--- title: Petra Ceremonial Monument Discovered by Archaeologists description: Archaeologists have used satellite imagery and drone photography to discover an enormous ceremonial platform near the center of Petra. canonical: https://time.com/4363081/petra-jordan-platform-discovered/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-09T18:18:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:55:29.244Z article:section: Science og:title: A Massive, Ancient Platform Has Been Discovered in Petra og:description: Archaeologists just published the discovery they made in Jordan og:url: https://time.com/4363081/petra-jordan-platform-discovered/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltac536e811508732b/69889723e20a8712fea912a1/jordan-petra-landmark.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Serenity Now LIttle Petra og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A Massive, Ancient Platform Has Been Discovered in Petra twitter:description: Archaeologists just published the discovery they made in Jordan twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltac536e811508732b/69889723e20a8712fea912a1/jordan-petra-landmark.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A Massive, Ancient Platform Discovered in Petra Has Been 'Hidden in Plain Sight' > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=58dbdc23-0f24-4a68-992e-2edd7f23300c&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Researchers Say Stonehenge Used to Have a Giant Neighbor [Watch (HLS stream): Researchers Say Stonehenge Used to Have a Giant Neighbor](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/piFxmAMU.m3u8) (0:55)  _Published 2015-09-07. Researchers in England just discovered a "superhenge" monument buried underground near Stonehenge._  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Jun 9, 2016 6:18 PM UTC  The monastery in Petra, a world famous landmark in southern Jordan, on Feb. 23, 2016. The monastery in Petra, a world famous landmark in southern Jordan, on Feb. 23, 2016. Sam McNeil—AP  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Jun 9, 2016 6:18 PM UTC Archaeologists have used satellite imagery and drone photography [to discover an enormous ceremonial platform](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/06/space-archaeology-satellite-petra-ancient-city-discovery-jordan-monument/) near the center of the ancient [city of Petra](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2121571,00.html). Sarah Parcak and Christopher Tuttle published their finding in a [new report](http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5615/bullamerschoorie.375.0035) that reveals the monument that has been, as the paper is titled, hiding in plain sight. That is all the more impressive because of the platform’s size: at 184 by 161 feet, it’s roughly the length of an Olympic swimming pool (and twice the width), _National Geographic_ reports. “I’m sure that over the course of two centuries of research \[in Petra\], someone had to know \[this site\] was there, but it’s never been systematically studied or written up,” Tuttle told the magazine. “I’ve worked in Petra for 20 years, and I knew that something was there, but it’s certainly legitimate to call this a discovery.” Using the [aerial images](http://time.com/4073584/2016-world-monuments-watch-photos/), the archaeologists determined that a small building sat atop the platform. Petra, located in present-day Jordan, was founded around the second century B.C., and abandoned by the seventh century A.D. \[[_National Geographic_](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/06/space-archaeology-satellite-petra-ancient-city-discovery-jordan-monument/)\] ## Transcript Stonehenge might not have been the main attraction 4500 years ago. In England, researchers with the Stonehenge Hidden Landscape Project just discovered a super- henge monument which would've stood just about a mile or so away from the smaller Stonehenge. Using the latest technology Being able to look underneath the banks and see what they hide. The evidence suggests there used to be a row or fence of 90 stones, some of which could have stood 15 feet tall. At least 30 to 40 are still there that have just been pushed over. And the massive bank being placed on top of it. Besides adding the knowledge of prehistoric Europe, the find raises important questions about the landscape the monument builders lived on. It's not clear yet if this super henge was built before or after Stonehenge, but the team's leading prehistorian said everything written previously about the Stonehenge landscape and the ancient monuments within it will need to be rewritten. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4363081/petra-jordan-platform-discovered/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4363081/petra-jordan-platform-discovered/"},"headline":"A Massive, Ancient Platform Discovered in Petra Has Been 'Hidden in Plain Sight'","datePublished":"2016-06-09T18:18:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:55:29.244Z","description":"Archaeologists just published the discovery they made in Jordan","url":"https://time.com/4363081/petra-jordan-platform-discovered/","keywords":["Archaeology","Travel"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltac536e811508732b/69889723e20a8712fea912a1/jordan-petra-landmark.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltac536e811508732b/69889723e20a8712fea912a1/jordan-petra-landmark.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Serenity Now LIttle Petra","caption":"The monastery in Petra, a world famous landmark in southern Jordan, Feb. 23, 2016.","creditText":"Sam McNeil—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/archaeology/","name":"Archaeology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4363081/petra-jordan-platform-discovered/","name":"A Massive, Ancient Platform Discovered in Petra Has Been 'Hidden in Plain Sight'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Researchers Say Stonehenge Used to Have a Giant Neighbor","description":"Researchers in England just discovered a \"superhenge\" monument buried underground near Stonehenge.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/piFxmAMU/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-09-07T14:32:40.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/piFxmAMU.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4363081/petra-jordan-platform-discovered/","duration":"PT55S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4363081/petra-jordan-platform-discovered/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```