page_title: List of largest monoliths
section_title: Moved monoliths
hierarchical_section_title: List of largest monoliths / Moved monoliths
caption_attribution_description: Detailed view of Trajan's column. Panorama from different images, exif taken from the middle one.
context_page_description: This is a list of monoliths organized according to the size of the largest block of stone on the site. A monolith is a large stone which has been used to build a structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. In this list at least one colossal stone over ten tons has been moved to create the structure or monument.
  In most cases ancient civilizations had little, if any, advanced technology that would help them move these monoliths. The most notable exception is that of the ancient Greeks and Romans, who had cranes and treadwheels to help lift colossal stones.
  Most of these weights are based on estimates by published scholars; however, there have been numerous false estimates of many of these stones presented as fact. To help recognize exaggerations, an introductory description shows how to calculate the weight of colossal stones from first principles.
context_section_description: This section lists monoliths that have been quarried and moved.
  Colossal statue of Tlaloc, in Coatlinchan. Made of basalt, weighing 168 tons.
  The Kerloas menhir, Brittany, France. Largest, 150 tons.
  Pyramid of Khendjer at Saqqara, Egypt. 150-ton, one-piece quartzite burial chamber.
  Tiwanaku, Bolivia. Several ashlars, 100 to 130 tons, were transported 6 miles (9.7 km).
  Sacsayhuamán, wall near Cusco, Peru. Largest stones over 125 tons.
  Treasury of Atreus at Mycenae, Greece. Largest lintel stone, 120 tons.
  The Pyramid of Amenemhet III, at Hawara, Egypt. 110-ton, one piece quartzite burial chamber.
  Brownshill Dolmen, 100 metric tons.
  Baths of Caracalla, Rome, Italy. Granite columns close to 100 tons.
  Fortress of Mycenae, Greece. Largest stones close to 100 tons.
  Menhir de Champ-Dolent, Brittany, France. Menhir of about 100 tons.
  Pyramid of Nyuserre Ini. 12 megalithic limestone beams 10 meters long weighing 90 tons each, forming the roof of burial chamber and antechamber.
  Moai at Easter Island. Largest moai 70 to 86 tons. The tallest one, Paro, was moved 3.75 miles (6.04 km).
  Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt. Largest slabs on burial chamber, 80 tons. The granite was transported 580 miles (930 km) from Aswan by barge on the Nile river.
  Karnak, Egypt. Obelisk, 328 tons. Largest architraves, 70 tons. Sandstone transported from Gebel Silsila 100 miles (160 km).
  Trajan's Column, Rome, Italy. Pedestal blocks: 77 t
  Ishibutai Kofun in Asuka, Nara, Japan. Largest stone, 75 tons.
  Pantheon, Rome, Italy. Granite columns, 39 feet (11.8 m) tall, five feet (1.5 m) in diameter, and 60 tons in weight were transported from Egypt by barge.
  Olmec heads, Mexico, gulf coast. Largest Olmec head, almost 50 tons. Transported 37 to 62 miles (100 km).
  Ħaġar Qim, one of the Megalithic Temples of Malta. Its largest stone weighs 57 tons and measures approximately 19 feet (5.8 m) long by 9 feet (2.7 m) tall by 2 feet (0.61 m) thick. The Maltese temples are the oldest free-standing structures on Earth.
  Ashoka Pillars, weighing up to about 50 tons, were transported throughout India to territory ruled by Ashoka.
  Göbekli Tepe, Turkey. Megaliths from 10 to a 50-ton pillar still in its quarry transported up to a 1/4 mile.
  Stonehenge, England. Largest stones over 40 tons were moved 18 miles (29 km); smaller bluestones up to 5 tons were moved 130 miles (210 km).
  Trajan's column Rome, Italy. Forty-ton drums. The capital block of Trajan's Column weighs 53.3 tons.
  Rameses IV reopened the stone quarries of Wadi Hammamat and had stones dragged 60 miles (97 km) across land to the Nile, then freighted on barges to temples and his tomb in Thebes. Some of these weighed over 40 tons.
  Dur-Sharrukin, Iraq. Largest colossal bull, 40 tons.
  Nineveh, Iraq. Largest colossal bulls, 30 tons each, were transported 30 miles (48 km) from quarries at Balatai, then lifted 65 feet (20 m) once they arrived at the site.
  Nimrud, Iraq. Largest colossal bull, 30 tons.
  Maeshowe Orkney Islands, Scotland. Largest flagstone, 30 tons.
  Caesarea Maritima, harbor of Caesarea, Israel. Largest stone 20 tons.
  Teotihuacan, Mexico. 22-ton water deity on top of the Pyramid of the Moon.
  Aztec calendar stone at Tenochtitlan, Mexico. 24 tons.
  Palenque, Mexico. The largest stones weigh 12 to 15 tons.
  The Parthenon in Athens, Greece. Largest stones 10 tons.
  Nubian pyramids. Sarcophagus, weighing 15.5 tons, and heavier granite statues up to at least 18 feet tall.
  Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and other Angkor temples, Cambodia. Five million tons of sandstone were transported 25 miles (40 km) along the river for Angkor Wat.
  Newgrange, Ireland. Built in 3200 BC.
  Huge blocks, some weighing over 100 tons, at the Valley Temple.
  45 Degrees, 90 Degrees, 180 Degrees at Rice University.
  Several monuments were moved to higher positions from Hasankeyf, Turkey, due to the flood caused by the completion of the Ilisu Dam.
  Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey. Columns close to, if not more than, 100 tons.
  Unsourced claims:
  Cueva de Menga, in Antequera, Spain. Dolmen made of megaliths, weighing up to 180 tons, built around 3750 BC.
  Stećak tom
caption: The 53.3 t heavy capital block (the rectangular platform fitted with a railing) of Trajan's Column in Rome, Italy, was lifted by Roman cranes to a record height of about 34 m.
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