🇮🇹 Italy · Temple complex
Selinunte Archaeological Park
Archaeic-Classical 651–409 BCE · Greek (Megaran colonists)
Largest Greek archaeological park with colossal unfinished Temple G.
🇳🇦 Namibia · Rock art
Brandberg White Lady Rock Art
Microlithic to 2,000 BCE (c.6000–2000 BCE painting) · San (Bushman) hunter-gatherer
Brandberg (Daureb) Massif – Namibia's granite massif with 1,000+ shelters; White Lady shelter (Maack Shelter) polychrome painting (c.2000 BCE) of white lady with bow, oryx, tasselled figures.
🇮🇳 India · Temple complex
Brihadeeswarar Temple, Thanjavur
Chola 1003–1010 CE · Hindu (Shaiva, Tamil Chola)
Chola granite imperial vimana 66 m still tallest pre-modern; capstone ramp mystery.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Pyramid
Pyramid of Neferirkare
Old Kingdom, 5th Dynasty mid · Ancient Egyptian
Largest 5th Dynasty pyramid at Abusir for third king Neferirkare Kakai (originally 72 m high, 105 m base, angle 54°), built as step pyramid then converted to true pyramid but left unfinished at…
🇨🇳 China · Rock art
Kangjiashimenzi Rock Art - Tianshan Corridor
Bronze Age c.1500–1000 BCE · Eurasian Steppe (Andronovo-Cherkaskul?)
Kangjiashimenzi – Bronze Age (c.1500–1000 BCE) 120m-long reddish sandstone cliff with 300+ dancing ithyphallic figures linked to shamanic fertility ritual.
🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut
Longmen Binyang Central Cave — Mt Long Gate Middle Grotto Sanctuary
Northern Wei to Tang (493 – 750 CE) · Buddhist imperial Luoyang under Empress Dowager Hu
Central Binyang 11 m Buddha of Northern Wei Emperor Xuanwu at Yi Gorge.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Ancient city
Alalakh (Tell Atchana)
Middle to Late Bronze Age (c.2000–1200 BCE; Level VII palace 1650–1600 BCE) · Amorite / Yamhad / Hittite / Mitanni
Bronze Age capital of Mukish kingdom in Amuq plain, Alalakh yielded Levels VII–0 (Middle–Late Bronze) with cuneiform archives of King Idrimi's inscription (statue autobiography), Yarim-Lim palace,…
🇿🇦 South Africa · Rock art
Drakensberg Main Caves Rock Art
Late Stone Age 3000 BCE–19th c. CE · San (Bushman) hunter-gatherer
uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Main Caves – 500+ San (Bushman) paintings in sandstone Game Pass Shelter: 35,000+ individual images (polychrome eland, therianthropes, Rosetta Panel).
🇨🇳 China · Rock art
Helan Mountain Rock Art
Paleolithic to Western Xia (10,000 BCE–1000 CE) · North Chinese / Nomadic (Xiongnu, Xianbei, Tangut)
Helan (Helanshan) Rock Art – 20,000+ petroglyphs on Helan Mountain range (Ningxia-Inner Mongolia) from Paleolithic to Western Xia (10 ka BCE–1200 CE).
🇹🇷 Turkey · Tell
Coba Höyük (Sakçagözü)
EBA-Iron Age (c.3000-700 BCE) · Amuq/Syro-Hittite (Amuq A-J to Iron Age Patina)
Coba Höyük (Sakçagözü) — buried eba-iron tell/village at Gaziantep Province.
🇰🇭 Cambodia · Ancient city
Angkor Thom and the Bayon
Khmer Empire 1181–1243 CE (Bayon peak Jayavarman VII) · Khmer Mahayana Buddhist (with Shaiva syncretism)
Khmer capital city (late 12th century by Jayavarman VII) covering 9 km² walled square with Bayon state temple – 54 towers with 216 enigmatic smiling Avalokiteshvara faces blending Mahayana compassion…
🇬🇷 Greece · Temple complex
Delos Archaeological Site
Archaeic to Hellenistic-Roman 9th c. BCE–69 BCE, sacred from Bronze Age · Greek (Ionian) to Hellenistic-Roman
Sacred island birthplace of Apollo - entire island is UNESCO open-air museum.
