People
625 people in 95 mysteries
Researchers, witnesses, makers and the missing: everyone the mysteries' records name, with what they did in each.
A 4 on this page
AB
Adam BrummArchaeologist, Griffith University; So'a Basin dating
AVHomo floresiensis, the origin of the Flores "hobbits"
Alexei VranichArchaeologist; excavator of Puma Punku
AAPuma Punku and Tiwanaku
Ali AkbarArchaeologist; co-author of the 2023 paper; leads the 2025 study and restoration team
ABGunung Padang
Audrey BlanchardArchaeologist, Archeodunum and Nantes; director of the Le Plasker excavation
Carnac alignments
B 1 on this page
C 6 on this page
CL
Carl LipoArchaeologist, Binghamton University
CEEaster Island moai
Carolyn E. BoydArchaeologist and artist; founder of Shumla; author of the creation-narrative reading
CMWhite Shaman Mural
Cassandra M. DonnellyArchaeologist; potmarks, writers and the integrated signary
CSCypro-Minoan
Charles StanishArchaeologist; proposed the accounting hypothesis and led the 2025 project · born 1956
CTMonte Sierpe, the "Band of Holes"
Charles ThomasArchaeologist; 1963 interpretation of the symbols
CRPictish symbol stones
Christopher R. MooreGeoarchaeologist, University of South Carolina; lead author of the retracted Baffin Bay paper
Younger Dryas impact hypothesis
D 4 on this page
DS
Denise Schmandt-BesseratArchaeologist; author of the token theory of the origin of writing · born 1933
DZProto-cuneiform: the archaic texts of Uruk
Dong ZuobinArchaeologist who began the scientific excavation of Anyang in October 1928 and in 1933 published the ten criteria that divide the inscripti
DGDorothy GarrodBritish Palaeolithic archaeologist, later the first woman professor at Cambridge, who sat on the international commission that dug at Glozel
DRDouglas R. StentonArchaeologist, University of Waterloo; leads the DNA identification work · born 1953
Franklin expedition (HMS Erebus and HMS Terror)
E 3 on this page
EB
E. B. BanningArchaeologist, University of Toronto; author of the house reading
EHGöbekli Tepe
Eric H. ClineArchaeologist, George Washington University; author of 1177 B.C. · born 1960
EMLate Bronze Age collapse
Erik MarshArchaeologist; Tiwanaku chronology
Puma Punku and Tiwanaku
F 2 on this page
FB
Folke BergmanSwedish archaeologist, Sino-Swedish Expedition
FDTarim Basin mummies (Xiaohe)
François DessetArchaeologist (Liège); lead author of the 2022 decipherment
Proto-Elamite and Linear Elamite
G 3 on this page
GH
George H. PepperAMNH archaeologist of the Hyde Exploring Expedition
GMGreat houses of Chaco Canyon
Glenn M. SchwartzArchaeologist who excavated Umm el-Marra and proposed that its clay cylinders carry alphabetic writing of c. 2400 BC
GNProto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabet
Gordon NobleArchaeologist, University of Aberdeen; dating and excavation · born 1950
Pictish symbol stones
H 7 on this page
HJ
Hans J. NissenArchaeologist of Uruk; co-author of ZATU and Archaic Bookkeeping · born 1935
Proto-cuneiform: the archaic texts of Uruk
Harald MellerState archaeologist of Saxony-Anhalt, director of the Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte · born 1960
HJNebra Sky Disc
Harry J. ShaferArchaeologist; Witte Museum curator of archaeology; co-author of the first plasma-oxidation date
HXWhite Shaman Mural
He XiaogeArchaeologist; author of the 2025 and 2026 studies of the bronzes
HSSanxingdui and its sacrificial pits
Helaine SilvermanArchaeologist; excavator of Cahuachi
HVNazca Lines
