Excavation work started north of Sarajevo on Friday on what a Bosnian explorer says are Europe's first pyramids. A group of experts explored the narrow entrance of a 3.8-kilometre (2.3-mile) tunnel believed to lead to one of the two hills resembling pyramids, about 30 kilometres from the Bosnian capital.
As residents of the nearby town of Visoko eagerly watched, digging began on one of ten 20-by-50 metre (65-by-165 foot) probing sites on slopes of a hill covered by vegetation.
"Initial observations showed that the tunnel was man-made," said geologist Nadjia Nukic after examining the initial unblocked section of the tunnel.
Last year Semir Osmanagic, a self-styled Bosnian explorer, started initial probes in the area, convinced the "constructions" on Visocica and Pljesivica hills were the work of builders from an unknown civilisation.
He says further research using satellite pictures has provided more evidence for his case. The images show the hills cooled a lot faster than their surroundings, proving the substance of the structures was less dense and therefore probably man-made.
"With the paucity of contrary evidence, the hills are presumed to be anthropogenic structures of potentially colossal proportions," said Bosnian geophysicist Amer Smailbegovic.
The explorers, who are expected to be joined by an Egyptian archaeologist and a geologist later in the year, hope to find stone blocks, or the steps of the "pyramids".
Osmanagic, who wears an Indiana Jones-like hat and clothing and says he sharpened his eye for archaeology on numerous trips around the world, says the two structures are precisely aligned with the four points of the compass.
On the outskirts of the town, Visocica Hill, which Osmanagic refers to as the "Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun", stands some 220 metres (730 feet) high, with a square base of more than 400 by 400 metres (1,300 feet).
Osmanagic says he sees astonishing similarities between the structures and Mexican pyramids dating back to about 200 AD, which also come in pairs, one believed to represent the Sun and the other the Moon.
The excavation work, led by a recently established foundation of local archaeologists and volunteers, will last for 200 days and is expected to cost some 125,000 euros (150,000 dollars).
The first row results would be known in three weeks, Osmanagic said.
The director of the Visoko Historic Heritage museum, Senad Hodovic, says he is no sceptic.
"The pyramids are obviously the work of man. But we need proper and serious analysis to show who built them and when."
Hodovic says he has spent years urging authorities to support archeological research on the plateau of the hill, which is recorded in historic annals as the site of a medieval Bosnian town.
He says the shape and monumental size of the structures is not typical for Bosnian constructions of the Middle Ages.
Visoko, a small town that has been slowly dying from economic decline since Bosnia's 1992-95 war, is hoping the "the new wonder of the world" will offer it a brighter future.
Pyramid-mania seems to have caught everyone here.
Local souvenir shops selling oriental style coffee pots and plates now offer slippers, ceramic coin-boxes, T-shirts and brandy with pyramid logos.
"They may or may not prove that the pyramids exist but it's good for business," souvenir shop owner Esref Fatic said, adding foreign tourists had appeared in the town recently. One of the town's hotels has recently been renamed the "Pyramid of the Sun" and a restaurant offers a triangle-shaped pizza on a matching plate.
"Everything has changed here. The pyramid gave us hope that the economy will improve," said Salih Hajric, a 22-year-old bartender.id.
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