Throughout history, cementing materials have played a vital role. They were used widely in the ancient world. The Egyptians used calcined gypsum as a cement. The Greeks and Romans used lime made by heating limestone and added sand to make mortar, with coarser stones for concrete.
The Romans found that a cement could be made which set under water and this was used for the construction of harbours. The cement was made by adding crushed volcanic ash to lime and was later called a "pozzolanic" cement, named after the village of Pozzuoli near Vesuvius.
In places such as Britain, where volcanic ash was scarce, crushed brick or tile was used instead. The Romans were therefore probably the first to manipulate the properties of cementitious materials for specific applications and situations.