10: Avebury Avebury is a mysterious stone ring just 20
miles (32 km) from the much more famous Stonehenge.
And yet even though just about everybody on the planet is familiar with Stonehenge, Avebury
is actually larger, older, and far more impressive.
Avebury is the largest stone ring on this planet.
Those who have visited Avebury say it mystified them more than when they visited Stonehenge.
And yet because of its lack of popularity, Avebury has undergone significantly less research
and study.
Archaeologists remain puzzled as to who built it or what exactly it was used for.
But we do know a few things.
Avebury is quite similar to Stonehenge in that it's a megalithic monument built and
altered over several periods of time.
In total, the diameter of the stone ring is 1396 feet (425 m).
Some of the stones are 20 feet (6 m) tall.
The site encompasses 28 acres of land.
At one time, there were 98 standing stones here – far more than at Stonehenge.
But today, only 27 remain.
Avebury consists of three main circles.
The two inner circles were built first, likely some time around the year 2600 BC.
The larger circle on the outside probably came much later.
The big mystery is how the ancient people got all those stones there in the first place.
It's the same issue with Stonehenge.
The sarsen stones, as they are called, are huge.
They had to be carved out of bedrock and then dragged across vast distances.
Once at the site, workers then had to lift the 40-ton rocks straight up in order to position
them as they appear today.
9: The City of Agartha There is said to be a mysterious lost city
hidden inside the very core of the Earth.
We have absolutely no scientific proof of this, so take what I'm about to say with a
grain of salt.
But according to legends, there is a paradise beneath our very feet, hidden inside a hollow
part of the Earth that's home to giants and great beasts.
It’s here, in the very place King Kong is supposed to live, where the city of Agartha
stands – allegedly.
The idea of a hollow Earth with a great city inside it is not as old as you may think.
In ancient times, people believed the inside of the Earth was the location of the underworld.
It wasn’t until around the 17th century that scientists came up with the theory for
the hollow Earth.
It was later disproved and we know today the Earth is actually filled with liquid magma.
But back in 1692, Edmund Halley proposed it was hollow.
You might recognize Edmund as the one responsible for identifying Halley’s Comet.
His ideas of a hollow Earth were based on magnetic readings.
He thought the planet was built of several spherical shells that all spun in different
directions around a central, hollow core.
This idea was taken and expanded on by other scientists over the next few centuries, ultimately
becoming diluted until wild theories became attached to the concept.
The legends of the mysterious and ancient interior city included a myriad of details
that seem impossible.
There's supposedly a miniature sun inside the planet, which allows plants and animals
to thrive.
There are trees over 1000 feet (304 m) tall, humans twice the size of the ones on the surface,
and the legendary city of Agartha where a supposed race of troglodytes live.
8: The City Under Death Valley Speaking of mysterious underground places,
there is said to be yet another underground city that nobody has ever seen.
But this one is a whole lot more believable.
It's not located deep in the fiery core of the planet, but instead underneath the dry,
crusted landscape of Death Valley in California.
The city is said to be at least 5000 years old, abandoned by an unknown race of underground
dwellers.
The only proof we have goes back to 1931 when a man named Bruce Russell allegedly discovered
a complex series of tunnels beneath Death Valley.
The discovery was reportedly made completely by accident.
Bruce and his colleague, Daniel Bovee, were sinking a shaft for mining when the soil gave
out beneath their feet and they tumbled into a mysterious cave.
They found themselves lost in a catacomb of tunnels leading like roots beneath the very
earth.
But here's where this tale gets a little suspicious.
The pair allegedly discovered the mummified remains of three enormous men hidden inside
the tunnels.
These men were over 9 feet (2.74 m) tall, and clothed in attire made from dried sheepskin.
There was even said to be a small treasure hoard of artifacts that looked as though they
came from Egypt.
There were hieroglyphics carved into the granite.
And this was only at the surface.
Bruce and Daniel believed there to be hundreds of miles of tunnels going all across Southern
Nevada and California.
Because of how wild these claims were, no professional archaeologist bothered going
into the desert to check it out.
And eventually, the stories and rumors of this fantastic supposed discovery died down.
To make things even more mysterious, both Bruce and Daniel vanished.
Bruce's car was found in a remote area of Death Valley, and he was never seen from again.
And after that, Daniel also faded from the public eye.
