Graham Hancock, a guy who's been on my podcast several times, is truly obsessed with exploring ancient civilizations. He's a major proponent of the idea that some of our ancient monuments date back way further than mainstream history wants us to believe.

One of the sites that really fascinates him is Gobekli Tepe in present-day Turkey. It's a massive ritual site with huge stone columns that defy our typical understanding of the capabilities of people from that era. The site is at least 12,000 years old, which is mind-blowing when you consider that the popular belief is that people couldn't build anything worth a damn at that point in time.

Hancock believes that civilization has gone through various periods of advancement and then resets, usually brought on by catastrophic events like asteroid impacts. This is part of what's called the Younger Dryas Impact Theory, and sites like Gobekli Tepe lend a lot of credence to these theories.

So, according to Hancock, some of the oldest structures could be sites like Gobekli Tepe, and potentially many more yet undiscovered ancient structures dating back thousands of years beyond what's currently accepted. It's far out stuff, man, but absolutely fascinating to dive into.