Ancient history: the evidence, the dates and the open questions
A directory of claims about the deep human past, from the Sphinx's weathering to LiDAR cities under the Amazon. Each claim is labelled Mainstream Contested or Leading Edge, with what has been measured kept separate from how it is interpreted, and every source linked.
Our approach: we give the newest observations slightly more weight than older consensus, because the field keeps moving (see the Amazon section), and we keep the door open for Leading Edge ideas until the evidence settles them. Methodology.
Claims by section
Egypt: Sphinx & Giza dating
The water-erosion case for an older Sphinx, radiocarbon dates on the pyramids, muon scans and the 2025 radar claims.
8 claims · 2 Mainstream, 6 Leading Edge
Pyramids around the world
Gunung Padang, Bosnia, Caral, Shimao, Cholula, Teotihuacan, Meroë and Güímar: what is dated, what is natural and what is still open.
5 claims · 1 Mainstream, 4 Leading Edge
Amazon & LiDAR lost cities
Airborne laser scanning has revealed towns, roads and causeways under the rainforest canopy in Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil and the Maya lowlands.
4 claims · 3 Mainstream, 1 Contested,
Megalithic construction
Göbekli Tepe, Karahan Tepe, Baalbek, Sacsayhuamán, Pumapunku, Stonehenge and Yonaguni: dates, transport and the open questions about technique.
7 claims · 2 Mainstream, 5 Leading Edge
Younger Dryas & the 12,000-year cycle
The abrupt Younger Dryas cooling, the impact hypothesis, lost Ice Age civilisation and recurring-catastrophe ideas, linked to Solar Evidence's micronova and pole-shift reviews.
4 claims · 1 Mainstream, 1 Contested, 2 Leading Edge
Featured sites all 23 sites
Great Sphinx of Giza
Egypt · Fourth Dynasty, reign of Khafre, about 2500 BCE (carved from bedrock within his...
Giza pyramids
Egypt · Fourth Dynasty, about 2600–2500 BCE (Khufu, Khafre, Menkaure).
Gunung Padang
Indonesia · Stone terraces dated by excavators to about 2,100 years ago (charcoal from...
Caral (Sacred City of Caral-Supe)
Peru · Monumental phase from about 2627 cal BCE (radiocarbon).
Great Pyramid of Cholula (Tlachihualtépetl)
Mexico · Built in stages from about the 2nd century BCE to about the 9th century CE.
Teotihuacan: Pyramid of the Sun
Mexico · Pyramid of the Sun built about 100–200 CE (Tzacualli phase).
Latest developments we track
- Aug 2026: the 2022 satellite-radar paper behind the "city under Khafre" claims was retracted. Entry
- Feb 2026: two 2025 papers supporting the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis were retracted; the debate continues. Entry
- Jan 2026: geologist Colin Reader published a book-length case for an Early Dynastic Sphinx. Entry
- 2024: LiDAR revealed Ecuador's Upano Valley cities (from about 500 BCE) and the Maya city of Valeriana. Section
- 2024: Stonehenge's Altar Stone traced to north-east Scotland. Entry
Related on our sister site: Solar micronova evidence review and Geomagnetic Field & Pole Shift (Solar Evidence).