🇨🇳 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.
🇮🇳 India · Temple complex
Deorkothar Katra Stupa Complex
Mauryan Ashoka 3rd c BCE → Sunga 1st c BCE–2nd c CE · Mauryan–Sunga Buddhist (Ashokan–Sunga complex)
Deorkothar Katra Stupa Complex — Ashokan–Sunga Buddhist establishment (3rd c BCE possible Ashoka, 1st c BCE inscribed pillar) with 4 stupas, 30.5-m brick stupa-1 with stone vedika rail similar to…
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Tamtoc (Tamuín) – Huastec Metropolis
Preclassic to Postclassic Huastec (600 BCE–1520 CE, Florescent 600–900) · Huastec (Tenek – Maya linguistic isolate)
Great Huastec city (600 BCE–1520 CE, peak 600–900 CE) on Tampaón River bend covering 50 sq ha with 70 mounds, artificial lagoons and plazas: 21×40 mound group, Stepped Pyramid of the Moon, Temple of…
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Acanceh (Acancéh) Maya Palace City
Late Preclassic – Postclassic (300 BCE–1500 CE, mask palace 300–500 CE) · Maya (Northwestern Yucatán – Acanceh)
Maya town in central-north Yucatán occupied continuously 300–1500 CE with unique layered architecture: Early Classic steep step-pyramid buried under Palace of the Stuccos (1st c.
🇦🇫 Afghanistan · Temple complex
Hadda
Indo-Greek 2 c. BCE → Kushan 1–4 c. → Hepthalite 5–6 c. → Turk Shahis 7–8 c. · Gandharan Greco-Buddhist (Hadda stucco school)
Greco-Buddhist plain city (2 c. BCE–8 c. CE) at Hadda south of Jalalabad — 20 stupas with bearded stucco Buddhas and Bimaran gold casket.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Cacaxtla
Epiclassic (650 – 900 CE) · Olmeca-Xicalanca
Cacaxtla in Tlaxcala, Mexico is a Epiclassic (650 – 900 CE) ancient city attributed to Olmeca-Xicalanca culture.
🇵🇪 Peru · Pyramid
Huaca del Sol Grand Pyramid — Moche
Early Intermediate, c.400-600 CE (Moche / Mochica) · Andean (Moche)
Huaca del Sol at Moche (Huacas de Moche archaeological complex) 5 km south Trujillo: enormous adobe pyramid 340×136 m base, 41 m high, built with 140 million adobes each marked by labor gang (ayllu)…
🇻🇳 Vietnam · Ancient city
Go Thap (Óc Eo–Funan)
Óc Eo 100 BCE–300 CE → Funan 200–600 CE → Chenla 600–800 CE → Khmer influence 800–1200 · Óc Eo–Funan (pre–Angkorian Mekong hydraulic with Indianization)
Mekong Delta Óc Eo–Funan secondary city (100 BCE–600 CE) at Go Thap Tháp Mười — 400 ha with Vishnu Garuda and 20 km canal to Oc Eo.
🇯🇵 Japan · Temple complex
Hiraizumi (Chūson-ji)
Heian–Kamakura 1087–1189 CE (Fujiwara Ōshu) · Northern Fujiwara (Ōshu) — Frontier Pure Land Buddhist
Hiraizumi — northern Fujiwara capital (1087–1189 CE) 35 km south Morioka, Iwate Hiraizumi, excavated 1950s–2010s.
🇵🇪 Peru · Temple complex
Hualcayán
Formative to Early Intermediate (Chavín–Recuay) · Chavín–Recuay (Pashash)
Valley-head platform complex (1000 BCE–600 CE) at foot of Cordillera Blanca east of Huaylas, on Hualcayán fan at 3180 m with terraced Chavínoid temple overlain by Recuay galleries,...
🇬🇹 Guatemala · Ancient city
Piedras Negras
Late Classic 400–830 CE (peak 608–808 CE, Dynasty of Piedras Negras 7 lords) · Maya (Yo’k’ib / Piedras Negras kingdom, western Petén)
Largest Classic Maya city on Guatemala's Usumacinta north bank (1,000+ structures, pyramid temples 20 m high) famous for epigraphy: Tatiana Proskouriakoff here invented phonetic Maya glyph…
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan · Temple complex
Balalyk Tepe
Hepthalite 5th–7th c CE (Tokharistan Hepthalite) · Hepthalite Bactria (White Huns Tokharistan)
Balalyk Tepe — Hephthalite wall-painting palace (6th c CE) 30 km north Termez, excavated 1950s Stavisky.
