5 Ancient Structures That Were Mysteriously Advanced For Their Time

While we now largely know that ancient cultures were much more advanced than previously thought, science continues to be amazed at some of the achievements put forth by our ancestors. Their feats of engineering are at times bewildering, and even though we know that some ancients were quite advanced, some of these structures leave us perplexed as to how they were completed. Here’s a list of the most mysterious that we’ve found:
The Marib Dam

The Marib Dam is regarded as one of the greatest engineering feats of the ancient world. It was built around 750 BC in Yemen by the Sabaen empire, whose kingdom was based near the modern capital of Sanaa, and took hundreds of years to complete.
Although built long before the existence of concrete, the dam stood for over 1000 years, outlasting the culture who built it by hundreds of years.
When the 2000 foot structure finally failed around 600 AD, it brought down much of the agriculture in the region with it.
Gobekli Tepe

This Turkish complex of huge stone pillars was somehow erected by what would have been hunter-gatherer societies around 9000 BC, and is thought to be the oldest human-constructed site found to date.
It predates agriculture, writing, the walls of Jericho (previously thought to be the oldest human monument), and was built several thousand years before Stonehenge. Archaeologists are convinced that this was a religious site for ancient pre-civilized humans, as there is no  evidence of habitation.
As the National Geographic so succinctly put it, the discovery “was like finding that someone had built a 747 in a basement with an X-Acto knife.”
Underground City Of Derinkuyu
Another fascinating Turkish archaeological site, the 18-story Derinkuyu underground city would have been able to accommodate up to 20,000 people, plus their livestock and stores.
It was built around the 8th century BC, but scientists are not sure by whom.
What is obvious is that the feat of engineering is astounding, as the complex may have started as simple caves, but was completed with tools such as hammers and chisels. The site has yet to be fully excavated.
Puma Punku
This is an ancient city in Bolivia built by the Tiwanaku people, and makes this list due to its precise stonework.
Despite lacking technology, the construction boasts straight cuts on hundreds of identical building blocks, the largest of which is 25 by 17 feet and weighs 130 tons.
The work was so fine that when the Inca came along, they thought that the builders must have been gods.
The Hypogeum of Hal-Saflieni
This prehistoric underground structure was discovered by accident in Malta back in 1902. What makes it a feat of engineering, besides being three stories and made of megalithic stones (feats in themselves), it was discovered that when standing at a certain spot, a voice speaking in the 95-120 Hz range would reverberate throughout the entire structure.
What’s more is that sounds at a frequency of 110 Hz produce an effect that is consciousness altering in humans. Scientists don’t know who built this or why, but it is known that someone chanting at the right frequency at a certain location would have induced a trance-like religious experience among ancient worshipers.
The required knowledge for this feat of acoustics is perplexing to scientists.