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jackWhen we were on Jersey we went to visit La Hogue Bie, a neolithic ritual (and burial) site.
They made a tunnel, chamber, and partially separated side chambers out of whacking great slabs of stone, and made a giant mound over the top of it all. There were some details about the composition of the mound but I don't remember the details.
This was all about 3500 BC. I'm not sure if I'm forgetting something, but I think that's the oldest place I've ever been. Checking wikipedia, there are other more elaborate structures extant from about that time (several nearby in northern europe), and the very oldest recognisable but not standing buildings go back to about 10,000 BC in Turkey (I think?)
And indeed, I guess the basic structure is completely intact -- any seating, decoration, wooden separators, etc are gone, but the basic layout must be essentially the same, because if it wasn't it would all have fallen down.
Not much we build now is going to last 6000 years, although I suppose both then and now MOST things will fall apart but the *most* enduring things probably will.
It was probably used for some kinds of religious ritual, and also as a burial site.
"Hogue" is a Jerrais/Norman word meaning "mound". There was a church built on it for quite a time (and still is), before the tomb underneath was discovered. No-one knows what "Bie" means, though there are a couple of plausible suggestions.
They have a little museum which was interesting and helpful, a WWII occupation exhibit and memorial, and an ongoing project to build a replica of some of the wooden buildings which likely would have been around the site originally.
They made a tunnel, chamber, and partially separated side chambers out of whacking great slabs of stone, and made a giant mound over the top of it all. There were some details about the composition of the mound but I don't remember the details.
This was all about 3500 BC. I'm not sure if I'm forgetting something, but I think that's the oldest place I've ever been. Checking wikipedia, there are other more elaborate structures extant from about that time (several nearby in northern europe), and the very oldest recognisable but not standing buildings go back to about 10,000 BC in Turkey (I think?)
And indeed, I guess the basic structure is completely intact -- any seating, decoration, wooden separators, etc are gone, but the basic layout must be essentially the same, because if it wasn't it would all have fallen down.
Not much we build now is going to last 6000 years, although I suppose both then and now MOST things will fall apart but the *most* enduring things probably will.
It was probably used for some kinds of religious ritual, and also as a burial site.
"Hogue" is a Jerrais/Norman word meaning "mound". There was a church built on it for quite a time (and still is), before the tomb underneath was discovered. No-one knows what "Bie" means, though there are a couple of plausible suggestions.
They have a little museum which was interesting and helpful, a WWII occupation exhibit and memorial, and an ongoing project to build a replica of some of the wooden buildings which likely would have been around the site originally.