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SARAJEVO - An Egyptian geologist who has joined Bosnian researchers unearthing what are thought to be Europe's first pyramids believes they bear similar hallmarks to the ancient structures in his homeland, an official said.
Aly Abd Alla Barakat, of the Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority, believes large stone blocks found near Sarajevo were man-made and polished in the same way as the pyramids of Giza, said the Bosnian Pyramid Foundation's Mario Gerussi.
"Barakat has also found the presence of a special material linking the stone blocks which is identical to that used for pyramids in Giza," he added.
Barakat had extensive knowledge of the pyramids in Giza and had been recommended for the Bosnian mission by Zahi Hawass, one of the world's foremost Egyptologists, said Gerussi.
Over the next month, he is to work with Bosnian experts at Visoko valley, some 30 kilometres north of Sarajevo, which is believed to be hiding three major pyramids.
Since the digging work began in mid-April on one of the three hills there believed contain pyramids, researchers have unearthed a number of large stone blocks.
Semir Osmanagic, a self-styled Bosnian explorer who initiated the work, says he believes the blocks are part of a pyramid's surface.
Previously, satellite images showed that the hills in the valley cooled a lot faster than their surroundings, proving the substance of the structures was less dense and therefore probably made by men.
Also, the structures are precisely aligned with the four points of the compass.
The excavation work at Visoko, led by the foundation of local archaeologists and volunteers, will last 200 days and is expected to cost some 125,000 euros (160,000 dollars).
While most Bosnians are hopeful the pyramids will be found, a group of the country's archaeologists and historians have dismissed Osmanagic's mission as a "farce." | 
