Arkaim
On the steppe of the southern Urals, archaeologists found a 4,000-year-old ringed settlement just before it was due to be flooded.
What was reported
In 1987, archaeologists surveying land in the southern Urals, which was about to be flooded for a reservoir, found the remains of a circular fortified settlement with two rings of walls and houses around a central square. It was about 4,000 years old.
Arkaim was saved from flooding, and it has since become both an important archaeological site and a magnet for spiritual seekers, who claim it has healing energies, astronomical secrets or links to lost civilisations.
Explanations offered
Archaeologists see it as one of many fortified settlements of the Bronze Age Sintashta culture, known for early chariots and metalworking. There is no scientific evidence for the energy claims. It is now a protected reserve.
- When
- About 4,000 years old; found in 1987
- Where
- Chelyabinsk Oblast, southern Urals, Russia
- Witnesses
- Archaeologists, visitors and spiritual seekers
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.