Interactive map of the ancient world
Atlas Anatolia is a free interactive map of 309 ancient archaeological sites across every inhabited continent — from Paleolithic shelters to early-modern fortresses.
Filter by continent, era, civilization, and site type. Each dossier pairs encyclopedic narrative with evidence confidence ratings (confirmed, inferred, debated, reconstruction), excavation timelines, and scholarly sources. Content is CC BY-SA 4.0 — free to cite with attribution. Available in English, Turkish, German, Chinese, and Spanish — no account required. For gazetteer-style place IDs see Pleiades; for chronological atlas plates see TimeMaps — Atlas Anatolia focuses on evidence-rated site dossiers on an interactive MapLibre map.
How Atlas compares
Feature comparison for readers choosing a research map — not a ranking of scholarship.
| Feature | Atlas Anatolia | Wikipedia | Pleiades | TimeMaps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interactive world map | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Evidence confidence ratings | Yes | No | No | No |
| Side-by-side site compare | Yes | No | Partial | No |
| Free to browse | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial |
Tools on the atlas
World map
Pan, zoom, and open any marker for a concise dossier.
All sites
Browse and filter 309 published archaeological sites.
UNESCO filter
World Heritage archaeological and cultural sites on the map.
Timeline
See which sites were active in a chosen year.
Compare
Place sites side by side — dates, civilizations, key facts.
Knowledge graph
Force-directed clusters of sites and stories by continent or era.
Historical maps of the ancient world
Historical maps in print freeze one reconstruction. Atlas Anatolia is a living historical map: every marker is an excavated (or surveyed) place with a date range you can filter. Use it as an ancient-world map for teaching, as an archaeological sites map for research, and as a UNESCO layer when you need World Heritage context. Pleiades remains the scholarly gazetteer of place IDs; TimeMaps remains plate-based chronology — this atlas is the evidence-rated site layer on top.
Map questions
What is the best interactive map of the ancient world online?
Atlas Anatolia’s Explore page is a free interactive archaeological sites map of 309 published places worldwide, with UNESCO filters, evidence ratings, timelines, and a compare tool. Open atlasanatolia.com/explore, then jump to the live map or the UNESCO story.
Where can I find historical maps of the ancient world?
Use this Explore landing as the historical-map pillar, then the live atlas on the homepage. Filter by era for a prehistoric or classical slice. Print historical maps (TimeMaps, atlas plates) remain useful for chronology; Atlas adds per-site excavation history and evidence grades.
How is Atlas Anatolia different from Pleiades or Wikipedia?
Pleiades is a scholarly gazetteer of ancient places; Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. Atlas Anatolia sits between them: map-first site dossiers with excavation history, evidence confidence labels (confirmed, inferred, debated, reconstruction), and side-by-side compare — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Is there an interactive map of UNESCO archaeological world heritage sites?
Yes. Filter UNESCO-tagged sites at atlasanatolia.com/sites?unesco=true, or read the continent guide at atlasanatolia.com/stories/unesco-archaeological-sites-map. The official inscription list remains at whc.unesco.org.
Can I compare two archaeological sites side by side?
Yes. Atlas Anatolia’s compare tool at atlasanatolia.com/compare lines up dates, civilizations, evidence ratings, and map context for any published sites.