What became of these two men and their alleged discovery?
That remains a total mystery.
7: Caves of the Canary Islands On the island of Gran Canaria is the strange
archaeological site of Cenobio de Valeron.
The site consists of 350 spaces carved by hand into volcanic rock, high up on the side
of the mountain.
When Spanish conquistadors first arrived here in the 15th century, they had no idea what
the strange honeycomb of caverns were used for.
It appeared to them as though it may have been some kind of monastery.
At first, the Spanish believed Cenobio de Valeron was a series of convent rooms.
They thought the indigenous people must have put young noblewomen inside the caves, having
them live alongside priestesses in order to keep their virginity intact until they were
eventually married.
It was a bizarre conclusion and unusual explanation for them to come up with, especially since
the caves had actually been used for storing grain – as a communal granary.
Why do you think the Spanish colonizers came up with this oddly specific (explanation for
the caves?
Tell me your theories in the comments!
6: Cleopatra’s Tomb A truly enormous statue of a Greek king was
discovered inside the ruins of a temple in ancient Egypt.
The statue was missing its head, but was still identified as King Ptolemy IV.
He was one of the Greek rulers of Egypt during what is called the Ptolemaic period, which
lasted from 332 to 30 BC.
His broken statue was found at Taposiris Magna, located 28 miles (45 km) from Alexandria.
Some believe this ancient temple may be the final resting place of both Cleopatra and
her lover, Marc Antony.
According to National Geographic, the statue was not the only amazing relic discovered
here.
Archaeologists have also found the remains of huge sphinxes guarding the temple, statues
dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Isis, and other statues linked to the Ptolemaic rulers.
Now here's a quick piece of history.
Cleopatra – who was actually Cleopatra VII, was the final queen of Egypt in the Ptolemaic
period.
She and Marc Antony died after being defeated by Octavian, who went on to become the very
first emperor of Rome.
But no one has ever been able to find the burial place of Cleopatra.
They've also never fully excavated Taposiris Magna and the surrounding area.
Considering how much evidence they've found that this was a major temple built around
the final days of Cleopatra, it would make sense that her tomb is somewhere nearby.
It might even be underneath the ruined temple in an area archaeologists have not been able
to find.
And now for number 5 but first it’s shout out time!
J Highway and allan mccoy
Love you guys and thanks so much for supporting Origins Explained!
If you are new here be sure to subscribe and let me know what topics you’d like to see
in future videos!!
5: Guyaju Caves The Guyaju Caves are located in a secluded
gorge about 50 miles (80.4 km) northwest of Beijing, China.
The caves are carved on the face of a steep cliff, occupying a total space of 24.7 acres
(9.99 hectares).
That makes this mysterious ancient place the biggest cliff residence ever built in China.
In total, you can count 117 caves here.
So much detail was put into the construction of the caves that experts estimate it took
at least 100 people five years to complete the project.
But just what were the caves used for?
They were probably simple rooms where people lived.
No two caverns are exactly the same, ranging from three feet (.91 m) to 20 feet (6.09 m)
deep.
They were basically something similar to ancient apartments that were carved into the side
of the mountain.
Some even had windows, lampstands where they could hang lights outside their doors, and
archaeologists have also found stoves that they used to cook inside their tiny cave homes.
At the very top of the cave city is one major duplex so big it's supported by four stone
columns.
These are to stop the roof of the cavern from crashing in.
This duplex likely belonged to the chieftain who ruled over the entire city.
But here's where things get mysterious.
The ancient cliff dwellings were first found in 1984, and yet their origin remains unknown.
Experts believe they were carved between 1000 and 2000 years ago, however further evidence
is severely lacking.
4: Mysterious Arkansas Blowing Cave in Arkansas is supposedly a secret
entrance to an underground world.
One of the most popular myths surrounding this particular cave is that it leads to an
underworld occupied by human-like beings who never see the sun.
There is supposedly a hidden crevice deep inside the cave which can transport one into
the world of these underground beings.
Bruce Alan Walton claimed that as he was exploring Blowing Cave in the 1990s, he met a race of
extraordinarily tall people of between seven and eight feet (2.1-2.4 m) in height.
These mysterious humanoids were living down in the dark underground caves, far from the
light on the surface.
After Bruce left, he wrote a book called The Underground Empire all about his exploits.
