What's The Oldest Surviving Building On Earth? 

It's so tragic to think of what we've lost because in the olden days people demolished important historical monuments just for the stone. You know, the olden days like *the nineteen fifties* !! 🤬🤬

I just watched this with my daughter. She commented how she loves that you always mention wheelchair access. She is in a wheelchair and finding places to visit that is accessible is laborious. So, thank you Tim.

As someone with a PhD in archaeology, a passion for pedantry, and a profound love for this channel, there is indeed a lot of uncertainty in the dating of Barnenez. Arguably, if you're willing to discount Jericho because of its potential ritual function, I'm happy to discount Barnenez as a tomb, a big one arguably, but still.... Jericho all the way for me in terms of architecture (and yes, let's rule out - controversially? - Gobelki Tepe for the lack of roof 😂 ) PS: the Indiana Jones theme in accordion tune is a crime against my discipline, but made me laugh A LOT

This is - arguably - one of the best videos I've seen on the topic of the world's oldest building.

When the glaciers melted away 15,000 years ago, the oceans are said to have risen 300 to 400 feet covering many man made objects including what appear to be buildings. The Black Sea, the Mediterranean, the Baltic Sea, and the northwest coast of India are fine examples.

I've been on RU-vid since early 2006. I've watched so many different things there, spent countless hours on it, subscribed to and unsubscribed from many channels, saw plenty of those channels raise and vanish, discovered topics I never knew would interest me, laughed my ass off watching comedy videos and cried as I learnt a lovely youtuber I followed had died. And with all this history of mine on RU-vid I can safely say: this channel is my absolute favourite of them all. Each and every one of your videos never fail to do three things: put a smile on my face, arouse my curiousity, and boost my hopes and motivation. Pleasure, knowledge and positivity are wonderfully mixed on this channel. So, for all of that: many thanks Tim! I hope working on this channel gives you as much satisfaction as it does to me experiencing it. I wish you the best for all you projects. And again: thank you! PS: as I proofread this comment I realize it kind of sound like I'm answering a video where you just announced you stopped your channel, but it's precisely because I don't want to wait for such a video to arrive to express my gratitude. Why do we only ever acknowledge that something was great when it's over anyway?

There's a subtle difference between interpreting _"The oldest surviving building"_ as either _"The oldest building that survives as a building"_ or _"The oldest building of which some elements survive"_ . I'd tend to prefer the second interpretation in archaeology. The aim, after all, is to find out about the past: if you've found enough remains to unequivocally say that it used to be a building, then you've found a building. Whether it still is a building or not is of relevance to tourists, but not to our knowledge of history.

The worst part is that there were two cairns at Barnenez in the past. A slightly smaller one was located a few hundred metres more to the North but was destroyed to use the material to make a road out of it. They knew perfectly what they were doing at the time and it’s almost a miracle that this cairn is still there. In Arzon, on the Southern coast of Brittany is another cairn with an intersting story. The Nazi’s built a bunker inside of it, it’s called Petit Mont.

If the tower of Jericho is a "monument, not a building" because of the restricted intended use, then so is a burial cairn.

I just found out your channel couple of weeks ago and I can't believe you don't have at least 10 million subs! This channel is pure diamond for broke ass travellers like me. I get to see the world from my own couch and learn more about different European cultures, places and history than I've ever even imagined learning in school. Keep up the good work, Tim! 😊🤓👌

This is-arguably-the best channel on RU-vid. I love how Tim finds these fascinating places & things that I would otherwise care nothing about. . . And make it completely interesting. And funny. Music was perfect on this video! 😂😂😂

As a French, I never heard of this building. Thank you for bringing that to us. And pardon my English.

As much as I already enjoy these videos, I must say that I appreciate them even more for including information about whether something is wheelchair accessible (despite that not having any impact on me personally). It adds a further caring touch to funny and informative content.

this channel has big time pbs travel show vibes with the music and the pleasant commentary. super nostalgic

You can't speak of the oldest, still standing buildings on Earth, without mentioning the Temples of Malta, which date to at least 3800 BC. By many, they are considered the oldest buildings on Earth.

What gets me is that this building is clearly the result of very long period of learning how to build. It's wasn't a cave man who found the area was full so built his own cave, it's the result of a culture of builders. Skills passed down from parent to child, learning about new materials and how to extract them, what they are good for etc. This is probably a locally devised structure from a much more ancient building knowledge using local materials and local tradition.

