# They built up with their bare hands what we still can't do today... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 19, 2012, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-built-up-with-their-bare-hands-what-we-still-cant-do-today/622382 "2012-05-19T01:59:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-built-up-with-their-bare-hands-what-we-still-cant-do-today/622382/41 "2012-05-21T16:02:11Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > I don’t know if you noticed, but the Powers That Be in the US have kept route 6 in CT from being widened into 4 lane blacktop because it asses through an area that was clearcut for a couple hundred years, until WW2 on the grounds it is a wetland, when there isn’t anything that is primal forest at all. Whether we could do something and whether it’s a good idea to do something are always two separate questions. We probably wouldn’t think that building a huge pyramid to use as a tomb was a good use of resources and real estate now, either. That’s not the same as not being able to build a replica of the pyramids. We generally don’t build big defensive walls out of stamped earth and stone to keep out invaders. That isn’t because we couldn’t build a replica of the Great Wall of China, but because we’ve found more efficient (if less picturesque) ways to [accomplish the same goal](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Demilitarized_Zone). ---
**Author:** ![Testy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@Testy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Testy)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-built-up-with-their-bare-hands-what-we-still-cant-do-today/622382/42 "2012-05-21T16:06:37Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > There’s still some friendly disagreement about how well we understand how Damascus steel was made, but we can make pretty good approximations of it. It’s also a matter of conjecture as to what Greek fire really was, but we can make napalm today. **ElvisL1ves** I had thought Pendray and Verhoeven had pretty well cracked the Damascus thing a few years back with the discovery that some of the impurities were more important than had previously been thought. Given the present state of metallurgy and the knives that people can make today, I always considered Damascus to be a kind of non-issue, like flint knapping or the like. It might be interesting to know, but is no longer useful or practical. I’ve never been able to swallow some of the legends about Damascus and I’ve seen modern steel do some amazing things. Regards Testy ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-built-up-with-their-bare-hands-what-we-still-cant-do-today/622382/43 "2012-05-22T00:58:58Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > Originally there was supposed to be a black taj mahal symmetrically facing the white one on the opposite bank of the river…the empower cut off the fingers of the craftsmen when the original was finished so they could never create an equal work. Shah Jahan: “You idiots! I told you to cut off their fingers _after_ they built the black version!” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![gunnergoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e95f7d/32.png) [@gunnergoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gunnergoz)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-built-up-with-their-bare-hands-what-we-still-cant-do-today/622382/44 "2012-05-22T01:31:48Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Personally, I’d say that whatever emotions went into the building of the pyramids, they’re gone now. My perspective is that any emotions were in the people not the building. > > Or are you saying there’s some objective difference resulting from the builders’ emotions? That you can somehow “read” a building and tell what the people who built it were feeling? I concur that the emotions are in the builders and not the building, but there are emotions in the observer to account for as well. If the observer is aware that they are looking at a duplicate, they will very likely not have the same emotions elicited in them as when looking upon the original. They might be fooled into thinking that something is an original but in most cases (i.e. Las Vegas) they will know darn well they are gazing upon copies. Sellers of counterfeit collectibles take advantage of this subjective emotion in potential buyers, hoping the victim will be emotionally overcome and swayed into setting aside some of their objective analytical skills and accepting the copy as an original. When I look at an original work of art or of historical significance, I am able to connect with it on an emotional level in a way that I cannot do with something that I know to be a copy or duplicate, no matter how authentic-looking it may be. So I can pay 20,000 modern laborers to build a new pyramid, but when all is said and done, I don’t have the tomb of a Pharaoh, only a pile of stones that looks like one. ---
**Author:** ![wellanuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@wellanuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wellanuff)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-built-up-with-their-bare-hands-what-we-still-cant-do-today/622382/45 "2012-05-22T04:13:23Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > Very true. I sometimes get downright angry when I think of all of the human effort that was squandered on elaborate tombs and trinkets to fill them. Countless man-hours that could have been applied to building things that would have improved people’s prosperity (roads, irrigation works, ships) were buried instead. I would just like to take a moment to express my fervent wish that this user name/post combo is truly the result of serendipity, and not an incredibly subtle and clever whooosh. I would like to believe that such things can just…happen. