The step pyramids, similar to the ones in Central and South America, are twice as old as the Pyramids of Egypt.

Recently I started to investigate a story about some mysterious pyramids and it led me to a much bigger mystery:  The Kola Peninsula of Russia.  It is so far north, who could live there?  It is almost totally inside the Arctic Circle.  The Kola Peninsula is an epicenter of archaeological wonders.

There have been some timespans that much of Earth’s northern territory was covered by sheets of ice.  Possibly the Kola Peninsula was exposed long enough to become inhabited.  Inhabited it was.  Way far back in time, a civilization formed at the far north of the peninsula—seven to five millennium BC.  The rest of the peninsula was uninhabited until peoples straggled in from the south in the third millennium BC.

The early inhabitants of the Kola Peninsula are remarkable for building elaborate stone labyrinths.  Who were these builders?  What was the purpose of the labyrinths?  One opinion is that the labyrinths were landmarks—beacons—for ancient mariners.  Others think they were made for shamanistic rituals, or as fish traps.  There are still others who think they are astronomical/astrological aids.

The most famous labyrinth of Kola is above the polar circle, the Babylon Labyrinth.   It is thought to be 4,000 years old, but no one knows for sure.

Other northern countries have built similar labyrinths.  In order to test the mariner beacon theory, men in boats set out to see if the labyrinths, built along shorelines, usually, could be viewed from the sea.  They were able to be viewed from a  distance, even when they were partially covered by moss, lichens, or snow.

Various peoples arrived on the Kola Peninsula throughout the centuries:  The Sami, the Novgorods, and The Russian Pomors.  The peninsula is currently under Russian jurisdiction.

Areas of Russia and northern countries of the region have landscapes that are very sparsely dotted with mysterious pyramid-shaped mountains.  Except for their precise shapes, they resemble natural land masses.  They have always been considered that—natural parts of the landscape. 

When some human-built pyramids were discovered on the Kola Peninsula, the natural pyramids throughout the north were viewed in a different light.  Perhaps there were man-made stone pyramids inside them—they had been overgrown down through the ages.

Possibly 9,000 years ago, some of the inhabitants of the Kola Peninsula built at least two-step pyramids out of local stone.  They are wonders of construction.  Close by are hand-crafted stone walls and the foundation and walls of a water reservoir.  The step pyramids, similar to the ones in Central and South America, are twice as old as the Pyramids of Egypt!

Archaeological expeditions in years past have been thwarted.  The area is much too harsh.  There has been little interest in funding and the population of the area dropped off after the Soviet Union fell, so there are not many human or other resources available to help. 

Two of the most interested scientific parties died years ago before they could complete their quests of examining the pyramids.  They were able to retrieve some tantalizing artifacts, including some metalwork that had elaborate designs of labyrinths pounded into them.  The labyrinths are a recurring theme in the far north.

The riddle of the Russian Pyramids is an archeological-mystery-in- progress.

Maybe we will know more in the coming months, as there is much-renewed interest in these wonders.

SMH

Sara Marie Hogg is the author of It Rises from the Pee Dee. Please click HERE to find the novel on Amazon.