Ideas worth spreading

Architectural secrets of the world's ancient wonders

791,067 views |

Brandon Clifford |

TED2019

• April 2019

How did ancient civilizations move massive stones to build Stonehenge, the Pyramids and the Easter Island statues? In this quick, delightful talk, TED Fellow Brandon Clifford reveals some architectural secrets of the past and shows how we can use these ingenious techniques to build today. "In an era where we design buildings to last 30, maybe 60 years, I would love to learn how to create something that could entertain for an eternity," he says.

How did ancient civilizations move massive stones to build Stonehenge, the Pyramids and the Easter Island statues? In this quick, delightful talk, TED Fellow Brandon Clifford reveals some architectural secrets of the past and shows how we can use these ingenious techniques to build today. "In an era where we design buildings to last 30, maybe 60 years, I would love to learn how to create something that could entertain for an eternity," he says.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Learn more about alternative ways of thinking about the future of our built environment.

About the speaker

Brandon Clifford

Brandon Clifford

Ancient technology architect

See speaker profile

TED Fellow Brandon Clifford mines knowledge from the past to design new futures.

Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo | Counterpoint, 2012 | Book

The Statues that Walked: Unraveling the Mystery of Easter Island

This book is a masterpiece in archeological discovery. It not only details the evidence that the moai of Easter Island walked, but it also details the social and environmental conditions that produced the ritual of moai carving. This book also debunks the collapse theory popularized by Jared Diamond by demonstrating the Rapanui were a peaceful civilization with a small population that created incredible artifacts as a result of those conditions.

Bern Dibner | Literary Licensing, LLC, 2013 | Book

Moving the Obelisks

This book chronicles the absurdly monumental task of transporting and erecting Egyptian Obelisks in Rome. These megalithic landmarks are perceived as permanent and immovable, and yet they are each entangled in complex histories that merge fictions with a plethora of original locations. Obelisks are anything but permanent: they are inconceivably transient.

Carolyn J. Dean | Duke University Press Books, 2010 | Book

A Culture of Stone: Inka Perspectives on Rock

Dean employs a multidisciplinary approach by merging linguistics with anthropology to help understand the Inka belief that stone is alive. She explains how oral histories can guide truth through captivating fictions and how western misconceptions of stone-worship are missing the mark in understanding the social construct of megalithic civilizations.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Learn more about alternative ways of thinking about the future of our built environment.