The destruction of historical artifacts and buildings is unfortunately all too common around the world. Self proclaimed "archeologists" blew up several earlier layers of the buried "cities" of Troy with dynamite to seek the older layers associated with Greek legends. People tore apart the stones of the Colloseum in Rome to build houses and to use as lime. Italian treasury hunters blew up the Nubian pyramids of Sudan to seek treasure. European treasure hunters tore apart the stone fortress of Great Zimbabwe. People tore apart the different Great Walls in China to use the stones and bricks for roads and houses, and ransacked and destroyed many ancient Chinese tombs to search for treasure.

As a burial Cairn I would argue that Barnenez also goes in the monument bucket too.

I think Göbeklitepe has now taken the record of the oldest surviving building in the world being from between 9500 and 8000 BCE

The ancient city of Jericho and similar prehistoric communities and constructions are some of my favorite things to learn about in all of history

Thank you for always mentioning the wheelchair access for the places you visit. My mom died of ALS in 2020 and traveling while she was confined to a wheelchair was rough. There were a lot of places she wanted to see but couldn't due to lack of wheelchair access. I have to admit that as a person who has the use of his legs, wheelchair access had never crossed my mind, but experiencing how difficult it was for my mom really affected me, so I truly appreciate you taking the time to mention it in nearly every video.

I'm just happy to see some of Brittany's prehistory mentioned 💖 I have lots of fond memories of visiting places like the Carnac stones with family

I laughed way too hard at your renditions of both "Raiders March" and "Joshua Fought The Battle of Jericho". Thank you so much for the smiles!

Finally, 2 years after watching this video I got the chance to visit the cairn today. And it was great! It's actually hard to grasp the scale of the age of this building when you're next to it. In particular since, beside the obvious damages from bulldozing, the building is still in a great shape. I was expecting it to be way more crumbling than it was. Oh and by the way the view on the bay beneath is gorgeous too, I wasn't expecting that. Anyway, I had a great time there. Thank you so much for making me discover it Tim!

I love the comments here.. no trolls.. simply friendly banter if there is attempt to counter... love it. keep on both producer but as well commentators

I’ve a feeling you’re about to tell us, Tim.

Nice intro edit. Also, if were adding the condition of intended use into the equation, the monument vs. building debate can equally apply to the Cairn in my opinion. A mausoleum is equally as ceremonial as the solstice rituals the Tower of Jericho was intended for, considering bother are _arguably_ based on some level of superstition or religious practices...

Hey cool! I worked the tides as an oyster farmer 20 years ago in the bay of Morlaix. The workshop was right there in little Terenez bay at the foot of the sandbar you can see in the vid! Back then you could walk right over and into the Cairn since there was no parking, no tourist hub or anything but a gravel road. It really is a stunningly beautiful place.

A delight! New knowledge delivered with wit and humour!

I love your videos. Try visiting Gobekli Tepe one day, those structures go as far back as 10,000 BCE

6:30 that mug shaped the lower 2/3 of Obelix made me smile.

It's nice of you to give info about stairs and wheelchair accessibility. Often it's very scarce, and you only find out when you get there. Sometimes it's not even stairs; gravel can be impassable for a wheelchair, as it sinks in.

Gotta love a bit (or, arguably, a lot) of pedantry. Also, why was I not taught this in my History of Architecture class? If they can teach me about the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, then surely they could've taught me this, something I can actually visit 🤦 (unless I WAS taught this and just didn't pay attention, but I doubt it lol)

Amazing how fresh your older content is, love your channel!

Thank you for the video! How about complicating (or easing up?) things even further by finding the oldest surviving building still being used? Is it a residential building (castle?) still inhabited, a factory still being used or perhaps a church or pub that's still in operations?

I have a doctorate in archaeology, and this was fabulous.

Another great video, I always feel I learn more in a few minutes from one of your videos than in half an hour elsewhere. Love the music too!

Loving your rendition of the QI theme song in this episode! And recognizing the Indy theme took me much longer than I would like to admit

Tim, I half-met your challenge of discovering an older building. I hopped in my time machine and went back to 15,000BC (just to be safe) and build a very basic single story stone structure, 15ft x 40ft, divided into three rooms. I obviously didn't measure height above sea level because when I got back, there's a bloody hill where I put it, and it was flat land back then. 😭 No-one will take me seriously about doing some ground penetrating scans, do I'm gonna have to do a GoFundMe or something to hire someone to do that. Cant go back and build another one because each journey needs very specific solar alignments and other what-nots. I will let you know before it all kicks off so you can videog the process, and have a trip back to the motherland too!

