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Quarry

The ruins at Yangshan quarry. Source:  Vmenkov/Author provided

Fathoming the Ruins of Yanmen Shan Mountain and the Biggest Cut Rocks in the World

Along the side of Yanmen Shan mountain, located twenty kilometers to the east of Nanjing, China, the legendary Yangshan quarry can be found. Although it is believed to have been in use from at least...
Remains of columns at the Cave di Cusa quarry in Sicily. (Davide Mauro / CC BY-SA 4.0)

Hidden Gems of Sicily: The Abandoned Temple Columns of Cave di Cusa

If someone told you that you could effortlessly travel back in time to classical antiquity, you would think that they were crazy, right? But at Cave di Cusa, in Sicily, this is actually possible...
Venus statues found at Roman quarry in Rennes.	Source: © Emmanuelle Collado/INRAP

Roman Venus Statues Found Amongst the Garbage

It has often been said that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. A team of archaeologists in France recently offered definitive proof of this old aphorism, when they discovered a remarkable...

Wyoming Declared Oldest Mine in Americas: Red Ochre Mined there 13,000 Years Ago!

Excavations that concluded in 2020 have confirmed an ancient mine in eastern Wyoming that was allegedly used by humans to produce red ochre 13,000 years ago! It is now officially the oldest known...
In the heart of Mithaka Country, in Queensland's Channel Country, traditional owners and archaeologists have unearthed what researchers have dubbed "Australia's Silk Road," dating back at least 2,100 years. The area's industrial-sized sandstone quarry sites are, to the best of the researchers' knowledge, the largest in the southern hemisphere, putting the trade systems of Australia's Aboriginals on a world scale.

Mithaka: Heart of Australia’s 2,100-year-old Aboriginal Silk Road

More than 2,100 years ago, Australia’s Aboriginal Mithaka people were likely domesticating plants and quarrying stones on an industrial scale to make seed-grinding implements. The Mithaka stone...
The Har Hozvim Jerusalem quarry: one part of a huge stone quarry that was likely three or four times larger. This quarry supplied many enormous stones for King Herod’s Second Temple era building spree.

Stone Quarry from Second Temple Era in Jerusalem Discovered

Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) archaeologists exploring an area of Jerusalem where a parking lot will soon be installed have uncovered something historically significant. Working on the grounds...
Monumental Discovery! More of the Stonehenge Origin Story Comes to Light

Monumental Discovery! More of the Stonehenge Origin Story Comes to Light

Are you familiar with the monoliths at Waun Mawn? Maybe not, but a team of researchers believes that the dismantled stone circle in the Preseli Hills of west Wales is extremely significant. They have...
Remarkable Survival of Minerva’s Ancient Shrine Through the Ages

Remarkable Survival of Minerva’s Ancient Shrine Through the Ages

The Romans were prolific builders and the ruins of their structures are still to be seen throughout their former Empire. Amphitheaters, roads, temples and of course shrines to the gods graced the...
Group of Moai statues at the quarry of Rano Raraku, Easter Island.    Source: thomaslusth / Adobe Stock

Easter Island’s Moai Enigma Finally Solved?

Rapa Nui (or Easter Island , as it is commonly known) is home to the enigmatic Moai , stone monoliths that have stood watch over the island landscape for hundreds of years. Their existence is a...
The Step Pyramid of King Djoser, does it include a path to the afterlife? Source: WitR / Adobe Stock.

A Quarry Is Actually A 3D Map Of The Ancient Egyptian Underworld, Suggests Polish Scientist

Ancient Egyptians are well known for their creation of vast architectural structures which penetrate the skies and each one required a thorough understanding of the universal dynamics of breadth,...
Paris Catacombs

The Dark Underworld of the Paris Catacombs

Paris, the capital of France, is often called La Ville Lumière (meaning ‘The City of Light’), however, beneath this bustling European city of 12 million people, lies a dark subterranean world holding...
Excavation of two quarries in Wales by a UCL-led team of archaeologists and geologists has confirmed they are sources of Stonehenge's 'bluestones'– and shed light on how they were quarried and transported.

