🇨🇳 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.
🇵🇪 Peru · Temple complex
Huaytará Inca Temple (Huaytara)
Late Horizon Inca Imperial (c.1440–1532 CE) · Inca (Pachacuti – Huanca integration)
Intact Inca palace-temple (1450–1530, Inca Pachacuti–Topa period) uniquely fused with Spanish church San Juan Bautista (1570s): walls 3 m thick coursed imperial Inca ashlar with 28 trapezoidal niches…
🇪🇬 Egypt · Temple complex
Kom Ombo Temple
Ptolemaic to Roman (2nd c BCE–1st c CE) · Ptolemaic Egyptian / Roman
Symmetrical double temple on Nile bluff dedicated jointly to Haroeris (falcon) and Sobek (crocodile) with duplicate courts and surgical relief.
🇲🇽 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…
🇹🇷 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.
🇭🇳 Honduras · Pyramid
Copán — Temple 16 Pyramid and Hieroglyphic Stairway (Copán Department, Honduras)
Classic Maya (250–900 CE) · Maya (Copán dynasty, Yax Kuk Mo lineage)
Defining Classic Maya southeastern capital (250–900 CE) 12 km from Guatemala border, population 27,000.
🇬🇹 Guatemala · Pyramid
Topoxté Island Pyramids
Maya Postclassic (Ko'woj) · Maya Ko'woj (Itza-Ko'woj frontier)
Lake-island Postclassic capital Topoxté (1200–1450 CE) in Lake Yaxhá: 14.7 m Temple C flat-roofed pyramid with central Mexican Postclassic traits on fortified islet.
🇬🇹 Guatemala · Pyramid
El Zotz — El Diablo Pyramid and Royal Acropolis (Petén, Guatemala)
Preclassic to Late Classic (300 BCE–750 CE) · Maya (Petén lowland, Tikal adversary)
Steep ridge-top Early Classic royal acropolis (c.300 BCE–750 CE, zenith 350–550 CE) 7 km west of Tikal's enemy El Zotz main group, dominated by 30 m high Diablo Pyramid (terraced platform with summit…
🇵🇪 Peru · Pyramid
Sechin Alto Principal Platform
Initial Period (Casma/Sechin, 1800–900 BCE, peak 1500 BCE) · Casma–Sechin culture (Initial Period, Casma Valley)
Largest Formative Period platform in Americas (1800–900 BCE, Initial Period peak 1500 BCE): principal mound 300×250 m base, 44 m high with two lateral broad platforms forming U around plaza 300×250 m…
🇻🇳 Vietnam · Temple complex
Canh Tien
Sa Huynh Iron Age 500 BCE–200 CE → Champa Vijaya 1100–1500 CE · Sa Huynh → Champa (Austronesian Vijaya)
Vijaya Champa double-tower 12th c at Binh Dinh north of Qui Nhon — Binh Dinh style with Sa Huynh jar burials beneath.
🇧🇿 Belize · Pyramid
Altun Ha — Temple of the Masonry Altars (Belize)
Preclassic to Postclassic (400 BCE–1000 CE) · Maya (Belize coastal lowland)
Quintessential Classic Maya trade capital (400 BCE–900 CE) on Belize coastal plain 50 km north of Belize City, built on 6 m artificial elevation.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Dzibilchaltún
500 BCE–1542 CE (Preclassic through Postclassic to Contact; apogee CIassical 600–950) · Maya (northwestern Yucatán, Dzibilchaltún polity)
Northern Maya lowland megasite spanning 17 km² (largest in Yucatán by area, 8,400 structures, 1,300 vaulted buildings) occupied extraordinarily from Middle Preclassic 500 BCE to Conquest ~1542 CE…
🇸🇩 Sudan · Pyramid
Sesebi
New Kingdom, 18th–19th Dynasty, ~1345 BCE · Ancient Egyptian (Amarna and Ramesside)
Akhenaten fortified temple-town on Nile west bank (c.1345 BCE), 200×100 m fortress with Aten temple.
