Tartaria, Mud Floods, and the Civilization Reset
An evidence-based reference examining the origins of a modern conspiracy theory, historical maps, geological evidence, nineteenth-century construction, and surviving historical records.
Overview
The Tartaria and mud flood theories propose that a once-great civilization was destroyed, buried, or deliberately erased from recorded history.
According to variations of the theory, this civilization possessed advanced architectural or technological knowledge. Its achievements were allegedly inherited by later societies, while records of its existence were suppressed or rewritten.
Some versions describe a worldwide catastrophe during the nineteenth century. Others propose a series of disasters or a broader historical reset in which populations, buildings, and technologies were reassigned to a fabricated historical timeline.
The claims vary considerably between creators and online communities. There is no single universally accepted Tartaria or mud flood narrative.
This reference examines five principal questions:
1. What did the historical name Tartary or Tartaria actually describe? 2. When and how did the modern conspiracy theory develop? 3. What geological or physical evidence would support a nineteenth-century civilization reset? 4. What historical evidence exists for the construction of elaborate buildings during that period? 5. What original records are available to investigate the proposed rewriting of history?
It is important to distinguish between a real historical term, a proposed explanation for that term, and evidence supporting the proposed explanation.
1. What Was Tartary?
Tartary, also spelled Tartaria, was a geographical name used by European cartographers and writers for various parts of northern and central Asia.
The name appeared on maps for several centuries, although its geographical extent changed considerably.
It was associated with peoples known in European sources as Tartars or Tatars, a designation that encompassed different populations and communities across a vast region.
Tatars are real historical peoples, and distinct Tatar identities and communities continue to exist today.
The word Tartary, however, was frequently an external European geographical designation rather than the official name of a single government administering the entire territory.
European mapmakers used terms such as Great Tartary, Chinese Tartary, and Independent Tartary. These labels reflected the geographical knowledge and political descriptions available to cartographers at the time.
The appearance of Tartary on a map establishes that the mapmaker used that geographical designation. It does not, by itself, establish that every territory under the label belonged to one unified state.
This distinction is explained in the Library of Congress article Tracking "Tartary" on Western Maps, published June 20, 2025. [1]
Historical maps worth examining
1570: Abraham Ortelius
Ortelius included a map titled Tartariae sive Magni Chami Regni typus in his influential atlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum.
The map reflects European understandings of Asian geography and the legacy of Mongol political power.
Eighteenth century: Guillaume de l'Isle
The French cartographer Guillaume de l'Isle produced influential maps of Tartary based on travelers' reports and geographical observations.
Editions and later reproductions of his work circulated during the eighteenth century.
These maps are preserved in major historical collections, including the Library of Congress. [2]
Nineteenth century: Changing geographical terminology
As Russian territorial administration, European geographical knowledge, and the mapping of individual Asian regions developed, the older broad labels became less common.
Maps increasingly identified Siberia, Mongolia, Turkestan, Manchuria, and other more specific regions or political entities.
The disappearance of a geographical label is not, in itself, evidence that a civilization was destroyed.
Place names and map classifications change as geographical knowledge, political borders, and naming practices evolve.
What the maps establish
The maps establish that Tartary was a real historical geographical designation.
They also provide evidence of how European cartographers understood parts of Asia at different times.
They do not establish the existence of a worldwide technological civilization responsible for constructing ornate buildings across Europe, Australia, and North America.
That larger claim requires separate evidence.
2. When Did the Modern Tartaria Theory Begin?
One of the most useful distinctions in researching Tartaria is the difference between the age of the historical word and the age of the modern conspiracy narrative.
The word is centuries old.
The recognizable online theory connecting Tartaria to a hidden global civilization, nineteenth-century mud floods, and a deliberate reset of history is much more recent.
There is no verified single inventor of every element of the modern narrative. Several older alternative-history movements, internet discussions, and video creators contributed to its development.
Earlier influences
During the late twentieth century, alternative chronologies and revisionist interpretations of history gained audiences in some countries, particularly Russia.
Anatoly Fomenko's New Chronology became prominent during the 1990s. It proposed sweeping revisions to established historical dating and argued that much conventional historical chronology was incorrect.
Although these ideas share themes with later Tartaria claims, Fomenko's work should not automatically be described as the invention of the modern mud flood theory.
