Archaeological Mysteries
20 unsolved archaeological cases on the globe.
The Oak Island Money Pit
Oak Island, Nova Scotia, Canada
An incredibly elaborate, deep subterranean shaft protected by sophisticated, ocean-fed flood tunnels designed to prevent excavation.
The Shugborough Inscription
Shugborough Hall, Staffordshire, United Kingdom
A cryptic ten-letter sequence carved into an 18th-century monument that has defied decryption by world-class cryptographers.
The Intentional Burial of Göbekli Tepe
Örencik, Sanlıurfa Province, Turkey
A massive, ultra-ancient megalithic temple complex that was systematically and deliberately buried under thousands of tons of earth by its creators.
The Baigong Pipes
Mount Baigong, Qaidam Basin, Qinghai Province, China
An ancient network of highly organized, metallic-looking tubular pipes embedded inside a mountain cave and lake bed.
The Nazca Lines Geoglyphs
Nazca Desert, Ica Region, Peru
Massive geometric and zoomorphic designs carved into the Peruvian desert floor that are only fully discernible from high altitudes.
The Great Pyramid Cosmic-Ray Void
Giza Plateau, Cairo, Egypt
A massive, hidden internal chamber discovered inside the Great Pyramid of Giza using cosmic-ray muon radiography.
The Structural Engineering of Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu, Cusco Region, Peru
An exquisite, high-altitude citadel constructed without mortar, iron tools, or wheels, engineered to withstand intense seismic activity.
The Kensington Runestone
Kensington, Douglas County, Minnesota, United States
A large slab of stone covered in Scandinavian runes discovered in Minnesota, claiming a Nordic expedition reached the American Midwest in 1362.
The Palpa Lines Geoglyphs
Palpa Desert, Ica Region, Peru
Massive, ancient geometric figures carved directly into flattened mountain peaks that predate the neighboring Nazca Lines.
The Liquid Mercury of Teotihuacán
Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent, Teotihuacán, Mexico
Large deposits of toxic liquid mercury discovered pooled inside a sealed, sacred subterranean tunnel system beneath a pyramid.
The Voynich Manuscript
Yale University Beinecke Library (origin unknown), United States
A lavishly illustrated medieval codex written in an unknown script that has defied every decryption attempt for centuries.
The Antikythera Mechanism
Antikythera, Aegean Sea, Greece
A 2,000-year-old bronze gearwork device recovered from a shipwreck, far ahead of its time.
The Longyou Caves
Longyou County, Quzhou, Zhejiang Province, China
Massive man-made underground caverns carved from solid rock with no surviving record of their construction.
The Yonaguni Monument
Off Yonaguni Island, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan
A massive submerged rock formation with terraced steps and angular platforms debated as natural or man-made.
The Plain of Jars
Xieng Khouang Province, Laos
Thousands of massive stone jars scattered across a plateau with unknown makers and purpose.
The Roman Dodecahedrons
Gaul and the Rhineland (multiple find sites), Belgium
Over a hundred hollow bronze dodecahedrons from Roman Gaul whose function is entirely unknown.
The Stone Spheres of Costa Rica
Diquís Delta, Puntarenas Province, Costa Rica
Perfectly rounded stone balls up to two meters across, carved by a vanished pre-Columbian culture.
The Phaistos Disc
Phaistos, Crete, Greece
A fired clay disc stamped with spiral text in an unknown script that has never been deciphered.
The Moai Transport Mystery
Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Chile
How Rapa Nui islanders moved multi-ton stone statues miles across rugged terrain remains debated.
Roopkund Skeleton Lake
Roopkund Lake, Uttarakhand, India
A glacial lake containing hundreds of ancient human skeletons visible when the ice melts.