People have constructed buildings and other structures since prehistory, including bridges, amphitheatres, dams, electricity pylons, roads and canals. Building materials in present use have a long history and some of the structures built thousands of years ago can still be regarded as remarkable. The history of construction overlaps that of structural engineering. To understand why things were constructed the way they were, we also need to rely on archaeology to record the form of the parts that survive and the tools used, and other branches of history and architecture to investigate how the builders lived and recorded their accomplishments.
Chronological development
The history of construction is a complex subject encompassing the history of building materials, the history of engineering, the history of building techniques, economic and social history of builders and workmen, the history of construction machinery and temporary works, etc. Each of these has a complex literature devoted to it.
Neolithic construction
Neolithic buildings in Skara Brae, Skara Brae is listed as a UNESCO world heritage site
The first bridges made by humans were probably wooden logs placed across a stream. The first buildings were simple huts, tents and shelters meant to suit the basic needs of protection from the elements, built by their inhabitants (see self-sufficiency). The very simplest shelters, tents, leave no traces. Because of this, what little we can say about very early construction is mostly conjecture and based on what we know about the way nomadic hunter-gatherers and herdsmen in remote areas build shelters today. The absence of metal tools placed limitations on the materials that could be worked, but it was still possible to build quite elaborate stone structures with ingenuity using dry-stone-walling techniques (see the stone structures at Skara Brae). The first mud bricks, formed with the hands rather than wooden moulds, belong to the late Neolithic period and were found in Jericho. One of the largest structures of this period was the Neolithic long house. In all cases of timber structures in these very early cultures, only the very lowest parts of the walls and post holes are unearthed in archaeological excavations, making reconstruction of the upper parts of these buildings purely conjectural. The most remarkable Neolithic structure in Western Europe is the iconic monument known as Stonehenge, regarded by some archaeologists as displaying methods of timber construction (such as at woodhenge) translated into stone.[1] The now ruinous remains are of post and lintel construction and include massive sandstone lintels which were located on supporting uprights by means of mortise and tenon joints; the lintels themselves being end-jointed by the use of toggle joints (tongue and groove). There is also evidence of prefabrication of the stonework; the symmetrical