And while this may sound like science fiction, it's not the first time a race of giants has
been found underground in North America.
Don't forget about the underground giants allegedly living under Death Valley.
It could very well be that inside cave systems hidden to modern humans, there are entrances
to a vast, almost unbelievable subterranean world of giant, mythological beings.
Do you wish this were true?
Let me know in the comments below!
3: Timgad Timgad is essentially Africa’s Pompeii.
1500 years after the Roman Empire crumbled, its power can still be seen in surprising
places – like here, in a secluded part of Algeria.
The founding of Timgad goes back to Emperor Trajan in the year 100.
It thrived as a proper Roman city in North Africa before it was sacked by Vandals 300
years later.
It was reoccupied briefly by a community of Christians, then sacked by Berbers.
By the 7th century, Timgad was completely abandoned.
Because it was in such an isolated area of the Algerian desert, it was gradually covered
by sand and forgotten.
It wasn't discovered again until Scottish explorer James Bruce came across it in 1765.
But no excavations began until Algeria came under French rule in the 1880s.
Because of the dry climate, the fact that nobody came to destroy the ruins, and that
nobody has lived here since the Romans – Timgad is exceptionally well preserved, much like
the volcanic eruption near Pompeii allowed life there to be almost perfectly frozen in
time.
Visitors here can walk through the Roman avenues and even step into houses and see where Romans
once sat to eat their dinners.
2: Kuelap Kuelap is a truly massive fortress of a city,
also called the Walled City in the Clouds.
It was built by the Chachapoyas culture in Peru.
They were known as the warriors of the clouds, a distinct people who resided in the cloud
forests of the Andes, at the very edge of the Amazon rainforest.
They weren't as influential as the Inca, but they were unique – and they were highly
advanced.
Kuelap was built on a limestone ridge 900 feet (274 m) above sea level.
It overlooks a huge swath of the Utcubamba Valley, which would have given the occupiers
a major advantage for defense.
They could have seen an army coming from miles away, and their high walls would have prevented
any kind of siege.
It was a hugely impressive structure established in the 6th century AD, then built continuously
for the next 600 years.
Archaeologists believe construction continued nonstop to make the walls more and more robust.
It was during this time that the southern Huari were expanding their borders, and the
Chachapoya needed a stronghold that could never be defeated.
Alas, they were beaten by the Inca in the 15th century.
We don't know how this happened, but some historical accounts suggest the Chachapoya
met the Inca on the field of battle.
They were overwhelmed by the Inca forces.
Then, without enough people defending the Walled City in the Clouds, the Inca seized
the walled complex and the battle for Kuelap was complete.
1: The Ellora Caves The Ellora Caves in India are spread over
a distance of 1.2 miles (1.93 km).
Cut into the faces of basaltic cliffs, there are 34 caves in total.
12 of these caves are dedicated to Buddhism, which date all the way back to 200 BC.
Then in the middle of the cliffs are 17 Hindu temples from about 700 years later.
Finally, five of the temples are dedicated to Jainism, made 1000 years ago.
If you aren't sure what Jainism is, it’s a religion still practiced today.
It teaches salvation of the soul by perfection through living multiple lives.
It also preaches non-harm to all living creatures.
This mysterious place is dedicated to three separate religions, making it a rare sight
anywhere on the planet.
Archaeologists generally believe Ellora served as a group of monasteries for monks and hermits.
Most of the caves were nothing but sleeping cells where the monks could rest.
The caves not used for monks as dorms were temples.
Some of them are truly massive, having been made by removing over 200,000 tons of solid
rock.
The Kailasa cave is by far the most impressive, excavated downwards into the rock, 164 feet
(49.9 m) deep.
It's 100 feet (30.4 m) wide at some points and has four internal levels.
It was also carved with extreme detail, including huge monoliths, vast hallways, doorways, windows,
and scenes from Hindu mythology.
Among the depictions there's a great carving of Vishnu transforming into a man-lion to
battle a demon.
What's great about these temples is that they are still visited by worshipers 2000 years
after they were made.
We may not know the names of the builders.
We may not know every mystery of the caves – but they live on as places of pilgrimage
even today.
Which of these mysterious ancient places do you find most intriguing?
Let me know in the comments and thanks a lot for watching!
Be sure to hit that subscribe button if you haven’t already.
And I’ll see you again soon for another awesome video!