The distinction matters because similarities between two theories do not establish a direct line of authorship. [3]
2016: Early traceable mud flood videos
In a February 2021 investigation, science writer Brian Dunning reported tracing videos discussing a purported mud flood to the YouTube creator Philipp Druzhinin, beginning around August 2016.
These videos received relatively limited attention initially.
This is an early documented phase of the modern online narrative, not proof that nobody had ever discussed a similar idea beforehand. [4]
April 17, 2018: A significant Tartaria forum post
A post by a user known as KorbenDallas on the Stolen History website presented a theory that a major historical power called Tartary had been concealed from conventional history.
The post used historical maps and documents, including references to a twentieth-century intelligence document concerning the rewriting of Tatar history under Soviet rule.
A 2024 investigation by Lead Stories examined this April 17, 2018, post and its use of the archival material. [5]
An important detail is that the intelligence document concerns actual Soviet policies and the treatment of historical narratives relating to Muslim and Tatar peoples.
Its existence does not establish that a worldwide advanced civilization was erased during the nineteenth century.
A document can be authentic while the interpretation attached to it remains unsupported.
Late 2018 to 2019: Wider online attention
Reporting on the subject identifies late 2018 and early 2019 as the period when interest in Tartaria and mud floods accelerated.
YouTube videos, discussion forums, and social media posts increasingly connected several ideas:
- Antique maps bearing the name Tartary.
- Buildings with partially buried windows or lower levels below modern street grade.
- Grand nineteenth-century architecture.
- Old photographs showing excavation or unusually empty streets.
- Claims of lost technology, unexplained disasters, and rewritten history.
These subjects were gradually incorporated into a broader narrative of a civilization reset.
This is a documented history of the theory's online growth, not evidence that the proposed nineteenth-century catastrophe occurred.
Timeline summary
| Period | Documented development | |---|---| | 13th to 19th centuries | European sources use Tartary for changing regions of Asia | | 1570 | Ortelius publishes a map of Tartaria | | 18th and 19th centuries | Tartary appears in atlases and geographical reference works | | 1990s | Fomenko's alternative chronology gains a significant readership | | August 2016 | Early mud flood videos later identified by Brian Dunning | | April 17, 2018 | Influential Stolen History post promotes a hidden Tartary narrative | | Late 2018 to 2019 | Wider online attention to Tartaria, mud floods, and civilization reset claims | | 2021 onward | Investigations and fact-checks examine the theory's history and supporting images |
The exact first appearance of the complete modern theory has not been conclusively established.
3. What Is the Proposed Mud Flood?
In the modern conspiracy narrative, a mud flood is usually described as a catastrophic event that buried large portions of cities, sometimes leaving the upper floors of buildings visible while concealing their lower levels.
Different versions place the supposed event at different points during the nineteenth century or describe multiple resets rather than one disaster.
The argument is frequently based on photographs showing buildings that appear to extend below the present street level.
However, the historical interpretation of a building cannot be established from a photograph alone.
To investigate a proposed mud flood, geological evidence is essential.
4. What Geological Evidence Would a Major Mud Flood Leave?
Actual mudflows, debris flows, and sediment-laden floods are established geological phenomena.
Geologists study them through physical deposits, landscape features, sediment composition, and evidence of the movement of material.
A large debris flow may leave recognizable deposits containing mixtures of clay, sand, gravel, and larger rocks.
The composition and arrangement depend on the event, terrain, and material transported.
Researchers also examine features such as channel deposits, debris fans, particle orientation, and the relationship between sediment layers.
A 1993 study by Christopher Waythomas and Robert Jarrett, published through the U.S. Geological Survey, describes methods used to distinguish debris-flow deposits from flash-flood deposits. [6]
These methods provide a basis for evaluating whether a particular deposit resulted from flooding, other natural processes, or human activity.
What would a widespread nineteenth-century event require?
A claim that a catastrophe deposited enormous quantities of mud across numerous cities during approximately the same period would require evidence consistent with that scale.
Researchers would look for:
Identifiable deposits
Physical layers of sediment consistent with the proposed event, rather than simply buildings whose basements sit below the sidewalk.
Geographical distribution
Deposits across the regions allegedly affected, with patterns compatible with how the water and sediment could have traveled.
Dating
Evidence that relevant deposits formed during the proposed period, rather than over centuries through unrelated processes.
Sediment characteristics
Particle composition, layering, and other physical features consistent with a particular type of flooding or debris flow.