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-built-up-with-their-bare-hands-what-we-still-cant-do-today/622382/46 "2012-05-22T09:08:47Z")
> [@gunnergoz](#): > > … If the observer is aware that they are looking at a duplicate, they will very likely not have the same emotions elicited in them as when looking upon the original… When I look at an original work of art or of historical significance, I am able to connect with it on an emotional level in a way that I cannot do with something that I know to be a copy or duplicate, no matter how authentic-looking it may be. So once the new pyramid is completed I just scuff the corners and half bury it, and as long as I can convince you that it was built to honour a Pharaoh (rather than as an extravagant vanity geek project) it will elicit the same emotions - problem solved. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-built-up-with-their-bare-hands-what-we-still-cant-do-today/622382/47 "2012-05-22T11:06:21Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > Originally there was supposed to be a black taj mahal symmetrically facing the white one on the opposite bank of the river. I’d like to nominate the black taj mahal as something that could not be built. The level of detail and craftsmanship in the original white one is astonishing and the empower cut off the fingers of the craftsmen when the original was finished so they could never create an equal work. > > Could we produce an EXACT copy of the taj mahal in black marble? I suspect not. Well, that theory falls apart because there is nothing to replicate. It was never built for a start and now the concept of a Black Taj Mahal is regarded as a myth. (Except in this thread). ---
**Author:** ![VernWinterbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c67d28/32.png) [@VernWinterbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VernWinterbottom)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-built-up-with-their-bare-hands-what-we-still-cant-do-today/622382/48 "2012-05-22T14:38:38Z")
> [@Oldeb](#): > > Artistry has little to do with reproducing it, only in the initial construction. There might not be anyone alive capable of recreating the exact carvings by hand, but with 3D scanning and other forms of modeling that’s not important. In 1999 Stanford University, for example, did 3D modelling of several of Michelangelo’s statues, including David. They were accurate to .25 millimeters. That’s good enough to recreate the exact chisel marks. We’ve only gotten better since then. > > At our current technology levels there’s no structure or piece of art that can’t be perfectly recreated given enough time. Only if somebody has already scanned Mount Rushmore before the aliens zap it to smithereens. The OP specifies the original has been destroyed. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-built-up-with-their-bare-hands-what-we-still-cant-do-today/622382/49 "2012-05-22T14:42:04Z")
Not to hijack this thread, but a few weeks ago I was thinking along similar lines of what we had but can’t have now (for various reasons). I was thinking of the Concorde and supersonic passenger travel. We could achieve it again but it is unlikely in my lifetime I think. Not because we can’t- because it is not viable. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-built-up-with-their-bare-hands-what-we-still-cant-do-today/622382/50 "2012-05-22T14:45:29Z")
There is actually a progression of pyramids that show how the technology developed over “only” 150 years. The Bent Pyramids, for example, was allegedly changed from a steep to a less steep angle half-way through when the builders realised the previous one was too steep and cracking/collapsing on them. Long term construction was not uncommon in the early days. Building the great pyramid in 20 or 30 years was normal but fast. Many of the cathedrals of europe were 100 to 200 year pojects. Glastonbury is a good example, you can see in one wall of the ruin how the style changes from roman round arches to pointed gothic ones from one end to the other - in response to changes in style over the century of construction. Long-term construction was simply a response to lack of funds. When you have limited funds, you can only cut so many blocks of stone a year, and the mortar to set them, etc. Even if you are emperor of China with all the resources of millions of people, building a few thousand miles of fortification can take a long time. Projects today are designed that the end is in sight, rarely more than 10 years off. I suppose it takes that great long term view that includes the mindset and religion to appreciate and want to build something that will not be ready in your lifetime. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-built-up-with-their-bare-hands-what-we-still-cant-do-today/622382/51 "2012-05-22T14:50:05Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > > [@coremelt](#): > > > > Originally there was supposed to be a black taj mahal symmetrically facing the white one on the opposite bank of the river. I’d like to nominate the black taj mahal as something that could not be built. The level of detail and craftsmanship in the original white one is astonishing and the empower cut off the fingers of the craftsmen when the original was finished so they could never create an equal work. > > > > Could we produce an EXACT copy of the taj mahal in black marble? I suspect not. > > Well, that theory falls apart because there is nothing to replicate. It was never built for a start and now the concept of a Black Taj Mahal is regarded as a myth. (Except in this thread). Note that the existing Taj Mahal was copied recently in [Bangladesh](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taj_Mahal_Bangladesh), for about $56 million (or maybe $2 million; the Wikipedia article contradicts itself). I haven’t seen it, so I have no idea how exact the copy is. But you can certainly buy marble pieces in Agra and elsewhere in India that have the same sort of inlay work that’s in much of the decoration of the Taj Mahal, so the skills are still practiced. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-built-up-with-their-bare-hands-what-we-still-cant-do-today/622382/52 "2012-05-22T15:00:58Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > We might be a bit rusty in pyramid-building techniques because we haven’t needed them for a bit. [Nope.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxor_Las_Vegas) We can build a pyramid if we want one. We built one in Las Vegas that opened in 1993. It took eighteen months. We didn’t use the same techniques or materials that the Egyptians did, but why would we? We have other techniques and materials at our disposal, plus, we were never intending to use it for the same purposes the ancient Egyptians used their pyramids for. They used theirs for tombs, ours is used for a hotel and casino. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-built-up-with-their-bare-hands-what-we-still-cant-do-today/622382/53 "2012-05-22T16:34:22Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > [Nope.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxor_Las_Vegas) We can build a pyramid if we want one. We built one in Las Vegas that opened in 1993. It took eighteen months. We didn’t use the same techniques or materials that the Egyptians did, but why would we? We have other techniques and materials at our disposal, plus, we were never intending to use it for the same purposes the ancient Egyptians used their pyramids for. They used theirs for tombs, ours is used for a hotel and casino. Nobody wants to build modern pyramids because they’re CURSED: > **[Cursed Pyramid Ruins, Needmore, Indiana](https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/11213)** > > Scattered, overgrown limestone blocks are all that remain of giant pyramid that was never completed. It was meant to be a tourist attraction honoring the town of Bedford, "Limestone Capital of the World." > **[Pyramid Curse Continues - Roadside America](https://www.roadsideamerica.com/news/16611)** > > Travel news about America's Largest Pyramid in Memphis, TN, reported and commented on by the editors at Roadsideamerica.com, featuring unusual attractions, tourist traps, weird vacations, and road trips > **[Needmore, IN - Cursed Pyramid Ruins](https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/11213)** > > Visit reports, news, maps, directions and info on Cursed Pyramid Ruins in Needmore, Indiana. Besides these, the pyramid built on the site of Mary Baker Eddy’s birthplace was _dynamited_: > [@](#): > > In 1921, on the 100th anniversary of Eddy’s birth, a 100-ton (in rough) and 60–70 tons (hewn), eleven-foot square granite pyramid was dedicated on the site of her birthplace in Bow, New Hampshire.[55][56] A gift from James F. Lord, it was later dynamited in 1962 by order of the church’s board of directors.[56] Also demolished was Eddy’s former home in Pleasant View, as the board feared that it was becoming a place of pilgrimage.[56] Although Eddy allowed personal praise in her lifetime for various reasons, including for publicity and fundraising, the church shuns both the cult of personality and religious reliquaries. > **[Mary Eddy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Eddy)** > > Mary Eddy may refer to: ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-built-up-with-their-bare-hands-what-we-still-cant-do-today/622382/54 "2012-05-22T16:50:28Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > People are always trying to revive ancient construction styles. Why does the Capitol look like is was built by the Romans? Why does Westminster look like a Gothic cathedral? Centuries from now, we’ll go through recurring cycles of Post-Modernist Revival, with countless hotels trying to copy the Bilbao Guggenheim. It’s just the way things work. > . . . It’s so funny that you used that example. I have often thought that this: Photo of the [Bilbao](http://www.guggenheim-bilbao.es/img/all/el_museo/foto_postal_08.jpg) looks a lot like a metallicized [Bedrock Hotel](http://www.etsy.com/storque/media/articles/2010/09/10729-Flintstones_header.jpg). Of course I can’t find the shot with the night club and awning that matches, but you catch my drift. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-built-up-with-their-bare-hands-what-we-still-cant-do-today/622382/55 "2012-05-22T17:10:22Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Yeah, well, that song also says of one of the most blood-thirsty civilizations in all history, one whose wars had so alienated its adjoining tribes so much that they gladly teamed up with Cortez, that: > > Musically great, you betcha. Lyrically idiotic. Particularly so in the case of the Aztecs, who may have had wars [just for the sake of having wars](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower_war). ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-built-up-with-their-bare-hands-what-we-still-cant-do-today/622382/56 "2012-05-22T18:47:14Z")
What does it mean to have an exact copy? Anything involving artistry and craftsmanship is going to be unique, in one sense. Take the Mona Lisa. You could get someone to make an exact duplicate, to the best of their ability, down to the brush strokes, using period materials, but it wouldn’t \*be \*the Mona Lisa. But engineering wise, if one wished to replicate a huge stone structure, we could easily use similar materials and achieve similar results, using modern techniques. Probably faster than the originals were built. If you propose building exact copies (to the best of our abilities - does that mean identical stones in identical layouts, which would be hard with some of them Incan stones, for example; or just stonework of equivalent nature?) using period techniques, then we might run into places where we needed to practice a bit, to develop techniques that are lost, or come up with sufficient alternatives. > [@coremelt](#): > > Could we produce an EXACT copy of the taj mahal in black marble? I suspect not. Down to the micrometer, probably not, but I feel confident we could build a replica of the Taj