In 2007, economist and amateur archaeologist Dimitriy Dey was searching Google Earth's satellite images for pyramids or similar configurations in Kazakhstan when he spotted something that continues to baffle archaeologists.

Visible only from above, Dey discovered a set of huge mysterious geoglyphs, colossal earthworks, made up of at least 260 mounds, trenches, and ramparts arranged in five basic shapes.

One of the most prominent structures and the first that Dey found was the Ushtogay Square which measured almost 250,000 meters in area. It was made up of dots and crisscrossed by a dotted X.

At first, Dey thought the earthen formation might be a leftover Soviet installation, perhaps a part of one of Nikita Khrushchev’s experiments to cultivate land for bread production. However, after continuing his investigation the next day, he came across a second gigantic figure, a three-legged form.

Before the year was over, Dey had found eight more squares, circles, and crosses, hinting at mysterious origins.

The earthen constructions were found in the Turgay Trough area of Turgay in northern Kazakhstan, and archaeologists have estimated that they were created about 8,000 years ago. Still, people have yet to learn who built them or why.

The only humans living in this region of Kazakhstan during the time were nomadic Stone Age tribes from the Mahandzhar culture. The tribes flourished in Kazakhstan from 7,000 BC to 5,000 BC; however, they were nomadic by nature. Therefore, scientists don’t believe they would have stayed in place for the time required to build the structures.

The geoglyphs are so large that they cannot be adequately seen from the ground, and their creators would have been considering how they looked from the air. There is no clear indication of whether the structures were created for art, communication, or perhaps some sort of ritual...