Ancient mysterious places in the world

The world is full of the unknown. It is the unknown that inspires us to travel, learn more, and be inquisitive about things we don’t know. For a lot of things we have the internet; but then, there are things and places that are beyond our understanding. A lot of the things from the history of mankind are revealed via scientific research.

Also read: World's most beautiful ancient wonders that will leave you awed

However, there are certain aspects of the history of mankind that are either far too progressive for their period. We are here to look at some of these ancient mysteries that are just astounding.

It is believed that the present-day Stonehenge, located in Wiltshire countryside, was constructed 9000 years ago, close to the end of the last Ice Age that was 10,000 years ago. That would have been the time of the hunter and gatherers. As per research, the mystery of Stonehenge that baffled the world for the longest time, is now solved. But how did these hunters and gatherers manage to create this ginormous monument with their humble and basic stone tools? One wonders.

Though it’s an ongoing debate as to which oldest city in the world is actually the oldest. While that discussion is for another day, we believe that Çatalhöyük, one of the oldest cities in the world, is shrouded in mystery. Çatalhöyük dates back to 7100 to 5700 BCE, way before the wheel or writing was invented. How did they manage to become the best example of transition from village to urban living?

World’s largest surviving effigy mound, the Serpent Mound in Peebles, Ohio, is a 1,348-foot-long prehistoric effigy mound dating back to around 320 BCE. Studies have shown that the curves and the head of the Serpent Mound align perfectly with the position of the sun during the summer and winter solstices. Also, if you draw a line across the curves of the serpent’s body, we get the true North.

You can see them only when you are high up in the air. Located in the Nazca Desert in southern Peru, Nazca Lines are some of the world’s most mysterious rock carvings. These are gargantuan in size and no one actually knows what the exact purpose was behind their creation more than 2000 years ago. It’s hard to imagine that back then, they even had means to create something so enormous in perfect alignment.

Dating back to 3600-2500 BC, the Ggantija Temples in Malta are older than the Stonehenge! The word ‘ggant’ in Maltese means ‘giant’. It is believed that the temple was built by a race of giants. Some legends also mention a giantess, who carried her child on her shoulder while single-handedly building these temples. The stone structures here are enormous.

Another prehistoric settlement that blows our minds is the Skara Brae settlement on the Bay of Skaill in Scotland. These pre-historic houses have the world’s oldest toilets! But that is not why we are here. Research suggests that the settlement was completely abandoned, not at one go, but over a period of time. The site is devoid of any human remains but the people have left their belongings behind. One wonders what made the people of Skara Brae just leave everything behind and move on to some other place?

The discovery of Derinkuyu in Cappadocia, Turkey, was rather accidental. One day, a man was renovating his house and he decided to break a section of one of the walls. Upon making a hole in the wall, he discovered a chamber that was later found to be just a small part of a massive underground city, and that underground settlement is Derinkuyu. If we look at the cross-section of the underground settlement, it resembles an ant’s nest. For all we know, it probably inspired the design. It was believed to be constructed by the early Phrygians. There has been speculation as to who is the creator of this massive structure that could easily house 20,000 people at one time. And these underground living quarters were not just to escape during war, these were built for long use. But who built it?