Henri van EffenterreArchaeologist; excavator of Dreros, publisher of the Dreros bilinguals · 1912–2007
HTHenry TantaleánArchaeologist; co-author of the 2015 survey and the 2025 study · born 1974
Monte Sierpe, the "Band of Holes"
J 6 on this page
JL
Jacob L. BongersArchaeologist, University of Sydney; lead author of the 2025 study
JAMonte Sierpe, the "Band of Holes"
Jo Anne Van TilburgArchaeologist, UCLA; director of the Easter Island Statue Project
JMEaster Island moai
Jodi MagnessArchaeologist; author of the standard account of Qumran
JWDead Sea Scrolls: dating, scribes and provenance
John Wayne JanusekArchaeologist, Vanderbilt University
JDPuma Punku and Tiwanaku
Joshua D. EnglehardtArchaeologist; archaeometric study
JCCascajal block and Isthmian writing
José CaprilesArchaeologist, Penn State; Palaspata
Puma Punku and Tiwanaku
K 1 on this page
L 1 on this page
M 10 on this page
MG
Marija GimbutasLithuanian-American archaeologist who proposed the "Old European script" as the sacred writing of a goddess-centred Neolithic Europe · 1921–
MHMark HortonBritish archaeologist; leads the Hatteras excavations
MDLost Colony of Roanoke
María del Carmen Rodríguez MartínezINAH archaeologist; registered and published the block
MSCascajal block and Isthmian writing
Masato SakaiArchaeologist, Yamagata University; leads the Nasca geoglyph survey
MDNazca Lines
Maurice DunandFrench archaeologist who directed the excavation of Byblos from 1924 to 1975, found the pseudo-hieroglyphic inscriptions in 1928 to 1932, an
MGMichael GuggenbergerClassical archaeologist; catalogued the dodecahedra
MJGallo-Roman dodecahedra
Michael J. MorwoodArchaeologist; co-director of the Liang Bua excavations
Homo floresiensis, the origin of the Flores "hobbits"
Mike Parker PearsonArchaeologist, UCL; director of the Stonehenge Riverside Project and the Preseli excavations · born 1957
MVStonehenge
Miloje VasićSerbian archaeologist who excavated Vinča-Belo Brdo from 1908 and published Preistorijska Vinča · 1869–1956
MKMoritz KinzelBuilding archaeologist, DAI Istanbul
Göbekli Tepe
N 2 on this page
NJ
N. J. KromDutch archaeologist; recorded the site in 1914
NVGunung Padang
Nicolae VlassaRomanian archaeologist at the Cluj museum who found the Tărtăria tablets in 1961 · 1934–1984
P 3 on this page
PL
Patricia L. CrownArchaeologist; cacao residues and Room 28
PDGreat houses of Chaco Canyon
Paul-Marie DuvalFrench archaeologist of Roman Gaul · 1912–1997
POGallo-Roman dodecahedra
Ponciano Ortíz CeballosINAH archaeologist; registered and published the block
Cascajal block and Isthmian writing
R 4 on this page
RH
Ran HonglinArchaeologist, Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology; first author of the 2025 report on the new pits
RSSanxingdui and its sacrificial pits
Robert S. WeinerArchaeologist; Chaco roads and lidar
RGGreat houses of Chaco Canyon
Rupert GebhardArchaeologist; co-author of the Iron Age critique
Nebra Sky Disc
Rüdiger KrauseArchaeologist; co-author of the Iron Age critique · born 1958
Nebra Sky Disc
S 3 on this page
SR
Salomon ReinachArchaeologist, member of the Académie des Inscriptions and director of the Musée des Antiquités nationales, who dug at Glozel for three days
SMShan M. M. WinnAmerican archaeologist whose 1973 UCLA dissertation and 1981 book gave the Vinča signs their standard list and the verdict "pre-writing"
SASolveig A. TurpinArchaeologist; surveyed Seminole Canyon in 1980; read the Pecos River figures as shamans
White Shaman Mural
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