The Walls of Shussel (first built at TL1)

[DanHoward]

The walls at Gla are a good example of Cyclopean masonry. They are made of limestone blocks, are 2.8km long, 3-5m high, and up to 6.75m thick. The thickness doesn't taper very much from top to bottom - the sides are almost vertical.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by DanHoward

The walls at Gla are a good example of Cyclopean masonry. They are made of limestone blocks, are 2.8km long, 3-5m high, and up to 6.75m thick. The thickness doesn't taper very much from top to bottom - the sides are almost vertical.

Hmmm... in your opinion, could such a design be scaled up to 10m high?

If so, would one have to make the base thicker to hold the weight? By how much?

[Kalzazz]

In the Epic of Gilgamesh I believe that the walls of Great Walled Uruk were made 'all through of kiln fired brick'



http://www.shmoop.com/gilgamesh/pride-quotes-4.html

"Go up, Urshanabi, onto the wall of Uruk and walk around.
Examine its foundation, inspect its brickwork thoroughly—
is not (even the core of) the brick structure of kiln-fired brick,"

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Kalzazz

In the Epic of Gilgamesh I believe that the walls of Great Walled Uruk were made 'all through of kiln fired brick'

Sounds very much like a boast that the city fathers of Shussels would like to have made when the wall was first built.

There is every reason to assume that when the area was first settled, it might have been forested, with long-term human habitation having used all the trees for fuel.

[Ji ji]

There was a pyramid in South America made of soil and covered by stone slabs. It was one and a half high as Cheope's. It was several centuries old when European colonists took away the stones to use them for building. Then the pyramid melted away with rain.

I can't gather further details now. I read about it on Kurt Mendelssohn's The Riddle of Pyramids. However, I hope it gives some useful data on alternative construction methods.