Independent confirmation
Observations from excavations and geological investigations that can be compared across locations.
The details would vary with the proposed mechanism. A debris flow down a mountain valley would not leave the same deposits as a river flood or deliberate urban filling.
No documented, independently substantiated body of geological evidence has established a synchronized nineteenth-century mud catastrophe across the cities the worldwide reset theory claims were buried.
That does not mean local floods, landslides, sediment accumulation, or urban burial never happened.
They did, and they can be studied individually.
It means that evidence for those local events cannot automatically be combined into evidence for one worldwide catastrophe.
5. Why Do Some Old Buildings Have Windows Below Street Level?
Partially buried windows are among the most frequently circulated images associated with the mud flood narrative.
There are several established architectural and urban-development explanations.
Buildings constructed on sloping terrain
Buildings on hillsides may have different numbers of visible floors depending on which side is being viewed.
A building may have a basement entrance at its lower elevation while the same level is below street grade on the opposite side.
This arrangement does not require later burial.
Basements and daylight windows
Older buildings frequently had basement windows, light wells, coal access points, and lower-level workspaces.
Before modern electrical lighting became widespread, admitting natural light into lower floors was particularly useful.
A window below or near modern street level is therefore not necessarily evidence that the level was originally above ground.
Streets intentionally raised during development
In some cities, streets really were raised, sometimes by several feet.
Fortunately, those projects were often extensively documented.
Two examples are especially useful.
6. Chicago: A City That Raised Its Streets
During the 1850s, Chicago faced serious drainage and sanitation challenges.
Its low-lying terrain made the construction of an effective sewer system difficult.
City engineers developed a plan to raise street grades, creating room for drainage infrastructure.
In some areas, buildings were physically lifted to meet the new elevation.
The Encyclopedia of Chicago reports that many streets were raised by approximately four or five feet during the late 1850s, with greater changes in some locations. [7]
The Chicago Public Library also preserves records associated with the city's sewer projects. [8]
These projects produced precisely the kind of altered street relationships that can appear mysterious in a photograph.
But the underlying cause is documented engineering, not an unidentified global disaster.
7. Seattle: The History Behind the Underground City
Seattle provides another particularly clear example.
On June 6, 1889, a major fire destroyed a large portion of the city's business district.
Reconstruction followed, including changes to building materials, drainage systems, and street elevations.
Sections of the city were raised, while some older passages and lower levels remained below the newly established street grade.
These features are now associated with Seattle's famous underground areas.
Seattle's official historic preservation resources describe the fire, rebuilding, and elevation changes. [9]
In this case, the lower levels are not a mystery waiting for an explanation.
Their creation is part of the city's documented redevelopment.
8. The Construction Workforce Behind Nineteenth-Century Architecture
One recurring argument in the Tartaria theory concerns the construction of elaborate buildings during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Ornate courthouses, libraries, railway stations, banks, government buildings, and hotels are sometimes presented as evidence that an earlier civilization possessed construction capabilities that later societies lost.
One way to investigate this claim is to examine the labor force, architectural practices, and building technologies of the period.
How many skilled masonry workers were there in 1890?
Historical United States Census records provide useful employment figures.
The 1890 census recorded approximately 160,800 brick and stone masons in the United States.
At that time, the country had approximately 63 million residents. [16][17]
This represented approximately 255 masonry workers for every 100,000 people.
For comparison, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated approximately 71,700 brickmasons, blockmasons, and stonemasons in the United States in 2025.
The population in 2025 was approximately 341.8 million people. [18][19]
That represents approximately 21 workers in those masonry occupations for every 100,000 residents.
Comparing the two periods
| Measurement | 1890 | 2025 | |---|---:|---:| | United States population | 62,979,766 | 341,784,857 | | Brick and stone masonry workers | Approximately 160,800 | Approximately 71,700 | | Masons per 100,000 residents | Approximately 255 | Approximately 21 | | Approximate population per mason | 392 people | 4,767 people |
Based on these historical and modern occupational categories, masonry workers were approximately twelve times more common relative to the population in 1890 than in 2025.
This is a substantial difference.
However, these figures require several qualifications.
The historical and modern occupational classifications are not identical. Methods of collecting and estimating employment have also changed.
The figures do not measure the individual skill of a craftsman, and they do not establish how many workers specialized in artistic stone carving rather than ordinary masonry.