🇵🇪 Peru · Pyramid
Huaca La Florida — Rímac Valley U-Temple
Initial Period, c.1800-1000 BCE (Preceramic U-temple) · Andean (Initial Period, Rímac–Chillón tradition)
Huaca La Florida in Collique hills north Lima: U-shaped pyramidal temple 350 m long, 40 m deep platform, 15 m high, with central court and lateral wings forming U open to east.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Pyramid
Yaxchilán — Structure 33 Pyramid and Great Plaza (Chiapas, Mexico)
Late Classic Maya (600–900 CE) · Maya (Usumacinta)
Spectacular Classic Maya riverine city-state on Usumacinta south bank (350–800 CE), rival of Piedras Negras, known for lintel carvings of bloodletting.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Temple complex
Harbetsuvan Tepesi
Pre-Pottery Neolithic A–B · Taş Tepeler PPN
Tektek summit acropolis with round terrazzo building and T-pillars, 7 km from Karahan Tepe.
🇵🇪 Peru · Pyramid
Garagay Polychrome Pyramid — Lima
Formative, c.1400-500 BCE (Early Horizon, Cupisnique–Chavín) · Andean (Cupisnique / Chavín)
Garagay in San Martín de Porres district, Lima: three-platform U-temple (central pyramid 28 m high, 100×80 m) with sunken circular court, atrium with polychrome painted reliefs (3.
🇵🇪 Peru · Pyramid
Huaca La Centinela — Chincha Pyramid Complex (Ica Region, Peru)
Late Intermediate to Late Horizon (1200–1476 CE, Inca 1476–1532) · Chincha (Ica regional) / Inca occupied
Flagship adobe pyramid complex of the maritime Chincha Kingdom (1200–1476 CE), sole coastal polity to sustain independent kingdom beside Chan Chan at Inca conquest (recorded by Inca Garcilaso).
🇵🇪 Peru · Pyramid
Marcahuamachuco — Castillo Pyramid Fortress (La Libertad Highlands, Peru)
Early Intermediate to Middle Horizon (350–800 CE) · Huamachuco culture (Highland, Wari contemporary)
Vast 240-ha hilltop capital of Huamachuco culture (350–800 CE) eclipsing Wari north, built on 3595 m mesa dominating Carabamba plateau.
🇵🇪 Peru · Temple complex
Garagay
Initial Period–Early Horizon (Chavín predecessor) · Manchoïd–Chavín (Garagay tradition)
Formative U-temple (1400–600 BCE) in Lima urban sprawl on hill above Chillón Valley, with U-shaped adobe mound 30 m, central court frontal stair, facing wings 150 m, and recently u...
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Oxkintok Archaeological Zone
Early Preclassic–Postclassic Puuc (300 BCE–1500 CE, zenith 475–750) · Maya (Early Puuc – northwestern border)
Strategic Puuc border capital (300 BCE–1500 CE, florescent 475–750 Classic Early Puuc) northwest tip of Puuc, controlling Mérida–Uxmal–Calakmul corridor: 3 major groups (Ah Canul, May, Dzib) over 50…
🇮🇳 India · Temple complex
Eran Gupta Temple Complex
Saka–Gupta 1st c BCE–6th c CE · Saka–Gupta Brahmanical (Vishnu–Varaha) — Early Classical
Eran Gupta Temple Complex — ancient Airikina (Saka–Gupta 1st c BCE–510 CE) on Bina River at Sagar, famed for earliest Gupta temples and Eran boar (Varaha) inscription of Toramana (510 CE) and Alchon…
🇵🇪 Peru · Pyramid
Huaca Pucllana Pyramid — Lima Adobe
Middle Horizon, c.500-700 CE (Lima to Wari, Middle Horizon) · Andean (Lima / Wari)
Huaca Pucllana (Huaca Juliana) in Miraflores, Lima: stepped pyramid 22 m high, 7 platforms made of vertical adobe books (librero technique) — adobitos stacked vertically for seismic resistance.
🇰🇭 Cambodia · Temple complex
Preah Vihear — Ancillary Gopura North (Dangrek)
Bronze Age to Classical (2000 BCE–500 CE) · Multi-period temple culture
Preah Vihear — Ancillary Gopura North (Dangrek) in Preah Vihear, Dangrek, Preah Vihear, Cambodia is a Bronze Age to Classical (2000 BCE–500 CE) temple comp…