That was (arguably) extremely interesting. Thanks for a little piece of knowledge.

At the very end, I was waiting for the "arguably", so much so that I said it, assuming you would. Then you didn't and I thought "surely he is going to say it, no?". And I waited, so long that my tea went cold...well, would have had I had a cup. Then I thought....well maybe he isn't, and I died a little inside thinking the joke wasn't going to come full circle....but then, approx. 4 hours later (seemingly), you DID say it! and now I can die happy. That was the perfect amount of pause. Thank you.

Tim, I love your choices of music! Am I right in guessing that your choice of the QI theme song was because you mentioned the Great Wall of Qi once for half a second? If so, that's just effing brilliant. If not, it's fun anyway and you obviously know what sort of nerd watches your videos. I also love Time Team just in case you somehow thought I wasn't paying attention.

It reminds me how I was surprised to learn that Notre-Dame of Strasbourg was the tallest building in the world for more than two centuries.

A++ video, thank you. Complete with counterpoints, interior shots, humor, and even transit access information. Very, very well done.

The oldest building in the world is Gobeki Teple which is approximately 11,500 years old. "Göbekli Tepe was built and occupied during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN)-the earliest division of the Neolithic period in Southwest Asia-which is dated to between 9600 and 7000 BCE. ... Klaus Schmidt's view was that Göbekli Tepe is a stone-age mountain sanctuary. Radiocarbon dating as well as comparative stylistic analysis indicate that it contains the oldest known megaliths yet discovered anywhere and that *these ruins may constitute the remains of a temple.*"(From Wikipedia) Since a temple is a building...

This was one of the first ever questions i remember asking my mother. Glad to finally get an answer _...arguably_

I was born in Morlaix, grew up in a nearby town, I am a big fan of prehistoric history, and can't believe I've never even visited this place??? Plenty of amazing things to see in the area also, this is (arguably) the most beautiful region in the world 😍

Just a nod to the Time Team theme at 3:30 🤠

OMG, I just rewatched this video and just noticed your swanky remix of the Timeteam tune. Such a fan!

Wonderful video Tim, I have to say, the only {buildings(?)} this old I had heard of before I watched this video was Gobekli Tepe, so this was a very interesting and informative video on your part! Thanks for making it!

If you're concerned about how ruined a building needs to be before it ceases to be a building, you are firmly in the grasp of the sorites paradox. If you removed those stones one at a time, there would apparently have to be a single stone whose removal triggered the change from 'building' to 'ruin'.

Tim, you really need to get up to the Knap of Howar (as mentioned on your video) someday. In the middle of a pasture on a remote island of 80 people, accessed by the shortest regular commercial flight in the world, it bills itself as the oldest house in Western Europe. Not that other people haven't done videos about the Papa Westray to Westray flight, but putting the two together seems tailor made for your channel. Also, I didn't know that the Indiana Jones theme on a squeezebox was something I needed in my life, but apparently it was.

To disqualify that tower as building seems to be a bit random to me. I guess same way you could say the Cairn is just a grave. In fact the french wiki states "Le cairn de Barnenez (Kerdi Bras en breton) est un monument", so with that it would disqualify itself. But I was also thinking about the houses without roofs and whether they are still building without these roofs. And that might depend on how the roof works I guess. If the roof was made out of stone, and it broke, yeah, it would be ruins. But what if the roof was made out of something which needed to be replaced every other year. Like some weak branches. Then you could consider that it's still a building even without the roof. The same way, that a remote control is still a remote control if the batteries are empty, and which you would naturally replace with almost no work involved.

I'd argue for Derinkuyu underground city. It is technically carved into ground so it doesn't hit that very last 5th point of "constructed of materials" but is close enough imo.

Older than Newgrange in Ireland - Wow! It must be a trip walking through the Cairn, touching stones that people so long ago put into place.

Wow. You're doing something right, Tim. 4k watches in 20 minutes. Keep up the good work. And it definitely is a building.

Gabarnmung in Australia. ~28,000 years old. Still standing. The building was constructed by tunneling into a cliff face that created a 19 m × 19 m (62 ft × 62 ft) ceiling which is supported by 36 pillars. Pillars were moved to new positions, some were reshaped and some removed. In some areas ceiling slabs were removed and repainted by the people. Tool marks on the ceiling and pillars clearly illustrate that the modifications served to provide a living space with the floor is covered in fine sand.

