Since the time spent to carve these structures from the living rock must have taken longer than the few decades of King Lalibela's reign, Buxton assumes that the work extended into the 14th century.
Dado que o tempo dedicado a esculpir estas estruturas na rocha viva debeu levar máis tempo que as poucas décadas do reinado do rei Lalibela, Buxton asume que a obra estendeuse ata o século XIV.