The megalithic civilizations used incredibly similar techniques to cut, craft, and build their structures, posing questions about them sharing their knowledge or being somehow connected with each other.

Among the many common architectural elements (polygonal masonry, perfect cuts, drill holes, metal clamps, scoop marks, and so on), the anti-seismic way of engineering their walls is among the most sophisticated ones and can be easily recognized.

At first glance, one may think that this would just be a random, casual disposition of the stones, or that a little block was required to fill a gap between two greater stones.

However, by looking at it from an architectural point of view, we are able to observe that this little stone creates a stress-relief point for the building giving it anti-seismic properties, making a wall built this way much more sound. This means that, in the case of an earthquake, all of the vibrations caused by the seismic force would discharge within the center relief point, which coincides with the little interlocking stone, hence avoiding damages to the overall structure.

From South America to Egypt, this technique was known and used by the architects that build some of the most incredible megalithic structures of the past.

This feature can only be found on the oldest, enigmatic, and most sophisticated buildings, such as the Osireion in Egypt, the Qoricancha and Sacsayhuaman in Perù, and the mysterious megalithic wall at Ahu Vinapu in Easter Island. This process wasn’t utilized by the Inca or the Dynastic Egyptians to build their newer structures, because supposedly this knowledge was already lost in time.

It’s no mystery that the Osireion might predate any other ancient Egyptian structure, and was in fact considered a mythological sacred place even at the time of Seti I.

The discoverer of the Osireion himself, renowned archaeologist Flinders Petrie from the Smithsonian Institute, believed it was the oldest place in Egypt (read more).

The Qoricancha and Sacsayhuaman in Perù also display craftsmanship and engineering levels that were distant from the classical Inca architectural style, with several examples of advanced techniques such as stone vitrification, perfect cuttings, and enigmatic tool marks left on some of the blocks.

One of the most enigmatic structures where this feature can be seen are the remains of an ancient megalithic structure on Easter Island, which clearly shows there was an advanced culture capable of building megalithic walls other than the more famous Moai statues.

Since there are no traces of other megalithic buildings, and only a few massive blocks remain from this wall, it seriously makes one wonder how many millennia have passed to actually reduce what would’ve been a massive construction to just a few blocks.

Upon exploring the island in 1774, James Cook himself marveled at the megalithic wall, documenting that, according to him, it was better engineered than any modern British building.