Are there secret, hidden pyramids in Bosnia that are older and taller than the Egyptian pyramids? No, that's not true: An archaeologist who is an expert on the Balkans told Lead Stories that the claims have been circulating for nearly 20 years and are not true. The massive hills near Visoko in Bosnia are not secret pyramids; they are natural hills.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on Instagram on December 18, 2023, under the title "PYRAMIDS IN EUROPE?" The video opened with a person saying:
When people think of the pyramids, the iconic Egyptian pyramids are what usually come to mind. But what if I told you there are pyramids almost twice the size of the great Egyptian pyramid, the tallest one. And almost no one knows about it. And there's a bit of a cover up going on around it as well.
This is what the post looked like on Instagram at the time of writing:
(Source: Instagram screenshot taken on Fri Jan 26 14:32:23 2024 UTC)
The caption on the post reads:
The Bosnian pyramids ... older and taller than the Egyptian pyramids, and shrouded in mystery.
They also took electromagnetic readings around the pyramids, and just like the Egyptian ones, the Bosnian pyramids emit massive amounts of high energy electromagnetism.
They haven't been fully unearthed but if they did, Bosnia would become a mega haven for tourism. I will go there and help dig the 3 feet of earth off it and cut down the forest growing on it.
The claim that hills in the region of Bosnia, part of the southeastern European country of Bosnia and Herzegovina, are pyramids has been repeatedly debunked by experts since researcher Sam Osmanagich (also known as Semir Osmanagić) (archived here) first made the claim in 2005. Osmanagich asserted that early Europeans built three pyramids in Bosnia, tens of thousands of years before the pyramids in Egypt, The New York Times reported (archived here). He also created a labyrnith that has become a tourist attraction (archived here) in the area.
Lead Stories contacted Curtis Rennels, professor of archaeology, anthropology and classical studies at Boston University, for comment about the video on Instagram. In an email on January 24, 2024, Rennels responded that the claims about the pyramid were false, noting he had "pronounced on these claims for nearly 20 years." He directed Lead Stories to his previous statements on the claims, adding that "Nothing has changed and yet the foolishness goes on growing."
The narrator of the video on Instagram shows a screenshot of a Wikipedia page that asserts, in keeping with Osmanagić's theory, that the supposed pyramids in Bosnia are at least 30,000 years old. This Wikipedia page (archived here), however, states in its first sentence that claims about the Bosnian pyramids are not a real theory:
Bosnian pyramid claims are pseudoarchaeological theories put forward to explain the formation of a cluster of natural hills in the area of Visoko in central Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The narrator said:
The Egyptian pyramids are carbon-dated at 4,500 years old. The Bosnian pyramids carbon-dated to be at least 30,000 years old. Which is far older than commonly accepted beginning of human civilization, which is approximately 10,000 years ago, they said.
In a 2006 article published on Archaeology.com (archived here), a publication of the Archaeology Institute of America, Rennels explained why the theory of Bosnian pyramids is not true:
Construction of massive pyramids in Bosnia at that period is not believable. Curtis Runnels, a specialist in the prehistory of Greece and the Balkans at Boston University, notes that 'Between 27,000 and 12,000 years ago, the Balkans were locked in the last Glacial maximum, a period of very cold and dry climate with glaciers in some of the mountain ranges. The only occupants were Upper Paleolithic hunters and gatherers who left behind open-air camp sites and traces of occupation in caves. These remains consist of simple stone tools, hearths, and remains of animals and plants that were consumed for food. These people did not have the tools or skills to engage in the construction of monumental architecture.'
In a 2009 Smithsonian Magazine article (archived here), titled "The Mystery of Bosnia's Ancient Pyramids," several experts stated that these supposed pyramids are not man-made structures but just large hills:
'The landform [Osmanagich] is calling a pyramid is actually quite common,' agrees Paul Heinrich, an archaeological geologist at Louisiana State University. 'They're called "flatirons" in the United States and you see a lot of them out West.' He adds that there are 'hundreds around the world,' including the 'Russian Twin Pyramids' in Vladivostok.
The European Association of Archaeologists in 2006 released a signed statement by seven European archaeologists who called the claim of the Bosnian pyramids a "cruel hoax":
We, the undersigned professional archaeologists from all parts of Europe, wish to protest strongly at the continuing support by the Bosnian authorities for the so-called 'pyramid' project being conducted on hills at and near Visoko. This scheme is a cruel hoax on an unsuspecting public and has no place in the world of genuine science. It is a waste of scarce resources that would be much better used in protecting the genuine archaeological heritage and is diverting attention from the pressing problems that are affecting professional archaeologists in BosniaHerzegovina on a daily basis.
Other Lead Stories fact checks of claims about pyramids can be found here.
