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Brian at ancient Corinth

In the globe-trotting spirit of Indiana Jones, Brian Haughton has circled the earth, trying to get to the bottom of some of history's greatest mysteries.

From fabled lost cities such as Atlantis to enigmatic artifacts such as the Mitchell-Hedges crystal skull, Brian has spent his life researching and investigating myth and legend.

"I think the enduring appeal of these things is that people like a mystery,” he says.

"If there are questions about the origins or what it was used for, it becomes even more interesting. Add the supernatural element to some of these cases and you have real mystery."

Courtesy indianajones.com

Haughton, age 44, was born in Hall Green and his interest in archaeological mysteries began 1987 with a trip to Knossos in Crete.

"Knossos is a large archaeological site near Heraklion," he explains. "It was the ceremonial and political centre of the Minoan civilization and culture, which flourished in the Bronze Age, roughly from 1900 and 1600 BC.

"It was the first archaeological site I ever visited abroad and the place that started my interest in archaeology. Its labyrinthine passages, strangely painted wall frescoes, tapered stone pillars and throne room still remain intact and suggested to me a high level of civilization. It's a fitting place for the legend of Theseus and the Minotaur to originate."

Brian earned a degree in European Archaeology from Nottingham University and eventually received a Master of Philosophy in Greek Archaeology from the University of Birmingham in 1998.

Brian outside BBC Birmingham

Over the last 20 years, he has  investigated dozens of unexplained artifacts and enigmatic people from around the globe. Many of these cases are covered in his book 'Hidden History'.

Brian has also visited some of the world's most mysterious places. We asked his tell us about a few of his favourites:

The Lost City of Helike, Greece

"Helike was a Classical Greek city on the Gulf of Corinth, destroyed and submerged by an earthquake and tsunami in 373 BC.

"It was thought to be part of the inspiration for Plato's story of Atlantis, which is what initially drew me to investigate the site. Excavations in 2003 discovered the remains of some of the structures and investigations are still taking place in the area.

Brian in Corinth - near Helike

"Though there's little to see of the drowned city on the surface, the area certainly has a curious, one might say magnetic atmosphere and is still prone to earthquakes today."

Hypogeum Funerary Complex, Malta

"The Hypogeum in Ħal-Saflieni, Paola, Malta, is a subterranean sanctuary and necropolis constructed around 3600 BC. In 2000 I visited this impossibly old underground site, with its rabbit-warren of halls, chambers and caverns.

"I was curious as to why the Hypogeum had generated bizarre stories of underground alien bases, supernatural hairy creatures and disappearing parties of school children.

"After further research the stories turned out to be nothing more than modern folklore, though crawling through the red-painted underground maze of passageways and rooms in semi-darkness all sorts of shadowy images crowded my mind."

Crowds gather at Newgrange

Newgrange, Ireland

"One of the passage tombs of the Brú na Bóinne complex in County Meath, dating to about 3300 BC.

"Newgrange is famous throughout the world because it was built in such a way that at dawn on the winter solstice, a narrow beam of sunlight shines into the monument and illuminates the floor of the chamber at the end of the long passageway.

"I first visited Newgrange in the early 1990s and when I clambered inside the narrow 60 foot-long passageway I was immediately struck by how quiet and claustrophobic it was. Indeed, one of my friends had to leave immediately and get back outside, not wanting to breath the air of 5000 years ago.

By Brian Haughton

"It's easy to imagine how this strange place generated stories of the sidhe, or fairy-mounds of Irish mythology, where the Tuatha Dé Danann ('peoples of the goddess Danu') once dwelled."

Stonehenge, Wiltshire

"A Prehistoric monument of unknown, but probably ritual function, in use from around 3000 – 1500 BC. Despite busloads of tourists at all hours of the day, Stonehenge still retains an atmosphere and is probably my favourite archaeological site.

"I have visited Stonehenge many times and, although from a distance it looks small and almost insignificant, as you approach across Salisbury Plain the grandeur and stark beauty of the monuments soon dominate the landscape.

Stonehenge

"Particularly interesting to me is the discovery of the burial of a warrior, dating from 2000 BC, who had travelled all the way from the Alps to visit Stonehenge.

"Judging by this and other finds at the site, the monument has always been of international importance, though even after all these years and millions of visitors it still retains its aura of mystery."

Brian Haughton now lives in Patras, Greece about 135 miles west of Athens.

His book 'Hidden History: Lost Civilisations, Secret Knowledge and Ancient Mysteries' is available now from New Page Books.

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