🇵🇪 Peru · Pyramid
Ushnu of Vilcashuamán
Late Horizon Inca Imperial (1440–1532 CE, ushnu 1450–1480) · Inca (Pachacuti / Topa Inca – Vilcas province)
Imperial Inca stepped pyramid-ushnu (1450–1530, Pachacuti foundation) at center of Inca provincial capital Vilcashuamán (Vilcas, 22 sq km Inca city, 700+ buildings): Ushnu 30×30 m base 12 m high…
🇱🇧 Lebanon · Temple complex
Tyre — Al-Mina Temple North Precinct (Phoenician)
Bronze Age to Classical (2000 BCE–500 CE) · Multi-period temple culture
Tyre — Al-Mina Temple North Precinct (Phoenician) in South, Tyre, Al-Mina, Lebanon is a Bronze Age to Classical (2000 BCE–500 CE) temple complex attributed…
🇬🇷 Greece · Temple complex
Epidaurus — Artemis Temple North Cult Statue Base (Argolis)
Bronze Age to Classical (2000 BCE–500 CE) · Multi-period temple culture
Epidaurus — Artemis Temple North Cult Statue Base (Argolis) in Peloponnese, Argolis, Epidaurus, Greece is a Bronze Age to Classical (2000 BCE–500 CE) templ…
🇰🇭 Cambodia · Temple complex
Banteay Srei — East Pediment Detail (Siem Reap, Angkor)
Bronze Age to Classical (2000 BCE–500 CE) · Multi-period temple culture
Banteay Srei — East Pediment Detail (Siem Reap, Angkor) in Siem Reap, Banteay Srei, Cambodia is a Bronze Age to Classical (2000 BCE–500 CE) temple complex …
🇮🇳 India · Temple complex
Mahabalipuram — Shore Temple Ancillary Lion Mandapa
Bronze Age to Classical (2000 BCE–500 CE) · Multi-period temple culture
Mahabalipuram — Shore Temple Ancillary Lion Mandapa in Tamil Nadu, Chengalpattu, Mahabalipuram, India is a Bronze Age to Classical (2000 BCE–500 CE) temple…
🇲🇽 Mexico · Temple complex
Chichén Itzá — Caracol Ancillary Platform North
Bronze Age to Classical (2000 BCE–500 CE) · Multi-period temple culture; Maya
Chichén Itzá — Caracol Ancillary Platform North in Yucatán, Chichén Itzá, Caracol, Mexico is a Bronze Age to Classical (2000 BCE–500 CE) temple complex att…
🇬🇷 Greece · Temple complex
Nemea — Zeus Temple North Crypt
Bronze Age to Classical (2000 BCE–500 CE) · Multi-period temple culture
Nemea — Zeus Temple North Crypt in Peloponnese, Corinthia, Nemea, Greece is a Bronze Age to Classical (2000 BCE–500 CE) temple complex attributed to Multi-…
🇵🇪 Peru · Archaeological wonder
Chankillo — Second Thirteen Towers Sector
Early Horizon–Early Intermediate Casma Sechín 250–200 BCE · Casma/Sechín (Punkurí tradition)
Second Thirteen Towers line 400 m east of famous solar observatory, with observing building and bastions.
🇮🇳 India · Temple complex
Salihundam — Srikakulam Buddhist Site
Early Historic (3rd c. BCE–4th CE) · Satavahana-Ikshvaku
Salihundam — Srikakulam Buddhist Site in Andhra Pradesh, Srikakulam, India is a Early Historic (3rd c. BCE–4th CE) temple complex attributed to Satavahana-Ikshvaku culture.
🇺🇸 United States · Temple complex
Sanctuary of Wold-Ditch
Early Bronze Age (3300–2100 BCE) · Early Bronze Age
Sanctuary of Wold-Ditch in Ohio, United States is a Early Bronze Age (3300–2100 BCE) temple complex attributed to Early Bronze Age culture.
🇮🇳 India · Temple complex
Thotlakonda — Visakhapatnam Monastery
Early Historic (3rd c. BCE–3rd CE) · Satavahana
Thotlakonda — Visakhapatnam Monastery in Andhra Pradesh, Visakhapatnam, India is a Early Historic (3rd c. BCE–3rd CE) temple complex attributed to Satavahana culture.
🇮🇹 Italy · Megalith
Monte d'Accoddi
Late Neolithic – Early Bronze Age, Ozieri/Abealzu-Filigosa (~4000–2700 BCE) · Ozieri (Late Neolithic Sardinian)
Mysterious 36-by-29-m truncated step pyramid of limestone fill on the Sardinian plain, accessed via a 42-m ramp to a summit altar where sacrifice deposits and a sandstone menhir were found.