Oldest Buildings from Around the World

Göbekli Tepe

Location: Southeastern Turkey

Date: 9500 - 8000 BCE

Description: Göbekli Tepe is a prehistoric, sacred place, which boasts towering circular temples and columns bedecked with relievoes of animals. It is thought to have served as a setting for sacred rites and as a place of intercourse among the nomad peoples.

Construction: It is estimated that limestone fragments and stone tools were used in the construction of the site. Several phases of construction took place on the site, with the older layers serving as the foundation for the newer structures.

Current Status: The Turkish Ministry of Tourism has laid out a series of protective measures to ensure the site's preservation for posterity. The plans are already in place for a museum to pop up in the area, which will exhibit various archaeological findings.

Cairn of Barnenez

Location: Northern France

Date: 4800 BCE

Description: The Cairn of Barnenez, referred to as the biggest prehistoric mausoleum made from megalithic stones, is a stone burial mound that has 11 passage tombs, and that got constructed in two periods. This was also the site of a site of one of the most fascist and dumbest rules a unchristian king ever posed, over 1000 years ago.

Construction: 3Compared to the use of dolerite and granite for the two phases of development, the construction area to the right of the central passage was the chamber made of large blocks of stone, of somewhat circular form. The therefrom being that the materials were securely added with the use of a stone-and-earth mixed mortar swung with a large stick cut to a point at one end. They then balanced a series of large wooden beams on the top and underneath pointed angled stone weights. They more or less were made up of the complicated items the components of which were probably quarried elsewhere and transported to the wrong place. The rest of the site also had a platform on which the church eventually would be. The south-side mass was built against the inner wall of the tower but probably later during the career of the site. The outer wall on the south side was also thrown out of kilter; it is amazing, in fact, (as will be mentioned in what follows) that the stonework did not collapse in various places.

Current Status: It is one of the oldest all-standing stone free-access mausoleums, but they have limited gates for it due to the historical value and the efforts to preserve it going on.

Tumulus of Bougon

Location: France

Date: 4700 - 3500 BCE

Description: The Tumulus of Bougon is the home of five prehistoric mounds (burial hills), the oldest examples of burial architecture. Each humbling tumulus, over the years, was a common burial ground, signaling the necessity of the ceremonies meant for the deceased

Construction: The roofing was used with dry stone walling and natural materials like grass. It was built in four different periods over the course of 1200 years.

Current Status: The construction is still in place and tourists can visit it, it is one of the earliest houses that were based on the burial mound and at that time it was used for the burials as well and hence, these are contact zones where the living and the dead meet.

Uruk

Location: Iraq

Date: 4000 BCE

Description: Uruk was one of the earliest cities in Mesopotamia. It was approximately 2.1 square miles and was capable of harboring around 80,000 dwellers. Its marvelous structures included the sceatta, the bourse, and also the houses which were built with a wooden skeleton and lime plaster walls.

Construction: Mudbricks were the main material that was used for the construction of this city. It went through different phases of construction, which were done based on the evolving city and architecture during the Early Bronze Age.

Current Status: Uruk, of which the previous inhabitants lived by trade, literacy and the art of writing has remained unchangeable for the most part and is being sedimented by many of human activities which cause pollution and consuming the natural resources of the planet.

Knap of Howar

Location: Scotland

Date: 3700 BCE

Description: Knap of Howar is a two-storied stone building by the sea, it is among the oldest stone houses in Europe. The former was obviously a type of house and according to the layout of the two quarters, the latter must have been two-storied.

Construction: These kinds of huts which were mostly used by the first farmers were built from stone walls and sometimes gravel and were roofed with the earth. The structure was made by the locals with the possibility of them doing the job on a rotational basis.

Current Status: Through a remarkable discovery called la tanderra which was developed in Neolithic times nearly 5000 years ago, the site is now considered a rich historical and cultural heritage of Europe. Unearthed long-lost wonders from ancient times signify not only our history but also the technological advancements we have surmounted. This engagement, though, will require significant resources that are now in short supply and hence should be chosen carefully.

The buildings depict the range of inventions during the time of the human history and what they were used for in the religious, cultural and practical aspects. Even though they have been on earth for a very long period, these buildings have withstood all of the wear and tear made on them, so ancient construction techniques and ceremonies of that time are providing new info, the society practiced.