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Luke Caverns

29 places, oldest first

Deep Time

Every place on the channel, in the order it happened. Dates are the ones scholars usually give; where they argue, the label says so.

  1. 200,000 BC · Hueyatlaco
  2. 11,000 BC · Ice Age America
  3. 9,500 BC · Göbekli Tepe
  4. 3,000 BC · Stonehenge
  5. 2,560 BC · Giza and the Nile Valley
  6. 2,000 BC · Wrangel Island
  7. 1,600 BC · The Olmec Heartland
  8. 1,600 BC · Akrotiri
  9. 1,290 BC · The Osirion at Abydos
  10. 1,000 BC · The Maya Lowlands
  11. 600 BC · Becan
  12. 500 BC · The Nazca Lines
  13. 500 BC · The Amazon
  14. 285 BC · Alexandria
  15. 100 BC · Teotihuacan
  16. AD 200 · Gila Wilderness
  17. AD 500 · Ciudad Perdida (Teyuna)
  18. 1113 · Angkor Wat
  19. 1250 · Easter Island (Rapa Nui)
  20. 1300 · New Zealand
  21. 1325 · Tenochtitlan
  22. 1400 · Cusco and the Sacred Valley
  23. 1450 · Machu Picchu
  24. 1584 · Port Famine
  25. 1598 · Mauritius
  26. 1642 · Tasmania
  27. 1680 · Appalachia
  28. 1799 · The Southern Cape
  29. 1805 · Great Falls of the Missouri
OlderToday
Each dot is a place, on a log scale: every tick to the left is ten times further back.

Era 1 of 5 · Until 3500 BC

Before history

Stone tools, Ice Age giants and the first carved temples, long before writing.

  1. 200,000 BC

    202,026 years ago

    Hueyatlaco

    Disputed dates of around 200,000 years ago

    Puebla, Mexico · Mesoamerica

    • The Forgotten Evidence of Humans in America ~200,000 Years Ago

  2. 11,000 BC

    13,026 years ago

    Ice Age America

    The last dire wolves, about 13,000 years ago

    North and South America · North America

    • Extinctions Through Time: Full Series (+1 Hour Supercut)
    • The Extinct Dire Wolves of North & South America

  3. 9,500 BC

    11,526 years ago

    Göbekli Tepe

    c. 9500 to 8000 BC

    Şanlıurfa, Türkiye · Egypt and the Old World

    • There’s a Big Problem with Gobekli Tepe's "Simple" Hunter-Gatherers
    • Gobekli Tepe & Tas Tepeler Discoveries
    • The Missing Head of Gobekli Tepe

Era 2 of 5 · 3500 to 1000 BC

The first monuments

Pyramids, stone circles, Bronze Age cities and the Olmec heads.

  1. 3,000 BC

    5,026 years ago

    Stonehenge

    c. 3000 to 1500 BC

    Wiltshire, England · Egypt and the Old World

    • Stonehenge Discovery & the Maltese Cross!

  2. 2,560 BC

    4,586 years ago

    Giza and the Nile Valley

    The Great Pyramid, c. 2560 BC

    Egypt · Egypt and the Old World

    • Debating the Age of Egypt's Osirion
    • The First Explorers of the Osirion: Egypt’s Buried Megaliths
    • Exposing the Lies everyone believes about Ancient Egypt

  3. 2,000 BC

    4,026 years ago

    Wrangel Island

    The last woolly mammoths, c. 2000 BC

    Arctic Ocean, Russia · Far shores

    • Extinctions Through Time: Full Series (+1 Hour Supercut)
    • Humans never found the Last Mammoths on this frozen Siberian island...

  4. 1,600 BC

    3,626 years ago

    The Olmec Heartland

    Olmec civilization, c. 1600 to 400 BC

    Veracruz and Tabasco, Mexico · Mesoamerica

    • The First Photos of Olmec Heads (that we know of)
    • The Problem with the Olmec Heads
    • The First Explorers of the Amazon, Olmecs, & more! (3 hour Supercut)

  5. 1,600 BC

    3,626 years ago

    Akrotiri

    Buried by the Thera eruption, c. 1600 BC

    Santorini, Greece · Egypt and the Old World

    • The Destruction of Akrotiri: Bronze Age Atlantis

  6. 1,290 BC

    3,316 years ago

    The Osirion at Abydos

    Credited to Seti I, c. 1290 BC (and argued about)

    Egypt · Egypt and the Old World

    • Debating the Age of Egypt's Osirion
    • The First Explorers of the Osirion: Egypt’s Buried Megaliths

Era 3 of 5 · 1000 BC to AD 1000

Classical worlds

Maya cities, the Nazca lines, the Great Library and the Amazon’s garden cities.

  1. 1,000 BC

    3,026 years ago

    The Maya Lowlands

    Preclassic to the Classic collapse, c. 1000 BC to AD 900

    Campeche and Quintana Roo, Mexico · Mesoamerica

    • Exploring Forgotten Appalachia & Ancient Caves of Central America (Supercut)
    • The First Photos of Maya Pyramids (that we know of)
    • Exploring a 2800 Year Old Buried City in the Jungle!