Mahal out of black granite that would be the same size, shape, and filled with sufficiently skilled detail work. > [@chacoguy](#): > > The Amber Room has never been rebuilt. Is that a lack of ability, or desire? Or recordkeeping? Knowing _exactly_ what to put in it artistically is not the same as not being able to build a room with intricate artistry in amber. > [@Mikeisskeptical](#): > > Could we actually _design_ things like the great cathedrals or palaces of old again? That’s a different question. My intuition says yes, but our tastes have changed. We don’t tend to go in for intricate detail so much anymore. We design buildings more mathematically, using interlocking geometric shapes and working out in advance what is permitted by the forces acting on a structure with incredible precision. Often creating apparently gravity-defying buildings unimaginable to our ancestors. We play to our strengths. Modern designed buildings have modern materials and building methods to work with, for modern sensibilities and modern needs. We have concrete and steel. We don’t need flying butresses to hold the stonework together, that is what rebar is for. Doesn’t mean we couldn’t redesign using stonework. Though we might need some time to study, perhaps some practice to refine our skills. > [@Farmer\_Jane](#): > > What about Mount Rushmore? It’s not that it couldn’t be replicated so much as it couldn’t be replicated perfectly. There’s artwork in engineering. That’s not an engineering challenge, that’s a recordkeeping problem. Much of Mount Rushmore is defined by the geometry of the hill it is carved into. First you would have to selet an appropriate mountain and shape it to the right contours. > [@Gagundathar](#): > > I propose that the most difficult thing to replicate would be the Apollo Project. > Start from virtual scratch and get a 3 man team to Luna AND BACK. > In less than ten years. > Would be quite difficult to even come close. > > But, a new project to get a team to and from Luna? > That would take 3 maybe 4 years, if we had the money. I submit that if we were to redo history, with the Mercury project just done and where we were technologically, if we threw the same or more resources at it, we could be successful. But yes, 10 years was an audacious goal and it was not a given we could get there. > [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > [Nope.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxor_Las_Vegas) We can build a pyramid if we want one. We built one in Las Vegas that opened in 1993. It took eighteen months. We didn’t use the same techniques or materials that the Egyptians did, but why would we? Are we trying to build _a_ pyramid, or something made of the same materials to replicate the originals? Vegas was only intended to remind us of the original, not replicate it. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-built-up-with-their-bare-hands-what-we-still-cant-do-today/622382/57 "2012-05-22T19:11:59Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > Yes, you can’t create history. It’s there because it is. > > I have a similar sentiment about, for example Germany. I love visiting Europe for the old buildings and monuments, but so much of Germany was simply flattened during WWII and rebuilding it in the same style, or even an attempt at slavish reproduction, is not the same as having the original. > > But, that’s also what gives something historical its value. SO much was destroyed over time that what survives is so much more … I read this state of affairs entirely differently. Clearly, Germany should not remain “flattened.” But that state, resulting from the largest, etc, etc. war in mankind, is “the original” of supreme historical moment. I submit that that preservation is worth a few Mozart manuscripts or German masterpieces. > [@](#): > > …It helps to be the unquestioned absolute ruler of a significant proportion of the earth’s population. See my comment above. ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-built-up-with-their-bare-hands-what-we-still-cant-do-today/622382/58 "2012-05-22T21:11:40Z")
I think there is nothing we could not replicate. However, there are constraints: Geography - where do you replicate Mt. Rushmore? Materials - where do you get sufficient old timber to replicate some ancient house with massive beams? Budget - Yeah, we could rebuild the Great Wall of China, but the cost would be colossal Knowledge - Some old forgotten church is vaporized. Were all the stained glass and carvings properly documented? Do we know everything that was inside? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-built-up-with-their-bare-hands-what-we-still-cant-do-today/622382/59 "2012-05-22T21:46:05Z")
> [@phreesh](#): > > Budget - Yeah, we could rebuild the Great Wall of China, but the cost would be colossal Remember that the OP said, “Assume that everyone is behind constructing a perfect facsimile so that cost is not a hindrance.” ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-built-up-with-their-bare-hands-what-we-still-cant-do-today/622382/60 "2012-05-22T21:58:28Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Remember that the OP said, “Assume that everyone is behind constructing a perfect facsimile so that cost is not a hindrance.” But why _would_ we do it? Everybody would know it’s not the original Great Wall of China. It wouldn’t be of interest to historians or archaeologists, since it’s not the original. If it’s just for tourists, why not build something vaguely similar in a place where tourists are likely to be? (like, maybe, Las Vegas) Most tourists are not going to care how it was built or what it’s made of, so why go to great trouble and expense to use the same techniques and materials that the original did? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-built-up-with-their-bare-hands-what-we-still-cant-do-today/622382.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-built-up-with-their-bare-hands-what-we-still-cant-do-today/622382.md?page=4)