Examples of ancient architecture can be seen in just about every region of the world, even in the United States. Ancient Architecture generally uses materials that can be found nearby. At Cahokia, Illinois ancient people built giant mounds, artificial mountains called ziggurats, that are still visible today. In Great Brittan, Portugal, and throughout Europe, megalithic (mega = great, lithic = stone) tombs and graves, called dolmens, number approximately 50,000. In England, we also find the best known megalithic structure, Stone Henge. Stone henge also demonstrates one of the most popular techniques for building in megaliths – two upright “posts” of stone, topped with a horizontal “lintel” or capstone.

In Egypt we see a more advanced version of the dolmens. Instead of relying on finding appropriate stones, we begin to see small tombs constructed of sun-baked mud bricks called mastabas. From the Arabic word from “bench,” mastabas tend to be made with sloping walls, and resemble benches, though they generally measure around 30 feet tall.

When it was time for King Zoser of Egypt was readying his voyage into the afterlife, he hired the first known architect – Imhotep – to assist him. The result was the first evolution towards the pyramids – the Step Pyramid. This tomb was essentially six mastabas stacked on top of each other, each one smaller than the one below. This style of tomb building is very similar to the buildings found in Mexico and South America built by the Maya, Incas, and Aztecs.

The next inevitable stage is to smooth out the steps – as is seen in Khufu’s pyramid at Giza, the largest of those now known as the Great Pyramids.

Around the same time, we see the evolution of the ziggurat in Mesopotamia. It goes from being just an artificial mountain to being a highly designed, sophisticated building with several staircases to the top.

Another very visible evolutionary trend is seen in columns. The Neolithic “post and lintel” construction can be traced into the Egyptian column building. From there, they’re seen in the palaces at Knossos, and they become highly defined in the hands of the Ancient Greeks. It is possible to date Greek buildings using little more than the shape of the columns.

The earliest of the Greek columns is called the Doric order. It is also the less decorative, with a very simple capital. The Parthenon at Athens shows Doric construction. The next columns are called Ionic, and have an easily identifiable “curled” capital that is slightly more ornate than the earlier Doric columns. The newest of these ancient columns is the Corinthian, it is by far the most ornate – generally portraying leaves and curling elements.

It is during the Hellenistic period that we also see the building of specialized sites for theatrical performance and athletic displays; we see the beginnings of city planning meant to reflect the people who inhabited them.

The Romans added many things to architecture, but one of the most important was turning the post and lintel style into an arch, and then turning the arch into a barrel vaulted ceiling. They used these arches and vaults in all sorts of architecture; they’re visible on the coliseum, on theatres and on aqueducts across Europe. The Roman’s didn’t abandon the Hellenistic style, but they took many elements and expanded upon, and modified them.

In the later Roman period we see the invention of the basilica. A basilica is a long, rectangular, roofed hall that generally has columns dividing a large central aisle from two smaller aisles along the sides. It could be used as a civic building, a town meeting place, a tribunal court, and even represented some of the earliest Christian architecture.