Ukraine’s Discovery: Pyramids or Temples

Thousands of miles away from the Egyptian pyramids, a recent discovery calls into question the long-established belief that Egypt’s archaeological mecca is the oldest of its kind in the world. Unearthing the remains of a pyramid like structure near the eastern Ukrainian city of Lugansk, archaeologists are debating the discovery that predates those in Egypt by 300 years.

The question as to whether the discovery is a pyramid formation or a complex of temples and sacrificial altars atop a sculpted hillside has set the scientific community alight. While the content of the stone foundations may be in dispute, its international significance is not. Believed to have been constructed about five millennia ago during the early Bronze Age, the stone complex covers three-quarters of a square mile.

Carefully carved steps surround the complex on either side leading some archaeologists to conclude that the paths led to a ritual site. Remains of human sacrificial victims and ceramics have been found at the site. Thought to be built by a sun god worshipping tribe that lived in the surrounding valleys, the discovery challenges scientific assumptions about the development of peoples in the region. The cult thought to have once occupied the site may be a precursor to the ancestors of Slavs with similar pagan belief systems.

Pyramid structures are rare in Europe. Indeed, one of the few identified is a Roman-era structure near Nice, France that may have been built by those responsible for Egypt’s famous edifices. Ukraine’s discovery is the first monument of its age and kind in Eastern Europe. Whether or not it is a maze of pyramids similar to those in Egypt is yet to be validated. A team of researchers from the National Academy of Science of Ukraine are currently working with archaeologists at the site to confirm its relevance and meaning. The site’s hidden truth is likely to take years to uncover but this delay has not stopped tourism seekers hoping to cash in on the site in the interim. Plans are already underway to build a hotel close to the ancient site!