PatternsNo. 05 · Scale
Stones no recorded method could move.
Blocks from 50 to 1,500 tons, quarried, dressed, and in most cases carried somewhere else, by people whose documented toolkit was rope, timber and muscle.
249 sites · 42 countriesEquirectangular · every dot is a site in the Atlas
Watch the comparison · 6 studies
The 1,100-ton unfinished obelisk — carved with pounding stones?UnchartedXEgypt · still attached to the bedrock
Baalbek — the mega-platformsHugh Newman / MegalithomaniaLebanon · the Trilithon, 800 tons each
Mysterious Yangshan monumentAgeless RockChina · cut free on three sides, never moved
A thorough exploration of ancient OllantaytamboBrien FoersterPeru · porphyry hauled across a river valley
The enormous megaliths of Osaka CastleAncient ArchitectsJapan · the largest castle stones ever set
Ethiopia's ancient megaliths, part 1 — the Aksum obelisksSecrets in StoneEthiopia · a 520-ton stele that fell in the raisingThe heaviest worked stones on earth, filmed from the ground. Then go and stand next to them.
What the pattern is, and what it is not: the argument in full
Scale is the pattern people meet first and understand least, because a photograph cannot transmit mass. Numbers do not fix that either: 1,764,000 lb means nothing to a body. The translation that lands is people: 2,205 of them pushing at the same instant, just to start the Trilithon sliding.
You can stand next to six of these stones in Feel the Weight, at 1.7 m eye height, with a truck and a double-decker parked alongside for calibration.
Every site in the Atlas that carries it · 249 across 42 countries
Afghanistan
Armenia
Bahamas
Cambodia
Chile (Rapa Nui)
China
- Bingling Temple Grottoes
- Dazu Rock Carvings
- Elephant Mountain Grottoes
- Goguryeo Tombs (Jilin)
- Keyan Big Buddha
- Longmen Grottoes
- Maijishan Grottoes
- Maoling Mausoleum (Great White Pyramid)
- Matisi Grottoes
- Mengshan Giant Buddha
- Mogao Grottoes
- Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum
- Rongxian Giant Buddha
- Shaohao Mausoleum
- Tianlong Shan Grottoes
- Tiantishan Grottoes
- Wushan Grottoes (Lashao Temple)
- Xi'an Pyramids
- Xumishan Grottoes
- Yuji Mountain Buddha
- Yungang Grottoes
- Zhangye Dafo Temple
Egypt
Ethiopia
France
French Polynesia
Hawaii
India
- Ajanta Caves
- Aurangabad Caves
- Bedse Caves
- Brihadeeswarar Temple (Thanjavur)
- Chennakeshava Temple (Belur)
- Dharmrajeshwar Temple
- Ellora Caves
- Hirebenakal Megalithic Necropolis
- Hoysaleshwara Temple
- Kailasa Temple (Ellora Cave 16)
- Maliabad Fort
- Naneghat
- Padmanabhaswamy Temple
- Pitalkhora Caves
- Sahasralinga (Shilmala River)
Indonesia
Iran
Israel
Italy
Japan
Laos
Mauritania
Mexico
Micronesia
Nigeria
Oceania
Peru
Portugal
Saudi Arabia
Scotland
South Korea
Türkiye
- Alaca Höyük
- Ankara Hidden Monastery
- Antalya Ancient Theaters
- Aspendos
- Ayanlar Höyük
- Aydıntepe Underground City
- Ağırnas Underground City
- Basilica Cistern (Yerebatan)
- Bazda Caves
- Dara Ancient City
- Dulkadirli Underground City
- Ersele Underground City
- Gümüşler Rock-Cut Monastery
- Gürcütepe
- Hagia Sophia
- Harbetsuvan Tepesi
- Harput Castle
- Höyük Underground City
- Iznik (Ancient Nicaea)
- Kırkgöz Underground City
- Limyra
- Manazan Caves & Taşkale Granaries
- Matiate (Midyat) Underground City
- Meydan Kalesi
- Mucur Underground City
- Ozancık Höyük
- Sefertepe
- Selime Cathedral (Cave Mosque)
- Sogmatar
- St. Mercurius Underground City
- Termessos
- Yedikule Fortress
- Yenimahalle Höyük
- Çakmaktepe
United Kingdom
The other patterns
Dimmed patterns are tagged across the Atlas but have no comparative study written yet.