They also do not demonstrate that construction as an entire industry employed twelve times the share of the population.
What they establish is a marked difference in the prevalence of these particular traditional masonry occupations relative to the American population.
Other specialized building trades
The 1890 census also recorded approximately 61,000 marble and stone cutters, in addition to the brick and stone masons. [16]
Other skilled workers involved in period construction included carpenters, joiners, plasterers, metalworkers, roofers, glaziers, and craftsmen specializing in decorative finishing.
The techniques and occupations used in building construction differed considerably from those commonly associated with modern projects.
Workers performed tasks using hand tools, specialized machinery, scaffolding, hoists, steam-powered equipment, reusable molds, and established workshop methods.
The availability of these trades is important when examining what nineteenth-century builders were capable of accomplishing.
Ornate architecture was also a matter of style
Architectural preferences change.
During different periods, American builders and architects embraced Gothic Revival, Romanesque Revival, Renaissance Revival, Victorian, and Beaux-Arts designs.
Many of these styles emphasized decorative stonework, elaborate façades, arches, columns, sculptural details, and ornamental finishes.
Such features were not necessarily unusual within the building traditions of their time.
They reflected prevailing architectural fashions, the preferences of clients, the intended prestige of a building, and the technologies and materials available.
Later architectural movements often emphasized different priorities, including simpler forms, modern materials, and less applied ornamentation.
A change in architectural fashion does not establish that the ability to construct an earlier style was lost.
Not every ornament was carved individually
The production methods used for ornate buildings are also relevant.
Some decorative elements were carved individually from stone.
Others were manufactured using cast iron, pressed metal, molded plaster, and architectural terra-cotta.
Terra-cotta could be formed using reusable molds, allowing elaborate decorative shapes to be manufactured and repeated.
The National Park Service documents the widespread use of glazed architectural terra-cotta from the late nineteenth century into the early twentieth century, including its use in highly ornamental buildings. [20]
These methods made elaborate architectural detailing more practical than a modern observer might assume from looking at the completed structure.
What the workforce evidence establishes
The historical census confirms that traditional masonry and related building trades represented substantial occupations during the late nineteenth century.
Architectural history establishes that ornate styles were fashionable and that decorative elements could be produced using established methods and materials.
Together, these records help explain the economic and technical context in which elaborate nineteenth-century buildings were constructed.
For any particular building, however, more direct evidence is available through original plans, construction photographs, contracts, material records, and contemporary reporting.
9. Case Study: The Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building
The Thomas Jefferson Building in Washington, D.C., is an exceptionally useful example because its construction was extensively recorded.
The Library of Congress preserves a collection of 717 cyanotype photographs created between 1888 and 1895.
The images show construction at different stages, including:
- Excavation and preparation of the building site.
- Horse-drawn vehicles delivering materials.
- Masonry and stonework.
- Craftsmen carving decorative elements.
- Machinery and scaffolding.
- Interior construction and architectural details.
The collection also includes architectural plans. [10]
Separately, the Library of Congress describes approximately 989 working drawings showing structural details, architectural elements, mechanical systems, and other aspects of the project. [11]
Its historical timeline identifies architects, engineers, construction supervisors, and major milestones. [12]
A photograph of craftsmen at work
One particularly useful primary source is a photograph taken by Levin C. Handy on July 19, 1894.
The photograph is titled N.C. 1st story, marble carving shop.
It shows stone carvers working inside the building during construction.
The Library of Congress preserves the original photographic record and identifies the location, approximate subject, photographer, and date. [21]
This is not merely a photograph of a finished architectural achievement.
It documents some of the people and methods involved in producing the building's ornamental elements.
What the construction records establish
The photographs and drawings document a sequence of construction activities.
They show that identifiable workers, engineers, and craftsmen participated in the project during the years recorded.
The preserved plans also document the intended structure, details, and systems.
Such evidence is directly relevant when evaluating claims that nineteenth-century builders lacked the capabilities necessary to construct these buildings.
The records can be examined independently rather than relying on a modern interpretation of the completed façade.
10. What About the Claim That History Was Reset or Rewritten?
Some versions of the theory suggest that the destruction of Tartaria was followed by a coordinated rewriting of human history.
Testing this claim requires examining how historical records survive.
History is not preserved in one centralized database.
Records come from numerous independent sources, often produced for unrelated purposes.
