How are ancient Roman and Mayan buildings still standing? Scientists are unlocking their secrets
How are ancient Roman and Mayan buildings still standing? Scientists are unlocking their secrets
Scientists are trying to understand how some ancient buildings have lasted for centuries in hopes of making modern buildings more durable.
In the quest to build better for the future, some are looking for answers in the long-ago past.
Ancient builders across the world created structures that are still standing today, thousands of years later — from Roman engineers who poured thick concrete sea barriers, to Maya masons who crafted plaster sculptures to their gods, to Chinese builders who raised walls against invaders.
Yet scores of more recent structures are already staring down their expiration dates: The concrete that makes up much of our modern world has a lifespan of around 50 to 100 years.
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Isn’t the big hint that they were built without a reliance on concrete. And are pyramids?
This just in, big blocks of stone are durable!
Just for clarification are you saying the Romans didn't build with a reliance on concrete?
No. The idea that there was some sort of perfection going on with the Egyptian pyramids is nonsense. Here is the Great Pyramid up close.
I thought the reason the pyramids looked like that was because of relatively recent looting the nicer stone on the surface and leaving the older stuff behind. Prior to the looting they looked pretty nice. And by relatively recent, I mean about a few hundred years ago during European colonialism.
Yes, they looked very nice on the outside. The inside was a mess. People seem to think every block was perfect.