Yet ANOTHER thing to add to my ever-growing list of things to visit... thanks Tim! :D Btw, have you noticed you have a fan working for the BBC travel section? They've done two articles close together about vids you made, one about the nation-changing Island, and another one, which I sadly can't remember.. ;)

I visited Barnenez once, it's really impressive. Great video, thanks.

Interesting topic, definitely some striking differences between all these ancient items. I'd say certainly I expect wall and a roof or at least a standing structure, but ultimately I'd say if its built and stands its a building. Personally I'd call a monument a building too, without the knowledge of its use you may see it in the distance and say "Hey lets check out that building!" So idk, in our actual language we would definitely distinguish them though so I'm willing to call this the oldest building with Pakistan coming in close second only by technicality of missing the roof. I'd also mention the question of how much has been rebuilt. Surviving building means it survived, rebuilt is not the same thing. Great video.

I've been in Ireland at the Carrowkeel Cairns, 3 of the 4 cairns are still standing, and you can go inside 2 of them and shelter from the bad weather. Scientists does not all agree about when they were constructed, some says it date from Neolithic others says -3500BC. I've got notes from a famous Irish archeologist that I met there, (and forgot his name, shame) but I can't find those atm to confirm or infirm any datation :( Anyway the place is beautyful and free do not miss it if you go Ireland !! Thanks for the vid Tim, great job! Next time in Bretagne I'll not miss it! (I will update my comment if I found these damn notes)

A tim traveler upload makes my day 10x better, every time without fail

Road builder " We need some stones for the road". Mayor "I know we've got just the thing. There's this massive pile just over here you can use. I'll get my bulldozer..." WTF?

I visited Barnenez last year. Had never heard of it before, despite visiting Brittany many times. Staggering really that it's not a bigger attraction, especially as it's in a pretty touristy area.

Very interesting. Arguably the oldest *known* surviving *accessible* "building". It should be noted that the mound apparently wasn't recognized as a "building" until quarrying operations exposed some inner chambers. Around 1850 it was identified as a burial mound and apparently it was considerably grown over before excavation in the mid 1950's (according to Wikipedia).

To end all discussion on the definition of building: Accordindg to ISO 6707-1:2014(E) 3.1.3 building is a construction works that has the provision of shelter for its occupants or contents as one of its main purposes, usually partially or totally enclosed and designed to stand permanently in one place. So yes, this is a building. -BUT so could Tower of Jericho be one according to that definition I think...-

5:27 Honestly that mayor was carrying on a long and tried and true tradition. Why quarry more rock when there's some right over there neatly stacked and waiting. It's why the pyramids don't have their limestone covers (it wasn't erosion)

Just FYI, while there isn't an undisputed 'hello' in breton, 'Demat' is the most widespread. Great vid, hope you've enjoyed brittany

nice touch adding the Time Team theme behind the ancient archeological competition (and of course the Indiana Jones theme more prominently elsewhere)

Loving the musical references in this one. Chapeau!

Nice touch with the Indiana jones theme

I hate to be a pedant but I don't consider it a building, I consider it in the monument category as well. This is because it was never intended for human occupation. But still a wonderful and educational video as usual.

The oldest building on Earth are the friends we made along the way. Arguably.

@The Tim Traveller Gobekli Tepe was founded around 9,500 BCE and abandoned about 1,500 years later around 8,000 BCE. That beats Cairn de Barnenez by about 4,700 years.

I'm really amused that you found the perfect moment to use "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho". Thanks for the history lesson!

Can a movement not also be a building ? For example I would call the Arc de Triomphe a building.

That's curious. I was thinking about this (arguably oldest surviving) building just few days ago because I suggested a friend of mine who was in Britanny for hollidays to go to visit it. I went there about three years ago, it's worth a visit for sure. But there are many things to see in Bretagne, surely one of the most fascinating regions of France. And far from the stereotypical idea of France which non French often have.

We've been there a few years ago, while vacationing in a house in Térénez on other side of the little bay, just a few minutes away. And we wondered as well, that this place is so unknown. It was almost by accident that we visited the building and the museum. But it was very interesting, especially if you really think about it, that this place is so old.

As always, loving your content! The fact you did not reach a milion subs is nothing short of an insult. Until next time and I hope to see you.. soon!

Man, that Time Team background music you used when discussing the alternative sites was so nostalgic.

