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An independent project · Early preview

The best part of a thread should outlive the thread.

Stone Atlas keeps the observation, its source, and the place it belongs to, so the next conversation starts further along.

See how it works Open the atlas
Inside the atlas
Explore the preview
Compare a place
Polygonal stonework5 places to compare
World map showing the locations of the five example sitesAtlantic Ocean
Shared feature · Open comparisonOpen on full map
01 / 03

Start with a place. Compare the details it shares with other sites.

A small tour using sites and videos already in the atlas.

Explore the full map

Fig. 1 · Why it exists

Every thread can add something new, if it lands somewhere it can be found again.

Someone in a comment section notices a joint. Someone in a Facebook group has the photograph from the other side. A paper measured it in 1985. The thread ends, and next year the same question starts from zero.

Stone Atlas is where those pieces land, so the next person starts with all of them. Fig. 1 shows the same five pieces twice.

Five pieces of evidence about one wall
  1. YouTube comment

    A comment points at the joint on screen at 22:00.

    Thread ended
  2. Facebook group

    A member posts the same wall from the other side.

    Thread ended
  3. Reddit reply

    Someone measured the joint width on a visit.

    Thread ended
  4. Paper, 1985

    Protzen worked through the fitting technique in 1985.

    Thread ended
  5. Phone photo

    A visitor notices the record says granite. It is limestone.

    Thread ended
?2019?2022?2025

The same question, asked again from the same starting point.

Fig. 1 Every thread can add something new, if it lands somewhere it can be found again.Worked example. Real place, real source; the people are roles.

Fig. 2 · The record

One record, from a detail to an explanation.

What was observed, where it came from, what it compares with, and how people explain it stay separate, and stay linked. Five words carry the whole thing: Site, Feature, Observation, Connection, Theory.

Sitewhere
Sacsayhuamán
SacsayhuamánCusco, PeruSite record
Featurewhat recurs
Polygonal walls

Many-sided blocks, each cut to fit its neighbours without mortar.

A Feature is the same word at every Site, so records can be compared.

Observationwho saw it, with what

Blocks weighing over a hundred tonnes, each shaped to its neighbours.

The video page
Thread“Can we compare the joints with Delphi?”Replies stay attached to this Observation.
Connectionwhat it compares with
Giza · Delphi · Hampi · Osaka · Sacsayhuamán

5 places · 16,600 km span

The Connection
Thread“What differs between the five, besides the joints?”Differences are kept beside the similarities.
Theoryhow people explain it
  • Similar building constraints
  • A shared tradition
  • Independent invention

Examples of explanations under discussion. Each one names the evidence it needs. None is marked correct.

Video · UnchartedX at 22:00 · Supported

A saved timestamp: the moment in the video where the wall is on screen, tied to the Site. Another contributor has checked it against the place, so it counts as supported.

What earns the state

  • Has a place
  • Has a source
  • Has a photograph or a measurement
  • Checked by another contributor
Fig. 2 What was observed, where it came from, what it compares with, and how people explain it stay separate, and stay linked.Tap a source to see the state it carries.

A Connection on the map means there is something to compare. Its explanation stays open to evidence, corrections, and disagreement, which is what Fig. 3 is about.

Fig. 3 · The ratchet

The record gets better when people challenge it.

A correction, a photograph, a source. Each one stays attached to the record, with who added it and in what order, so a record reads like a history rather than a claim. Apply the three contributions in Fig. 3 and watch the gaps close.

Sacsayhuamán · polygonal walls · one record0 of 3 contributions applied
ObservationMany-sided blocks fitted to their neighbours
Material
Granite
Photograph
Photograph wanted
Source
None yet
#WhoWhat changed

No contributions yet. The record has one Observation and two gaps.

Fig. 3 A correction, a photograph, a source. Each one stays attached to the record, with who added it and in what order.Worked example on a real record. The correction and the paper are real; the people are roles.

For YouTube creators and researchers

One link gives your video a map.

Link to Stone Atlas from a video description and viewers get every site the video covers on one map, the moments worth revisiting, and a discussion that keeps its sources. Your channel page stays current from your public feed. Claim it to edit it, accept timestamps, or ask for it to come down.

  • A channel page brings your videos and their mapped Sites together, and updates itself from your feed.
  • One link opens a map of every Site in a video.
  • Viewers can identify places, add photographs, and check Observations against the record.
Claim your channel

Channel claims are reviewed. Contributor access is required during the preview. Nothing about a page costs anything.

  1. 1 · The link

    One line in the video description. The rest exists already.

  2. 2 · The video page
    Cusco Sacsayhuamán
    0:002:009:0022:00

    Every Site on one map. Timestamps under the player. The discussion keeps its sources.

    Open it
  3. 3 · Viewers add
    • A timestamp for a moment worth revisiting
    • An Observation with a photograph
    • A question in the Thread
    • A correction to the record

    Each one lands on the Site it is about, with the video as its source.

  4. 4 · The creator page
    Unclaimed

    The channel's videos and every Site they cover, kept current from the public feed.

    /c/unchartedx
  5. 5 · Claim it
    • Edit the page
    • Accept or decline timestamps
    • Ask for it to come down

    Claims are reviewed. Nothing about a page costs anything.

Fig. 4 One link gives your video a map, and the conversation keeps its sources.Real example: UnchartedX on Cusco. Inclusion implies no endorsement.

Already in the atlas

Early days, with real places and real videos already in.

The numbers below are printed from the database. They will be larger by the time you read this, and never rounded up.

332catalogued sites, each with coordinates and a record

586days of building Stone Atlas, since February 2025

Latest in the atlas

Where the conversation comes from

  • YouTube comments under videos about a site
  • Facebook groups that argue about the same walls
  • Reddit threads that start over each year
  • Papers and surveys that nobody in the thread had read
  • Visits, with a phone camera
Start from a placeEvery catalogued Site, searchable by name and country.Browse sitesStart from a FeatureThe recurring properties the record compares between Sites.Browse featuresStart from a videoThe map opens on the latest creator videos. Play one and the map follows it.Open the map

Live now and next

What works today, and what comes next.

No dates. The recent changes are the honest form of anticipation: each one shipped, and each one links to the thing it changed.

Live now

  • The map, with every catalogued Site and its record
  • Video pages with saved timestamps
  • Watching a video with the map following it
  • Observations that carry their source
  • Connections drawn on the map
  • Forum threads and comments on records
  • Creator pages, claimed or not
  • Reader accounts

Next

  • Contributor access opening in waves
  • Channel claiming for creators
  • Suggested timestamps from a video, for creators to accept
  • More of the catalog compared, Feature by Feature

Recent changes

  1. A claim can be contested

    A supported claim under dispute now shows as contested instead of quietly staying supported, so a record says when people disagree.

  2. The Lost Civilizations Database, on the map

    Fifty-two places from Matthew LaCroix's catalog joined the atlas as one Connection you can open on the map.

  3. The map learns to watch

    Play a video on the map and it flies to each Site as the saved timestamps go by. Every Site lists the videos that feature it.

Open for a look around

Early days. Come take a look.

I’m Cristian. I’m building Stone Atlas as a side project, and this is an early version. Try it, tell me what’s confusing, and help decide what deserves attention next.

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Look around

The map, the site records, the videos and their timestamps, the Connections. All of it is open to read.

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Leave a thought

Six quick choices, an optional line, an optional email. It goes directly to Cristian.

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One email when contribution opens. Nothing before, nothing after.

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Sign in, follow what changes, and request contributor access when you have something to add. No card, and no newsletter unless you ask for the opening note.

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