Concrete, in a recognizable, man‑made form, goes back to around 6500 BCE, but modern concrete dates to the invention of Portland cement in 1824.

Quick scoop: the short version

  • Earliest concrete‑like material: used by Nabataean traders in what is now Syria and Jordan around 6500 BCE for floors, houses, and cisterns.
  • Widespread ancient use: perfected by the Romans from about 600–200 BCE using lime and volcanic ash; many Roman concrete structures still stand.
  • Modern concrete “birth”: 1824, when English bricklayer Joseph Aspdin patented Portland cement, the key ingredient in today’s concrete mixes.

So if you’re asking “when was concrete invented” in the ancient sense, people were using concrete‑like materials over 8,000 years ago; if you mean the concrete we build with today, its story really starts in 1824 with Portland cement.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.