List of colossal sculpture in situ
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This is a list of colossal sculptures that were carved in situ or in place, sometimes referred to as "living rock". This list includes two colossal stones that were intended to be moved; however they were never broken free of the quarry in which they were carved and therefore they would be considered carved in situ. Most of these were carved in ancient times.
In most cases, especially in India, the sculptures were carved out of "soft" rock like basalt or volcanic tuff. However in some cases they were carved out of harder rock like sandstone, or even granite in the case of the unfinished obelisk. The Egyptians may have been limited to using 10 pound dolerite balls to chip away at the granite.[1] Dynamite was used in the carving of Mount Rushmore, another of the few colossal sculptures that was carved out of granite.
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[edit] Africa
- Great Sphinx of Giza, Egypt – limestone
- Abu Simbel, Egypt – sandstone
- The unfinished obelisk at Aswan, Egypt – granite
- Seti I, Egypt – limestone
- Ethiopian architecture, Ethiopia – red volcanic tuff
- Church of Saint George, Lalibela, Ethiopia – volcanic tuff
[edit] Asia
- Buddhas of Bamyan, Afghanistan – sandstone, destroyed in 2001 by the Taliban
- Somapura Mahavihara, Bangladesh
- Leshan Giant Buddha, China
- Bingling Temple, China
- Ajanta Caves, India
- Badami Cave Temples, India – sandstone
- Barabar Caves, India – oldest rockcut cave of India
- Ellora Caves, India
- Kailash Temple[disambiguation needed
], India - Kanheri Caves, India
- List of India cave temples
- Vijayanagara, India
- Mahabalipuram, India – partly granite
- Bagastana, Iran
- Naqsh-e Rustam, Iran
- Naqsh-e Rajab, Iran
- Petra, Jordan – sandstone
- "the stone of the south" near Baalbek, Lebanon – limestone
- Mada'in Saleh, Saudi Arabia
- Sigiriya, Sri Lanka – granite
- Cappadocia, Turkey
[edit] Americas
- Chachapoya cliff tombs at Revash, Peru [2]
- Mount Rushmore, United States – granite
- Crazy Horse Memorial, United States – pegmatite granite - work in progress
- Stone Mountain, United States – granite
[edit] Europe
- Madara Rider, Bulgaria
- Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni, Malta
- Statue of Decebalus, Romania
- Dovbush rocks, Ukraine
- Tabula Traiana, Serbia
[edit] Other lists
- List of cave monasteries
- List of rock cut temples in India
- List of statues; by height; in U.S.A.
- List of Roman domes
- List of world's largest domes
- New Seven Wonders of the World
- List of archaeological sites sorted by country
- List of megalithic sites
- List of archaeoastronomical sites by country
- List of Egyptian pyramids
- List of Mesoamerican pyramids