🇮🇳 India · Rock art
Bhima Footprints Rock Art - Chhattisgarh
Mesolithic to Historic (8000 BCE–1500 CE) · Central Indian rock art tradition (Raigarh)
Bhima Bharos / Raigarh-Onakona – Chhattisgarh rock art province (Singhanpur, Kabra Pahad, Chitwa Dongri) with cupules, giant footprint petroglyphs ('Bhima footprints'), hunting scenes, geometric…
🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient city
Heijō Palace (Heijō-kyō)
Nara Period 710–784 CE (with brief return 745–784) · Yamato / Nara Japanese (Ritsuryo)
Imperial palace of Heijō-kyō capital (710–784 CE) modeling Tang Chang'an, 1.2×1.6 km enclosure with Daigokuden audience hall, Suzaku Gate and Eastern Palace Garden ponds.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Fortified city
Büyükkaya
Chalcolithic to Iron Age (c.5500 BCE–600 CE; Hittite capital eastern quarters) · Chalcolithic → Hittite Empire → Phrygian → Iron Age polity → Byzantine
Eastern citadel of Hittite Hattusa on Budaközü gorge — silos and Iron Age polity above Boğazköy.
🇮🇶 Iraq · Ancient city
Ur
Ubaid to Persian (c.3800 BCE–300 BCE; Early Dynastic/Ur III peak 2600–2000 BCE) · Sumerian / Akkadian / Babylonian / Persian
Sumerian city-state of the moon god Nanna (Sîn), Ur famous for Woolley's excavations 1922–34: Ziggurat of Ur-Nammu (2112 BCE) best-preserved ziggurat, Royal Cemetery with Standard of Ur, Pu-abi's…
🇹🇷 Turkey · Cave
Karain Cave
Lower Palaeolithic to Byzantine (500,000 BP–1200 CE) · Tayacian/Clactonian → Acheulean → Mousterian → Upper Palaeolithic
Anatolia's oldest cave (500 ka) at Antalya — Tayacian to Mousterian with Neanderthal and hippo fauna.
🇬🇹 Guatemala · Ancient city
Cival
Middle Preclassic 900 BCE–300 BCE to Late Preclassic 300 BCE–250 CE · Maya (Holmul region Preclassic)
Early Holmul River city 40 km E of Tikal: North Acropolis Triadic Group I with colossal stucco masks (200 BCE) and 335 m E-Group, extensively excavated by Estrada-Belli Vanderbilt-BU.
🇺🇸 United States · Earthwork
Effigy Mounds National Monument
Late Woodland 500–1200 CE, effigies c.700–1100 CE · Late Woodland (Ancestral Ioway/Ho-Chunk?)
31 bear-and-bird effigy mounds marching on Mississippi bluff.
🇮🇷 Iran · Hydraulic works
Qanat of Zarch, Yazd
Achaemenid to present ~700 BCE–present · Persian (Median/Achaemenid onward)
71 km 2,115-shaft Zarch qanat - world's longest - still feeding Yazd after 3,000 years.
🇬🇹 Guatemala · Temple complex
La Sufricaya (Holmul)
Early-Late Classic 600–650 CE, Holmul dynasty Teotihuacan influence · Maya (Holmul)
Vaulted mural building 1 km west of Holmul Group I containing 7 m-long polychrome mural c.600 CE depicting 8 royal figures with Teotihuacan-linked toponyms and Holmul-Tikal dynastic conflict.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Tell
İmamoğlu Höyük
EBA-Iron Age (c.3000-700 BCE) · Amuq/Syro-Hittite (Amuq A-J to Iron Age Patina)
İmamoğlu Höyük — buried eba-iron tell/village at Gaziantep Province.
🇮🇶 Iraq · Cave
Shanidar Cave
Middle Palaeolithic to Neolithic (c.80,000–9000 BP; Neanderthal Layer D c.70–50 ka) · Mousterian Neanderthal → Baradostian → Zarzian → Neolithic
Zagros Neanderthal cave (80 ka) with nine burials including 'flower burial' Shanidar 4.
🇮🇶 Iraq · Pyramid
Tell al-Rimah — High Temple Mound (Qatara)
Old Babylonian to Middle Assyrian, c.2000–1350 BCE · Old Babylonian / Assyrian (Qatara/Karana)
Tell al-Rimah (ancient Qatara/Karana) high temple mound with Old Babylonian temple and casemate ziggurat-mimic platform (c.2000–1600 BCE).