Well it´s arguably the oldest dating on a building, but there is a good number of buildings where the dating is less than on solid ground. Such are for example Barabar Caves, where you have ridiculously precisely finished man made caves that have relatively low quality inscriptions written on them. The inscriptions are fairly believably dated, but the caves themselves could be however old.

Odd coincidence, was looking up the oldest door in London the other day.

And the award for biggest pillock goes to the 1950's mayor of barnenez

The thing that caught my eye in this video was the Obelix mug in the gift shop. I want one!

Very interesting video. Haven't seen your channel before, just subscribed. This place is very reminiscent of Newgrange in Ireland which is probably more famous, so I agree this should be famous too! Newgranges earliest dating is 3600bc but some say 3200bc. There's a lot of guesswork but this looks SO similar to Newgrange,, maybe they're both from the same period. As for the oldest building, this does not even come close. At 11,000 to 9,000 BC the enclosure structures at Göbekli Tepe in Turkey most definitely takes the crown. And it is still standing.... It's only missing a roof, there're arguments about what it is, some say meeting halls, some say a temple, others say it might just be for food storage. Also it's a fantastic place, we were there last November and it is really amazing. Could be a nice video for you!

And the award for literally worst mayor in history and for that matter one of the worst people in history goes to... the guy who bulldozed that to build a road. Seriously, how much of a boomer can you be?

Interesting definition of a building as one that provides shelter. To me, shelter would apply to the living, though I suppose one that shelters the dead could qualify (arguably)...

I always find myself laughing uncontrollably at your use of the accordion in your videos in France. Today we were treated to a cover of Indiana Jones, QI and bob the builder 😂 Do you make the covers yourself Tim? Or do you pay someone to do them for you?

It is in France …It is a much prettier place with, arguably, much better wine than the locations elsewhere. It also has a souvenir and gift shop. That’s my vote. It is hereby oldest. You, arguably, nailed it. 🎉

Great vid. I went to Barnenez a few years ago and was blown away by it. I still think Gobekli Tepe is "the daddy", but I kind of agree with you about what defines a building.

Now I'm wondering what the oldest surviving house is. Would require defining house as well, I suppose. Not sure if it'd come up, but it's interesting to think about how old one would consider a house (as a house) to be if it was originally a structure for industry or business.

About a year ago, I found out about some apartments in Italy that were carved into the side of a cliff about 9,000 years ago (even further back than this). How they managed to do that without metal tools, I have no idea. What's more, they've been in use the entire time. They're still inhabited. The place is a slum, though. Stone-age dwellings aren't exactly the height of luxury.

There's a really old building near me called "West Kennet Long Barrow". It's not as old as this, but it's still a thousand years older than Stonehenge. I'm also relatively near Avebury (the (I belive) the only town inside a stone circle, roughly the age of stonehenge) and Silbury hill (Walking distance from Avebury, largest artificial prehistoric mound in Europe, made ~2500BCE). I could give you travel instructions from Paddington if you want, or some more information? Just some cool suggestions.

Thank you. Definitely agree. All your points make perfect sense as to what defines a building.

New subscriber here ... I'm curious as to what constitutes a building in my travels as well but when they're that ancient I'm glad for my hotel room! Keep on traveling Tim! 😊👍☮️

Some people will be like "what counts as a building though?" - Well, the dictionary says "a structure with a roof and walls, such as a house or factory." - It has a roof and walls, so yeah I'd say it's a building.

I would have to disagree on a few things. Firstly, a monument is still a building. Just like a typical house is a building, even if one uses it exclusively as storage, or as a temple, or as an empty place used to annoy the homeless. Secondly, the statement about a building having to be constructed is fair and all, else it isn't really a built thing, ie a building. But "Human" is an unnecessary requirement, so there is likely some ant hill somewhere that is older. After all, an ant hill is constructed, it does provide both food storage and shelter for its residence. But we shouldn't neglect all the other creatures that builds homes for both themselves and their society. Be it a termite colony, a bee hive or just a bird nest. Even though most of these don't last for centuries.

my gut is that a building is "a structure to protect people/things from the elements" though really there's probably exceptions to that rule, sports stadiums with tiered seating comes to mind, and that surviving means it continues to be able to serve that purpose

Never heard of it...'til now. Thanks

You deliver excellent content to your audience. It's very interesting material. All of your effort put into creating this video is much appreciated. I'm truly grateful for your help!