Bricks are standarized blocks intented for making buildings. They can be made from adobe, clay, lime-and-sand, concrete, or shaped stone. In all cases except in the case of adobe bricks, they are made by heating (firing) the material.
The earliest bricks that have been discovered are estimated to be from 7000 BC. The bricks in question were uncovered around the ancient city of Jericho, in the south of modern-day Turkey, these were likely made from mud clay, shaped into bricks and then sundried in the open air. Bricks from a similar time frame - between 7000 and 3500 BC - have been discovered in other areas of the middle east and the Persian Gulf, around the Tigris region. Air dried, mudbrick houses have also been found in Pakistan and other areas of south Asia. Ancient Egyptian ruins show that they also used sundried bricks using clay, mixed with straw.
See also
- Building with Pumice 3: Bricks made from pummice (waste stone/concrete)
- Clay Brick and Tile Moulding Equipment
- Compressed earth brick press
- Mud Brick Roofs
