Pyramids on the Globe

Australian Pyramids

Gympie
            The town of Gympie, at Tin Can Bay, north of Brisbane, Queensland, is the unlikely site of a pyramid complex.  The first Europeans to come into the area in the 1830's learned of them from the now extinct Kabi speaking people of Gympie, known then as the Dhamuri.  According to the Aboriginals, brown skinned, blue eyed, blond haired beings with Dolphin pendants came from the star Orion and built the pyramids and temple sites, but water came in and destroyed it all long ago.  The ruins were taboo to them. 
            Settlers took the stones of the pyramids and other buildings and used them as foundation stones for the main street of Gympie and the construction of buildings, including the local church, which still stands. There were stone statues like the Easter Island statues and also animal statues. These have since been destroyed or are hidden, but photos and sketches of them remain from the first white man to come into the area. Even the tunnels under Gympie were dynamited.
            All but one of the Pyramids were bulldozed into the ocean by the army in the 1950's and the lone survivor remains on private land with a strict "no trespassing policy.  The Pyramid is 100 foot
high and designed with a series of terraces up to 4 feet tall and eight feet wide.  The army sealed the entrance in the 1930's after investigating reports of cattle wandering into the pyramid, when an opening was still accessible, and never coming out. No reports or findings are available. In recent years, according to locals, the owner has attempted to destroy the pyramid in the hopes of discouraging visitors to the site.  Artifacts have survived including the 'Gympie Ape', which was dug up in 1966 and is thought to be a statue of the Egyptian God Horus, who was often portrayed as an ape, and another resembling Ganesha from Indian mythology.

Artist's Rendering Gympie Petroglyph

The Gympie Ape


Central Coast
           A pyramid structure, at least twice the height and dimensions of the Gympie example, has been found near the NSW Central Coast.
New Guinea
          Five pyramids, identical to the Gympie Structure, have been found in northeastern New Guinea

 Magnetic Island
          There is a pyramid on Magnetic Island and a sphinx.
 

Belize Pyramids

Altun Ha
           Altun-Ha,  which means, "stone water", is located approximately 30 miles north of Belize City. This ceremonial center, located six miles from the sea, was important as a trading center and as a link between the coast and the settlements of the interior. Within the central portion of the site there are more than 500 structures. The entire city covered some 1.8 square miles and contains around 250 to 300 unexcavated mounds. Population estimates for Altun Ha at its peak are 9,000 to 12,000. Also, a treasure of over 300 jade objects was found there, including the ornately carved head of Kinisch Ahau, the Mayan Sun God. This head, weighing 9 3/4 pounds and measuring nearly 6 inches from the base of the crown, is believed to be the largest Maya jade carving in existence.

 

Jade Head
 


Caracol
           Caracol, which means "conch shell" or "snail", is located south of San Ignacio, in the Cayo district. Though only considered to be a simple Mayan ceremonial center when discovered in 1938, it was later found to be one of the largest sites in all the Maya World. The center of the site has about 20 major plazas and the pyramid, the Canaa ,meaning "sky palace", which rises 140 ft and is the tallest man-made structure in Belize.

Canaa Pyramid
 

 


Cerros
          Cerros is located in the north of Belize, on a peninsula, in the Bay of Chetuma. Its tallest structure rises 65 feet above the plaza floor and the site includes three large acropolises which dominate several plazas bordered by pyramids. With it's location at the mouth of the New River,  Cerros was important as a coastal trading center.


Cuello
            Cuello is located on private property southwest of Orange Walk Town and most of it is still overgrown. Cuello is one of the oldest of all Maya sites, dating from 2600 BC.


El Pilar
      The El Pilar Archaeological Reserve is located just out of the western town of San Ignacio, astride the Belize-Guatemala border. El Pilar has more than twenty-five identified plazas. In an area of 100 acres, there are more than a dozen large pyramids and many other buildings. It is the largest center in the Belize River area.


 Lamanai
          The Lamanai ruins lie along the lagoon and cover an area of 3.5 square miles and have more than 700 structures. This site features monumental architecture of temples and palaces, one of which is over 100 feet high.

 

 


Las Milpas
          Las Milpas is located in the Rio Bravo Conservation Area in northwestern Belize. The site  contains more than 24 courtyards and over 85 structures and is the third largest Maya site in Belize. The Great Plaza at Las Milpas is one of the largest in the Maya world. Beyond the Great Plaza lie other plazas, pyramids, and buildings. There is evidence of advanced agricultural techniques with terracing and water management systems.

Lubaantun
           Located northwest of Punta Gorda near the village of San Pedro, Columbia, Lubaantun is noted for its unusual style of construction. The large pyramids and terraces are made of precision cut stone blocks fitted together without mortar.


Xunantunich
          Xunantunich is located across the river from the village of San Jose Succotz in the Cayo district.  The most prominent structure at Xunantunich is 'El Castillo,' a pyramid rising over 130 feet at the south end of the main complex.   
                                                                  

 

 



 

The new book based on this site is now available:

A Guide to This Site
 What's here and how to get there.
Text version of this site
 An easy to read black and white version.