Incredible Polygonal Stonework of Alaca Höyük, Ancient Turkey | Ancient Architects

The Hittite civilisation is something I’ve rarely discussed over the years because it’s never been a strong area of interest, really because of my own lack of knowledge, but every time I start some new research, I come across something created by the Hittites that really takes my breath away.

The subject of this video is the incredible megalithic ruins of Alaca Höyük, a settlement in the Alaca district of Corum, Turkey, which is situated around 25 km northeast of the Hittite capital, Hattusa.

At the site and beneath the Hittite ruins is a Hattian royal necropolis. Although the focus of this video is the incredible megalithic architecture, it is actually these Bronze Age tombs in the layers below the masonry that makes this site extra special, but this will be the subject of a future standalone video.

Above the Hattian layers is the incredible Hittite stonework, which we are told dates back to the 14th century BC and anyone with an interest in ancient architecture really should take note, because the ruins are truly astonishing.
Watch this video to learn more, to see the incredible Sphinx gate, the beautiful reliefs in stone and the incredible megalithic ruins of the ancient boundary wall.

All images are taken from Google Earth and the below sources for educational purposes only. Please subscribe to Ancient Architects, Like the video and please leave a comment below.

Videos mentioned in the presentation:

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#AncientArchitects #AlacaHoyuk #Hittites

[RudiRuthven]

If for some reason I can only watch one channel on YouTube for the rest of my life, I would choose Ancient Architects. Thank you, Matt.

[WildAlchemicalSpirit]

Omg that sphinx gate @2:10 reminds me of The Oracle in the Neverending Story! Could this have been some of the inspiration? I'm sure there's other similar gates but I love that scene so much and The Neverending Story is still one of my all time favorite movies ever. (And I remember when it came out!)

[barrywalser]

The megalithic stonework is amazing, but that gateway is awesome as well. Thanks Matt!

[perry]

if only someone could invent a time machine so we could go back and watch them build these wals

[phoneguy]

those ancient cultures never cease to amaze. thanks for sharing!

[bosse]

The same kind of ancient stone work we see all over the globe. Amazing.

[jamescromer]

That polygonal masonry "style" has to predate any known civilization. It's distinctive, it's a signature, and it's worldwide. It's mind-blowing.

[lisad]

Matt expands his knowledge and therefore ours ❤

[jimthomas]

C’mon guys! I’ve got a copper chisel, a diorite pounding stone and a wooden grit saw. I could do a better job in a day, maybe two! 😂

[MichaelLeBlanc-pf]

Ain't it odd ? A culture with fantastic stone shaping ability that does not seem to have discovered the Arch . . .

[OttoNomicus]

That stonework must have been done by a super-ancient lost civilization and the Hittites just found it and carved images into it, hahaha.

[janicecopeland]

Just shows there is much more that we don't know than there is that we do know.

[Ana-bwgm]

It is obvious that the same builders were use by every ancient civilization all over the world or that they were all in communication and learning from each other. Subsequent civilizations used those constructions whenever they could but obviously didn't know and didn't use them for what they was originally made. It is sad that our scientists can't accept that there were civilizations which were possibly much more advanced that ours. This would become obvious for everyone who sees what was in China and Central and South America and compare it with this site as well as those found in Egypt and Greece.
To me it is obvious that humans didn't come out from caves and decided to build pyramids but that there was an old civilization whose surviving members were teaching humans how to build among other things.

[LordDustinDeWynd]

Truly amazing what one can do with rocks and (if not in Americas) metal tools!

[monakw]

Thank you I love learning about the Hittites!

[dragonfox.]

You're travel guide to the ancient mysteries 💜

[johnassal]

Is there solid dating linking the Hittites or this earlier stage to the polygonal walls?

I mean why exactly are the foundations considered to be from 1400 BC? The problem there is geologic rebound all over Europe after the ice age glaciers receded would've made the region far more seismically active than today and it would've been that way thousands of years. Which could necessitate the use of polygonal stonework to better resist strong quakes and could still have led to walls being upended and later repaired in following eras perhaps distorting the dates for those foundations.

[tenbear]

Well, that’s the first time i’ve seen this very familiar neolithic stonework in Turkey. Fascinating. It pops up across the globe…. now how is that possible? Could we be mistaken? I don’t believe it’s possible: observable evidence has no place in 21stC science, or any other discipline these days.

[jimgriffiths]

That complex masonry is as impossible to replicate today with stone blocks, as it was 14th century b.c. Co.mon sense. We simply don't know who, how or when. The site was reused.

[Antuan]

About these tight joints that you can't put in even a pin inside them...

As a structural engineer I know what amazing craftsmen the ancient stonemasons were. But these joints weren't made so tight from the beginning.

These tight joints became so after the fatigue of the material, by "Creep" as it is called. It is a phenomenon, a very slow process that creates deformation due to material fatigue after many years under pressure. Of gravity in our case.

All materials "suffer" from this deformation but it takes hundreds or thousands of years for it to become visible, depending on the material and specifically its Modulus of Elasticity. It is the property of a material that shows how elastic it is under external pressures.

In stone structures, gravity compresses the material of each stone separately and decreases them in height, the horizontal joints slowly close over by the years because all gaps comming in an equilibrium level of deformation. However, the vertical pressure simultaneously causes a horizontal deformation in the materials, in our case the stones, so on the upright sides of each stone, the upright joints also close so that finally one stone comes and rests exactly with the one next to it.

For every millimeter of vertical deformation for loose stones, they expand horizontally by 0.2-0.3 millimeters, half of this on each side.

To better visualize this, say you made a plasticine cube and you squeeze it from the top, it will decrease in height but at the same time it will open up on the side and become like a burger. This also happens to stones but after thousands of years and it happens at a rate of 0.1 to 1 millimeter every 100 years depending on the material of the stone and the above load. Granite is one thing, for example, and Limestone is another. This percentage seems to decrease over the years, that is, as the years go by the material resists this phenomenon even more.

So, tight joints are not an unheard of issue, not something extraordinary. It forms naturally after so many years under the pressure of gravity.