Algeria's pyramid tombs still shrouded in mystery

TIARET - Dating back centuries, Algeria's pyramid tombs are unique relics of an ancient era but a dearth of research has left the Jeddars shrouded in mystery.

The 13 monuments, whose square stone bases are topped with angular mounds, are perched on a pair of hills near the city of Tiaret, nearly 250 kilometers southwest of the capital Algiers.

Constructed between the fourth and seventh centuries, the tombs are believed by some scholars to have been built as final resting places for Berber royalty - although nobody knows who truly was buried in them.