5 famous prehistoric sites around the world tourists can still visit

Travelling to prehistoric sites offers a rare chance to stand where ancient humans once lived, painted, built and worshipped thousands, even tens of thousands, of years ago. Long before written history, long before kingdoms, temples or cities existed, early humans left behind extraordinary traces of their lives. These prehistoric sites, scattered across continents, offer travellers a rare chance to step tens of thousands of years back in time and witness the creativity, beliefs and ingenuity of ancient societies. From intricately painted caves to massive monoliths aligned with the stars, these places reveal how our earliest ancestors understood their world and recorded their experiences. Here are five remarkable prehistoric sites across the globe that remain open to modern travellers.

Tucked away in Brazil’s remote Piauí state, Serra da Capivara National Park is home to one of the largest and oldest collections of prehistoric rock art in the Americas. Some paintings are believed to be more than 25,000 years old, depicting humans dancing, hunting, fighting, gathering and performing rituals. The park’s dramatic landscape of canyons, cliffs and rock formations shelters over 1,300 archaeological sites, many of which are accessible through well-marked trails.

Located on the Salisbury Plain, Stonehenge is one of the most iconic prehistoric monuments in the world. Built in multiple phases between 3000 and 1500 BCE, this ring of massive standing stones continues to intrigue archaeologists with its mysteries. Some theories suggest this site was an astronomical observatory, and some believe this was a ceremonial gathering place. Its exact purpose is still unknown. One can’t help but wonder, how did the Neolithic society transport and erect stones weighing up to 25 tonnes, with most simple tools and techniques?

A UNESCO World Heritage Site in Madhya Pradesh, the Bhimbetka Rock Shelters are among the oldest known human habitations in the Indian subcontinent. Some artworks here may date back 30,000 years, spanning early Stone Age cultures to the medieval era. The shelters contain over 700 caves, adorned with vivid depictions of hunting scenes, dancing figures, animals and communal life.

Often called the world’s oldest known temple complex, Göbekli Tepe in southeastern Turkey dates back to 9600–8200 BCE, predating agriculture and pottery. Its massive T-shaped stone pillars, some carved with foxes, snakes, boars and vultures, suggest the presence of organised ritual activity long before settled life began. And did we say this was before agriculture and pottery? You see, this site challenged earlier assumptions about civilisation, proving that religious structures may have come before farming, not after. And how did they build a temple complex with just simple stone tools?

The remote Pacific island of Rapa Nui, commonly known as Easter Island, is famous for its moai, the colossal stone statues carved by Polynesian settlers between 1100 and 1600 CE. There are nearly 900 moai scattered across the island, many standing on ahu (ceremonial platforms). Travellers can explore sites like Rano Raraku, the volcanic quarry where the statues were carved, and Ahu Tongariki, the island’s largest ceremonial platform. The moai remain one of the world’s greatest archaeological mysteries, with theories suggesting they represented revered ancestors.