Are there man-made pyramids in the Bosnian mountains?
Real or a cruel hoax that is destroying a country's heritage? Keep reading as we explain everything you need to know about the unusual claims surrounding the 'pyramids' in Bosnia.
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Semir Osmanagić doesn't care what people think, which is probably a good thing because he's spent much of his career under fire from the scientific community. The Bosnian-American businessman has built an empire on the so-called ‘Bosnian Pyramids’ – what he believes to be the largest man-made ancient pyramids on Earth.
Despite numerous rebuttals from prominent archaeologists, geologists and sociologists, all of whom agree the ‘pyramids’ are non-remarkable natural formations called flatirons, Osmanagić remains unconvinced.
Why does he think so many of his contemporaries resist his ideas? They'd point to rigorous scientific evaluation. He puts it down to fear. ‘This discovery changes forever what they teach us in schools about human history’, he shrugged, ‘It's a huge change.’
The claims
The story begins in April 2005, when Osmanagić visited the Visočica mountain range in central Bosnia and Herzegovina. During his trip, he couldn't help but notice the strange pyramidal shapes of the surrounding hills, especially Visočica Hill. This was enough to feed his imagination. Without conducting any scientific investigations, Osmanagić returned to the U.S. to write his explosive book, Bosnian Valley of the Pyramids.
Here and in subsequent interviews, he argues that Visočica Hill is a man-made structure – one of five that lay atop a network of prehistoric tunnels, which he dubbed the ‘Ravne Tunnels’. He added they were probably built by the Illyrians, an ancient civilisation that lived in the area between 12,000 BC and 500 BC.
Perhaps his pseudo-archaeological theories would have attracted little attention had they remained on the fringe. However, Osmanagić preferred the limelight. He quickly established a charity called the Archaeological Park: Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun Foundation to fund his research and began recruiting eager volunteers to assist with excavations.
What's the purpose of his life's work? Apparently, to ‘break a cloud of negative energy, allowing the Earth to receive cosmic energy from the centre of the galaxy’. Although this might seem bizarre to many, it is quite consistent with Osmanagić’s other unusual beliefs, including that Hitler escaped to an underground base in Antarctica after World War II and that humans are a product of alien technology.
The controversy
As you can imagine, Osmanagić's theories drew a barrage of criticism from the scientific community. Several prominent archaeologists dismissed his claims in the damning declaration below:
‘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 Bosnia-Herzegovina on a daily basis.’
They claim Osmanagić is threatening Bosnia's real heritage. The so-called pyramids rest on the remains of a medieval capital and Roman observation post, which are being unceremoniously destroyed during excavations.
Geologists from the University of Tuzla have also investigated the pyramid-shaped formations. They reported that the hills were made from alternating layers of conglomerate, clay, and sandstone, just like the surrounding natural structures.
Cruel hoax or harmless speculation?
What makes the idea of pyramids so attractive, and does it really matter whether they're real or not? There are plenty of sites with unusual pyramidal structures, including America, Antarctica and even Mars, that have captured the world's imagination.
Are they all cruel hoaxes? Or is there some overriding benefit that keeps the theories alive?
Socioeconomic factors have undoubtedly contributed to the popularity of the Bosnian Pyramids. The Bosnian conflict in the early to mid-90s devastated the country. But Osmanagić and his pyramids reignited a sense of national pride – it was something to be hopeful about in the aftermath of significant human and financial loss.
Similarly, Antarctica has enjoyed a small boost in tourism since its very own pyramid claims. As recently as March 2024, scientists were investigating the possibility of a pyramid underneath the glacial ice. While some are genuinely excited, others are less optimistic. Dr Mitch Darcy, a geologist from the German Research Centre for Geosciences, said:
‘It’s not a complicated shape, so it’s not a special coincidence either. By definition, it is a nunatak, which is simply a peak of rock sticking out above a glacier or an ice sheet. This one has the shape of a pyramid, but that doesn’t make it a human construction.’