The Where, When and How of Quarrying Stonehenge 'Bluestones' Is Revealed in New Report

Geologists have long known that 42 of Stonehenge's smaller stones, known as 'bluestones', came from the Preseli hills in Pembrokeshire, west Wales. Now a new study published in Antiquity pinpoints...
How were the pyramids built? The discovery of a quarry ramp may finally provide a consensus on this debate.

Archaeologists Say They’ve Solved Mystery of How Pyramids were Built After Unearthing 4,500-Year-Old Ramp

Has the riddle of how the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids finally been solved? A multi-national team of experts say yes, after they unearthed an ancient ramp, which they say was used to haul...
An illustration depicting the construction of the Egyptian pyramids

Demystifying the Egyptian Pyramids with Hard Facts

It has always fascinated, and worried me at the same time, how many people I meet that are still mesmerized by aspects of the pyramids in Egypt that archeologists solved many years ago. The when, how...
The 2,100-year-old marble mother goddess sculpture of Kybele is still under threat at the ancient Turkish castle near the Black Sea.

Ancient Castle in Turkey Remains Threatened by Dynamite Blasts

Commodities versus conservation – yet again the debate is playing out. This time the site of interest is the ruins of an ancient castle in Turkey; where dynamite may shake a unique mother goddess...
Inside one of the tunnels under Rome, Italy.

A Labyrinth of Ancient Tunnels Exist Under Roman Streets

Few visitors recognize that there is a forgotten world below the Roman Colosseum and Forum. The ancient maze of tunnels and quarries date back to the very beginning of this famous city. Locals, on...
Aerial view of Kaizer Hilltop with three sampled rock surfaces marked in black circles

Ancient Quarry Proves Human Impact on Landscape

Archaeologists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem uncovered in central Israel the earliest known Neolithic quarry in the southern Levant, dating back 11,000 years. Finds from the site indicate...
Doorway to Tomb 14, interior.

Previously Unreported New Kingdom Necropolis Revealed in Egypt

Dozens of tombs have been discovered by archaeologists working in Gebel el-Silsila in Egypt. Bones of men, women, and children of all ages have all been found in the rock-cut tombs. The necropolis is...
One of the two shrines with statues, this one showing a couple who are not identified by inscriptions at the site.

Two 3,400-Year-Old Shrines with Statues discovered at Egyptian Quarry Site

Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered some statues of two families in shrines that researchers previously thought were destroyed by an earthquake in ancient times. They made the find at Gebel el...
Zedekiah's Cave, Jerusalem, Israel

Cave of Zedekiah: The Secret Grotto of Jerusalem

For over 300 years, Zedekiah’s Cave was the stuff of legend, another story out of Jerusalem . However, one day in the winter of 1854, American missionary James Turner Barclay was walking his dog with...
A general overview of the temple. Credit: The Gebel Silsila Survey Project 2015.

Ancient temple dating back 3,500 years found near Aswan in Egypt

Archaeologists have made a remarkable discovery at Gebel el Silsila, a historic quarry site near Aswan on the River Nile, - a sacred temple used for four epochs of ancient Egyptian history spanning...
Unfinished Obelisk in Aswan

The Forgotten Stones of Aswan Quarry, Egypt

The unfinished obelisk in Aswan, Egypt, is estimated to be around 1168 tons, but the largest Obelisk that was actually erected in Egypt was no more that 500 tons. I visited the immense unfinished...
Karajan Tepe in Turkey

The Forgotten Stones of Karahan Tepe, Turkey

Read Part 1 - Forgotten Stones: Secrets of the Megalithic Quarries: Göbekli Tepe Read Part 2 – The Forgotten Stones of Baalbek, Lebanon Karahan Tepe is the sister site to the enigmatic Göbekli Tepe,...
Megalithic Quarries - Gobekli Tepe

Forgotten Stones: Secrets of the Megalithic Quarries

Göbekli Tepe, Turkey: Lying half-a-mile across a tough limestone plateau from the main sacred mound, is a 22ft-long t-shaped monolith that, like many other examples around the world, never got...

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