Examples include census schedules, church registers, property deeds, land surveys, business ledgers, construction contracts, newspapers, personal correspondence, military records, shipping logs, and government archives.
Not all historical documents survive, and surviving records are not automatically accurate or unbiased.
But their independence matters.
Census records
The United States began conducting federal population censuses in 1790.
Surviving nineteenth-century census schedules document households and communities across successive decades.
The National Archives preserves information about these collections, including surviving records and gaps. [13]
Commercial building maps
The Sanborn Map Company produced detailed maps for fire insurance purposes.
These maps document building footprints, construction materials, street layouts, property uses, and other information important to insurers.
The Library of Congress holds an extensive collection covering thousands of North American towns and cities. [14]
Newspapers
The Library of Congress's Chronicling America collection provides access to historical newspaper pages, including reporting, advertisements, and notices produced during the periods in question. [15]
These independently created collections can be compared with one another.
A claim that a city was suddenly buried and repopulated in the nineteenth century can therefore be investigated through newspapers, census records, property history, construction documentation, maps, and physical evidence.
A claim of worldwide historical rewriting would require an explanation consistent with the surviving records across many different regions and institutions.
The existence of individual inaccuracies or missing documents does not, by itself, establish a coordinated worldwide reset.
11. What Evidence Is Established, and What Remains Unsupported?
| Question | Status of evidence | |---|---| | Did historical maps use the name Tartary? | Yes. Original maps survive in public collections. | | Were there historical Tatar peoples and societies? | Yes. Their histories are independently documented. | | Was Tartary the name of one worldwide advanced civilization? | The modern claim lacks substantiating historical evidence. | | Did real mudflows and destructive floods occur? | Yes. These are documented geological processes. | | Have cities raised streets and altered ground levels? | Yes. Examples include Chicago and Seattle. | | Were traditional masonry trades more common relative to the population in 1890? | Yes, based on the historical and modern occupational figures examined here. | | Were elaborate nineteenth-century buildings documented during construction? | Yes. Photographs, drawings, and written records survive for many buildings. | | Is there established evidence of a worldwide nineteenth-century mud flood resetting civilization? | No substantiated body of historical and geological evidence has established such an event. | | Can the modern online theory be traced to recent internet activity? | Yes. Important developments are documented between approximately 2016 and 2019, although a definitive single origin has not been established. |
12. How to Independently Investigate a Tartaria or Mud Flood Claim
The best starting point is a specific claim tied to a particular place, photograph, document, or proposed date.
For example, if a video presents a building with partially buried windows, try to establish:
1. The building's identity. What is its actual name and location? 2. The photograph's origin. Is this the complete original image, and when was it taken? 3. The construction history. Are plans, permits, photographs, or newspaper reports available? 4. The original ground level. Was the building constructed on a slope, or were nearby streets later raised? 5. The physical evidence. If a flood is claimed, what actual sediment deposits have been identified? 6. The proposed timeline. Does the evidence fit the year or period the video describes? 7. Independent sources. Can the claim be checked using archives other than the source promoting it?
This approach is more informative than treating every unusual-looking building as evidence of the same unexplained event.
The same method applies to antique maps.
Instead of asking only whether the word Tartary appears, examine who produced the map, when it was published, how its geographical labels were used, and what contemporary sources said about the region.
Conclusion
Tartary is a genuine historical name found in centuries-old geographical records.
The modern account of a technologically advanced worldwide Tartarian civilization destroyed by a nineteenth-century mud flood is a separate claim, whose recognizable online development can be traced principally to the late 2010s.
Historical maps establish the use of a geographical label.
Geological investigations provide methods for identifying real sedimentary events.
Historical census records document substantial populations of skilled masonry workers during the late nineteenth century.
Architectural history shows that ornamental building styles were fashionable and supported by established methods, specialized workshops, and manufactured decorative components.
Construction photographs, architectural drawings, city engineering records, and historical archives document many buildings and urban changes later featured in mud flood videos.
These sources do not establish the proposed global civilization reset.
The value of examining the original material is that readers can evaluate a specific claim without depending exclusively on a video creator's interpretation.
The historical record is not complete, but a surprising claim becomes more useful when it can be attached to a specific place, date, original document, and testable physical explanation.
References and Original Research Materials
The following sources include primary historical collections, scientific research, scholarly historical analysis, and reporting documenting the modern theory's development.
