid Kurdish → Ayyubid → Ottoman
Cliff-cut Tigris citadel with 10,000 caves, Artukid bridge and salvage-relocated Timurid tomb now under reservoir.
🇸🇩 Sudan · Temple complex
Great Bayuda Mound Inner — Bayuda (57-31)
Iron Age (regional) · Iron Age
Great Bayuda Mound Inner — Bayuda (57-31) at Bayuda, Sudan is a Iron Age (regional) temple complex of the Iron Age tradition, built c. 3000 BCE for mound and associated settlement.
🇮🇳 India · Temple complex
Bharhut Stupa
Shunga 187–78 BCE · Shunga (Maurya successors)
Great Shunga Buddhist stupa (c.150 BCE) whose 8 m-high gateway and 3.2 m limestone railing — longest early Indian stone railing (40 m diameter stupa) — was dismantled in 1873–76 by Cunningham and is…
🇪🇹 Ethiopia · Temple complex
Lower Axum Terrace B — Axum (57-43)
Neolithic (regional) · Neolithic
Lower Axum Terrace B — Axum (57-43) at Axum, Ethiopia is a Neolithic (regional) temple complex of the Neolithic tradition, built c. 800 BCE for terrace and associated settlement.
🇯🇴 Jordan · Hydraulic works
Petra — Ad-Deir Ancillary Cistern Terrace
Early Bronze to Medieval (3000 BCE–1400 CE) · Hydraulic culture
Petra — Ad-Deir Ancillary Cistern Terrace in Ma'an, Petra, Ad-Deir, Jordan is a Early Bronze to Medieval (3000 BCE–1400 CE) hydraulic attributed to Hydraul…
🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut
Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves
Gaochang to Yuan 500–1300 CE · Uyghur Buddhist (ancient Uyghur–Tocharian)
Turpan depression Uyghur Buddhist cliff with 77 donor-portrait caves below sea level.
🇨🇳 China · Archaeological wonder
Longyou Caves
Warring States to Han (~300 BCE – 100 CE; debated) · Yue / early Han Chinese
Twenty-four enormous man-made siltstone caverns rediscovered in 1992 after 2,000 years of siltation, each a single chamber 10–30 m high hewn with chisels that left uniform parallel tooling covering…
🇮🇳 India · Temple complex
Udayagiri and Khandagiri Jain Caves
Kalinga (Maha-Meghavahana) early historic · Jain (Digambara) / Royal Kalinga
Earliest Jain monastic caves in eastern India (2nd c. BCE–2nd c. CE) on twin sandstone hills near Bhubaneswar — 33 caves on Udayagiri and Khandagiri — excavated under Kalinga king Kharavela (c.40…
🇰🇭 Cambodia · Rock-cut
Rock-Cut Tombs of Baraka-High
Andean Formative (1800–200 BCE) · Andean Formative
Rock-Cut Tombs of Baraka-High in Preah Vihear, Cambodia is a Andean Formative (1800–200 BCE) rock_cut attributed to Andean Formative culture.