Case file No. 05 · The ancient past and faith
Ancient monuments such as the pyramids, the Nazca lines and the Easter Island statues were too difficult for ancient peoples, so visitors from space must have built or taught them.
There is no evidence for it, and a lot of evidence against.
For the best-known monuments, archaeologists have found the quarries, tools, workers' towns and written records. The idea rests on the belief that ancient peoples could not have done it, which the evidence does not support.
The idea was made famous by Erich von Däniken's 1968 book [1]. Archaeologists have since documented how several of the monuments were built. At Giza they found the town of the pyramid builders, with bakeries, workshops and tombs [3], and a 4,500-year-old logbook that records the shipping of limestone for the Great Pyramid [2]. The Nazca lines were made by clearing dark stones from the desert surface, and wooden stakes at their ends have been dated [4]. Easter Island statues were carved in a quarry, where unfinished ones remain, and can be moved upright with ropes by small teams [5]. No object of non-human technology has been found in a dated excavation [6].
Claims that supporters often repeat and that we looked for but could not confirm in a reliable source.
At Giza, archaeologists excavated the settlement of the pyramid builders: bakeries, breweries, workshops and the workers' own tombs [3]. In 2013 some of the oldest inscribed papyri known were found at Wadi al-Jarf on the Red Sea. They include the diary of an official named Merer, who recorded shipping limestone blocks for Khufu's pyramid [2].
The lines were drawn by removing the dark stones on the desert surface to expose the lighter ground beneath. Wooden stakes found at the ends of lines have been radiocarbon dated to the era of the Nasca culture [4]. Pottery with the same designs links them to the people who lived in the region [4].
The statues were carved from volcanic rock in a quarry, where hundreds of unfinished ones remain. Experiments show that a statue can be made to “walk” upright using ropes and a small team [5].
The argument says that ancient people could not have done it, so someone else did. It treats a gap in our knowledge as evidence and underestimates the skills of ancient peoples [6]. It also overlooks that most of these peoples, including the builders of the pyramids, left records of their own works [6].
In archaeological excavations of ancient sites, researchers recover tools, pottery, bones and writing. No object of unearthly technology has been found in a securely dated layer [6].
Archaeologists still debate details, such as how exactly some blocks were lifted and what the Nazca lines were used for. The debates are about how people did it [3][4].
When a documentary says that experts “cannot explain” something, check the literature. Often the explanation exists and is simply less dramatic [6].
15 November 2026: First publication. Verdict: No evidence.