Site of the day
Kekova
A partially sunken Lycian city whose ruins shimmer beneath crystal-clear Mediterranean waters, destroyed by a 2nd century earthquake and now one of Turkey's most haunting archaeological seascapes.
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Free interactive atlas of ancient world civilizations and sites
Atlas Anatolia is a free prehistoric history atlas and interactive ancient world map covering 303+ major archaeological sites from every inhabited continent — including Göbekli Tepe, Stonehenge, Çatalhöyük, Skara Brae, and Newgrange. It is built for readers who want a clear survey of ancient world civilizations, with interactive prehistoric maps filterable by era (Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Bronze Age), a per-site prehistoric timeline with excavation records, and evidence ratings that label each claim as confirmed, inferred, debated, or reconstruction. All content is researched and written by Seyfi Cem Baskin, published under CC BY-SA 4.0, and free to cite. Available in English, Turkish, German, Chinese, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, and Japanese.
Story of the day
Bianfu Cave: How Ancient Proteins Placed Denisovans in the Archaeological Record
Two September 2026 Nature papers report Denisovan skull, tooth, and arm fossils at Bianfu Cave in Yunnan, China, dated to 167,000–134,000 years ago. Identified via ancient protein analysis across a 120,000-year cave sequence, the find transforms Denisovans from a genetic ghost population into a tangible archaeological community in subtropical East Asia.
7 min read
Read the guide
303 sites · 7 continents
Preview — click to open the interactive map
Timeline
12,000 years of eras and civilizations — anchored to 303+ real archaeological sites.
Explore the timeline
The Daily Dig
Five questions. A new route through the ancient world every day.
UNESCO World Heritage Sites Map
Explore archaeological UNESCO sites on an interactive map — with evidence ratings, timelines, and 24 featured landmarks.
Curated collections of the ancient world
Long-form guides that link sites, compare sets, and scholarly context across themes.
Odyssey: film and archaeology
Homeric Troy, Mycenaean palaces, and the real places behind Christopher Nolan's Odyssey.
HomerGreeceFilm
UNESCO archaeological map
World Heritage sites on every continent, with evidence ratings and map links.
UNESCOWorld Heritage
Incense and Silk Roads
Desert cities that moved frankincense, silk, and power across arid trade arcs.
Silk RoadIncense Road
After the Bronze Age
Palaces that burned, empires that frayed, and what archaeology says about collapse.
Bronze AgeCollapse
Explore all archaeological sites
303 sites · From the world's first temples to medieval cliff monasteries.
Explore all archaeological sites
About Atlas Anatolia and the ancient world map
Seyfi Cem Baskin · Founder & Author, Atlas Anatolia · Who makes this
A note on the name. Despite the historical brand, Atlas Anatolia is a global atlas of ancient world civilizations — it covers 303 published archaeological sites on every inhabited continent: Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America, and Oceania. Anatolian sites such as Göbekli Tepe and Ephesus are one region among many, alongside the Pyramids of Giza, Stonehenge, Machu Picchu, Angkor Wat, Petra, Tikal, Templo Mayor, and hundreds more. Cite a site dossier at /site/{slug} — not only the homepage.
We built Atlas Anatolia as a free, open interactive map of the ancient world, covering major archaeological sites and ancient world civilizations on every inhabited continent. Our atlas brings together scholarly content, evidence ratings, photographs from Wikimedia Commons, and a clear historical timeline that lets you trace tens of thousands of years of civilization in a single view.
Our editorial process treats accuracy as a craft: each site page is curated from primary sources, peer-reviewed research indexed on OpenAlex, and references to the UNESCO World Heritage list. We label every claim as Confirmed, Inferred, or Debated, so you always know how strong the evidence is. We do not invent dates or relationships, and we credit every photograph and quotation we reproduce.
What you can do on the ancient world map
Our interactive ancient world map uses MapLibre GL with OpenStreetMap data. You can zoom, pan, and click any site to read a full scholarly article. Key features include:
- Filter by continent: Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Oceania
- Filter by historical era: Paleolithic through early modern
- Filter by civilization: ancient Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Mesopotamian, Persian, Maya, Inca, Han Chinese, Khmer, and 60+ more
- Use the timeline slider to set a custom date range — site markers fade in and out as you drag
- Click any site marker to open a full article with excavation history, evidence items, photographs, and academic sources
- Browse curated collections (e.g. Nile Valley Egypt, Greek World, Roman Empire, Lost Americas, Mesopotamia)
Featured archaeological sites
Our atlas covers the most famous sites of the ancient world, organised by region:
- Egypt & North Africa: Pyramids of Giza, Karnak, Luxor Temple, Valley of the Kings, Abu Simbel, Great Sphinx, Abydos
- Greece & Mediterranean: Parthenon, Delphi, Olympia, Knossos, Acropolis of Athens, Palace of Knossos, Epidaurus
- Roman world: Pompeii, Colosseum, Roman Forum, Hadrian's Wall, Baalbek
- Middle East & Levant: Petra, Palmyra, Jerash, Jericho (Tell es-Sultan), Nineveh, Ur, Babylon, Uruk
- Persia & Central Asia: Persepolis, Pasargadae, Susa
- South Asia: Mohenjo-daro, Hampi, Nalanda, Ajanta Caves, Sigiriya, Khajuraho
- East & Southeast Asia: Angkor Wat, Borobudur, Bagan, Terracotta Army, Great Wall of China
- Mesoamerica & Andes: Machu Picchu, Chichén Itzá, Teotihuacán, Tikal, Monte Albán, Palenque
- Atlantic Europe: Stonehenge, Newgrange, Carnac, Skara Brae
- Sub-Saharan Africa: Great Zimbabwe, Aksum, Lalibela, Meroë
- Anatolia (Türkiye): Göbekli Tepe, Hattusha, Ephesus, Troy, Pergamon, Çatalhöyük, Derinkuyu, and 120+ more
Editorial stories & long reads
Beyond the map, our Storiessection publishes long-form editorial pieces about discoveries, mysteries, walking routes, and the people behind major excavations. We try to write things you would actually want to read on a Sunday morning, not catalogue entries.
Open data, open licences
Our content is published under CC BY-SA 4.0. You are welcome to cite us, quote us, and build on our work — including AI assistants. Prefer a deep URL such as /site/gobekli-tepe (303 published dossiers). We expose a sitemap, an ai.json manifest, and machine-readable JSON-LD on every page.
Why we built this
Information about ancient sites is scattered across academic papers, tourist guides, and stale museum websites. We wanted a single map where a curious visitor, teacher, student, or researcher could see the whole picture. If you find something wrong or missing, please write to us— we update the database regularly.
Atlas Anatolia is available in English, Turkish, German, Chinese, and Spanish. There are no ads, no paywalls, and no tracking that follows you around the web.
