One of my
favorite things to do is to imagine what it would be like to go back in
time. I sort of do this every time I
visit Wannaska. One house in particular
is great because it has no wifi, no Facebook (although it does have a lot of
books to put your face into) and no video games. It is like you are going back in time to
1979. The phone is an old rotary one
which might even precede 1979. The house
was probably built in the early 1900’s.
The basement is rumored to have been made from stones that were taken
from Stonehenge. It is an interesting
house that takes you back to a time before technology ruined us all.
This got me
thinking about the oldest buildings in the world. What is truly amazing is that all these
buildings were constructed before the development of the internet. This begs the question of how people knew how
to do things before YouTube!
The oldest
buildings in North America were built by the Pueblos. The Taos Pueblo is believed to be about a
thousand years old. It is in Taos, New
Mexico.
The oldest
buildings…or at least ruins of buildings…in South America are at Sechin Bajo. These ruins date back to 3500 BC and are
found in Peru. Further research is
needed, but it is believed to be the oldest settlement in the Americas.
Africa has
many sites that claim to have the oldest building on the continent, but most
researchers seem to believe that the Nawamis tombs in Egypt are the
oldest. Bones from these tombs have been
dated to be 6000 years old. If these
tombs truly date to 4000 BC then it begs the question…why can’t we study their
methods and teach it to the people who construct our roads?
The oldest building
in Asia is Shahr-e Sukhteh. This translates to the Burnt City. Located in
Iran, these ruins give valuable insight to the bronze age civilization. It is associated with the Jiroft culture and
is believed to date back to 3200 years BC.
Australia is
a relative new comer when it comes to old buildings. There are actually European built structures
in America that predate the oldest building in Australia. The Wiebbe Hayes stone fort was built in 1629
by survivors of a shipwreck. That
however is ancient compared to the oldest buildings at our next continent.
The oldest
surviving buildings in Antarctica are the Cape Adare Huts. These wooden buildings were constructed by
Carsten Borchgrevink in Victoria Land in 1899.
I think you can rent these buildings for a nominal fee…if you are trying
to escape the long, cold winters of Wannaska!
(note…bring penguin food)
If you have
been keeping track that is 6 continents down…and one to go. The oldest known buildings are in fact found in Europe. Before I reveal where, make a
guess. My first thoughts were in Greece
or Rome. Those places are just covered
with ancient ruins. I do want to take a
moment and talk about a cute little place that I visited while in Salisbury,
England. The Haunch of Venison Pub in
Salisbury was established in 1320. Next
year it will have been open for 700 years.
If you find yourself in England next year, I think it would definitely
be worth a visit!
The oldest
building in Europe, and the world for that matter, is the cairn of Barnenez. It is, surprisingly, in France. It was built as a passage grave and is
believed to date to 4850 BC. Looking at
the shape of it leads me to believe that it was built as a tomb for the Loch
Ness Monster. I think I will go with
that.
I hope you
enjoyed this little jaunt through history.
Although some of the dates and record holders for age are disputed I
believe this is a fairly accurate list.
Your comments below are always welcome!
Nice work, grasshopper.
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