  2. 600 BC

    2,626 years ago

    Becan

    Occupied c. 600 BC to AD 1200

    Campeche, Mexico · Mesoamerica

    • Climbing the Great Pyramid of Becan

  3. 500 BC

    2,526 years ago

    The Nazca Lines

    c. 500 BC to AD 500

    Ica Region, Peru · South America

    • The Nazca Lines Make Absolutely No Sense

  4. 500 BC

    2,526 years ago

    The Amazon

    Garden cities, c. 500 BC to AD 1600

    Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia · South America

    • We're Finally Finding Lost Cities in the Amazon
    • The First Explorers of the Amazon, Olmecs, & more! (3 hour Supercut)
    • Luke Caverns on Ancient South America (2+ hours)

  5. 285 BC

    2,311 years ago

    Alexandria

    The Great Library, from c. 285 BC

    Egypt · Egypt and the Old World

    • The Lost Ruins of Alexandria's Library
    • The Burned Knowledge of Alexandria's Library

  6. 100 BC

    2,126 years ago

    Teotihuacan

    c. 100 BC to AD 550

    State of Mexico, Mexico · Mesoamerica

    • Secrets of the Mexican Pyramids, Explained!

  7. AD 200

    1,826 years ago

    Gila Wilderness

    Mogollon country, c. AD 200 to 1450

    New Mexico, USA · North America

    • 11 Day Expedition Discovering Ruins in Uncharted New Mexico

  8. AD 500

    1,526 years ago

    Ciudad Perdida (Teyuna)

    Tairona city, built c. AD 500 to 600

    Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia · South America

    • Colombia’s Forgotten City… that Conquistadors never found

Era 4 of 5 · AD 1000 to 1500

Empires and islands

Angkor, the Aztec and Inca capitals, the moai and the last giant moa.

  1. 1113

    913 years ago

    Angkor Wat

    Built c. 1113 to 1150

    Siem Reap, Cambodia · Far shores

    • Lost Knowledge of Ancient Cambodia
    • The Mind Blowing Engineering of Angkor Wat

  2. 1250

    776 years ago

    Easter Island (Rapa Nui)

    The moai, c. AD 1250 to 1500

    Chile · South America

    • Easter Island Recap!

  3. 1300

    726 years ago

    New Zealand

    The giant moa, gone by c. 1445

    South Island · Far shores

    • New Zealand's Giant Moa... & the Explorers who found them

  4. 1325

    701 years ago

    Tenochtitlan

    Aztec capital, 1325 to 1521

    Mexico City, Mexico · Mesoamerica

    • Aztec Megaliths You've Never Seen Before

  5. 1400

    626 years ago

    Cusco and the Sacred Valley

    Inca capital, c. 1400 to 1532

    Peru · South America

    • Ancient Lost Tunnels in Peru finally found? - The Legendary Chincanas
    • Joe Rogan Experience & Peru Recap!
    • Megalithic Stonework in Ancient Peru!

  6. 1450

    576 years ago

    Machu Picchu

    Built c. 1450; brought to the world in 1911

    Cusco Region, Peru · South America

    • Major Discoveries at Machu Picchu: LiDAR finds Ruins & Buried Highway
    • Major Discoveries at Machu Picchu: LiDAR Finds New Ruins & Highway (Livestream)
    • I went back to Machu Picchu... I still have questions

Era 5 of 5 · AD 1500 to 1936

The age of explorers

Lost colonies, the dodo, the thylacine and the frontier, as the first explorers wrote it down.

  1. 1584

    442 years ago

    Port Famine

    Spanish colony founded 1584

    Strait of Magellan, Chile · South America

    • We’ve Finally Found Magellan’s Lost Colony in South America

  2. 1598

    428 years ago

    Mauritius

    Found by Dutch sailors 1598; the dodo gone by c. 1662

    Indian Ocean · Far shores

    • Extinctions Through Time: Full Series (+1 Hour Supercut)
    • The 1598 Discovery that Changed History Forever
    • The First Explorers of Dodo Island: Discovery & Extinction of the Dodo Bird

  3. 1642

    384 years ago

    Tasmania

    Dutch landfall 1642; the last thylacine died 1936

    Australia · Far shores

    • The Last Tasmanian Tigers... & the Explorers who saw them

  4. 1680

    346 years ago

    Appalachia

    Jaguar sightings on the frontier, 1680 to 1825

    Eastern USA · North America

    • Up Close with Eastern America's Extinct Cats
    • The Forgotten Predator that Terrorized Early American Explorers
    • Exploring Forgotten Appalachia & Ancient Caves of Central America (Supercut)

  5. 1799

    227 years ago

    The Southern Cape

    The last bluebuck, 1799

    Western Cape, South Africa · Far shores

    • How the Rarest Animal in Africa Disappeared in 1799

  6. 1805

    221 years ago

    Great Falls of the Missouri

    Lewis and Clark meet the grizzly, summer 1805

    Montana, USA · North America

    • The 1805 Expedition That Encountered America's Deadliest Apex Predator
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