[1] Library of Congress, "Tracking 'Tartary' on Western Maps" (2025). Historical cartography research explaining the term, its changing geographical meaning, and surviving maps.
https://blogs.loc.gov/maps/2025/06/tracking-tartary-on-western-maps/
[2] Library of Congress, "Map of the Great Tartary." Historical cartographic item associated with Guillaume de l'Isle's geographical work.
https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15038/
[3] Joseph Kellner, "Anatolii Fomenko at the End of History" (2025). Scholarly history examining Fomenko's alternative chronology and its popularity.
https://doi.org/10.7591/cornell/9781501781513.003.0005
[4] Brian Dunning, "Tartaria and the Mud Flood" (2021). Investigation of the online development of the modern theory, including early videos traced to 2016.
https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4765
[5] Lead Stories, investigation of a Tartaria claim involving a 1957 intelligence document (2024). Examines an April 2018 forum post and the context of the source it cited.
[6] Waythomas, C. F., and Jarrett, R. D., "Differentiation of debris-flow and flash-flood deposits" (1993). U.S. Geological Survey research on identifying evidence of these events.
[7] Encyclopedia of Chicago, "Street Grades, Raising." Historical account of Chicago's street elevation projects.
https://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1202.html
[8] Chicago Public Library, "Chicago Sewers Collection." Archival information concerning the city's sewer development and street elevation changes.
https://www.chipublib.org/fa-chicago-sewers-collection/
[9] City of Seattle, "Pioneer Square Preservation District." Official history describing the 1889 fire, rebuilding, and elevated streets.
[10] Library of Congress, "Photographs of the Construction of the Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building." Primary photographic collection containing 717 cyanotypes dated 1888 to 1895.
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2004667133/
[11] Library of Congress, "Architecture, Design and Engineering Collections." Research guide describing architectural drawings and construction photographs.
https://guides.loc.gov/architecture-design-engineering-collections/collections/thematic-collections
[12] Library of Congress, "Library of Congress Buildings: Timelines." Historical project chronology identifying architects, engineers, and construction stages.
https://guides.loc.gov/lc-buildings/timelines
[13] U.S. National Archives, "Census Records." Historical population records and original census schedules.
https://www.archives.gov/research/census
[14] Library of Congress, "Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps." Historical building-level maps documenting North American communities.
https://guides.loc.gov/fire-insurance-maps/sanborn
[15] Library of Congress, "Chronicling America." Digitized historical newspapers useful for checking construction dates, local events, and contemporary accounts.
https://www.loc.gov/collections/chronicling-america/
[16] U.S. Census Bureau, "Occupations at the Twelfth Census: 1900." Original census publication including retrospective occupational statistics for 1890. The historical masonry totals identify approximately 160,800 brick and stone masons. The publication also provides figures for marble and stone cutters.
https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1900/occupations/1900-census-occupations.pdf
[17] U.S. Census Bureau, "Facts by Decade: 1890." Official historical population count of 62,979,766 residents.
https://www.census.gov/about/history/historical-censuses-and-surveys/decade-facts.1890.html
[18] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Occupational Outlook Handbook: Masonry Workers." 2025 occupational employment estimates identifying 62,400 brickmasons and blockmasons and 9,300 stonemasons, for a combined estimate of approximately 71,700 workers. Cement masons and concrete finishers are excluded from this comparison.
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/construction-and-extraction/brickmasons-blockmasons-and-stonemasons.htm
[19] U.S. Census Bureau, "QuickFacts: United States." Official population estimate of 341,784,857 residents for July 1, 2025.
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045225
[20] National Park Service, Preservation Brief 7, "The Preservation of Historic Glazed Architectural Terra-Cotta." Technical history of glazed terra-cotta, including its nineteenth-century popularity, manufacturing techniques, decorative uses, and later decline.
https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1739/upload/preservation-brief-07-terra-cotta.pdf
[21] Library of Congress, "N.C. 1st Story, Marble Carving Shop," July 19, 1894. Original photograph by Levin C. Handy showing stone carvers at work during construction of the Thomas Jefferson Building.
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2013645932/
Additional independent reporting
Australian Associated Press, "Ancient Empire's Link to Historic Buildings Is a Delusion" (May 3, 2024).
Investigates Tartaria claims involving documented Australian buildings and discusses the theory's online origins.
https://prod-ss.aap.com.au/factcheck/ancient-empires-link-to-historic-buildings-is-a-delusion/