UNEARTHING EUROPE'S OLDEST PYRAMID COMPLEX (4)

Philip Coppens

Exploring the tunnels
Such doubt, however, does not exist for the nearby tunnels. The town elders tell everyone who wants to hear that they used to enter various tunnels in and around Visoko as kids, walking through them from one side of the town to the other. When a factory was constructed near the river, large cavities had to be filled in with cement so that the premises could be built.
Another known tunnel is the Topuzovo Polje tunnel, which starts near the River Bosna but has been filled in with debris. But, according to historical accounts, this tunnel once led to the Pyramid of the Sun.
To date, two tunnel complexes have been properly explored. About two kilometres from the Pyramid of the Sun is Ravne, a tunnel system that so far has been mapped to a length of 300 metres. Here, the main tunnel has various offshoots, running at 45- or 90-degree angles. In the past, these side tunnels were blocked off with carefully positioned dry stone walls. Along the main passageway, several large, enigmatic stones have been discovered; their purpose remains a mystery. These stones contain a number of inscriptions suggestive of a language.
One side tunnel has stalactites. Italian geologists Dr Dario Andretti and Dr Luciano Leoni have been able to conclude that these would have taken 2,600 to 2,900 years to form, which means the tunnel can be dated to at least 1000 BCE-and most likely is older. This date is of interest, for Dr Barakat's research indicates that approximately 3,000 years ago an earthquake damaged at least one face of the Pyramid of the Sun. Further evidence of such an earthquake is visible on the Pyramid of the Moon, where the stone "pavement" on the top shows obvious signs of folding. It is clear that, circa 1000 BCE, something happened that partially destroyed these structures, and this may explain why the Ravne tunnel complex has been filled in with sand and why other tunnels have collapsed.
So far, excavations of the Ravne complex have brought some remarkable results. In May 2007, a stone mould for cast metal tools was found in the tunnels. Indeed, the Ravne complex shares several characteristics with prehistoric mines elsewhere, such as at Llandudno, Wales. There, too, side tunnels were blocked off by dry stone walls, and "enigmatic" stones sit along the length of these tunnels but, in this case, they were used in the mining process.
If the Ravne tunnel complex had indeed been a mine, then it is likely that its materials were used to create the cement coating of the Pyramid of the Sun. Even sceptic Katherine Reece has argued on the Internet that these tunnels are man-made-"ancient mining tunnels dating from as long ago as 3500 BC when the area was being mined for copper". It underlines that she accepts that there was human activity here at that time, though she is totally unwilling to entertain the notion that there is a pyramid nearby. However, mining experts from Zenica, Banovici and Kakanj have shown that there are no traces of minerals in these tunnels and that, hence, the tunnels could never have been copper mines.
Another opponent who has come around on the tunnels issue is historian and archaeology professor Dr Enver Imamovic, from the University of Sarajevo, who at first claimed that the tunnels are natural caves, even denying that there are side tunnels at 45 degrees, but he also stated that he had not visited them. In short, he was accusing someone of lying, though he himself could not verify anything whatsoever! Recently, though, he has accepted that these tunnels are not natural caves.
A tunnel of a different nature is the one that sits near the town's two rivers, below the grounds of the KTK factory. Here, the walls and ceilings are much more impressive and the layout itself more interesting. These tunnels are unfortunately highly unstable and prone to collapse and flooding, so little exploration has been carried out. But what is known is that the tunnel runs in the direction of the Pyramid of the Sun, dipping under the River Bosna in the very heart of the town. This, of course, suggests careful planning, but in ancient times such a construction was also an excellent means for preserving and safeguarding the underground complex from looters-so much so that, even today, exploring these tunnels remains more than perilous.