Shaped articles with a coherent matrix which comprises homogeneously arranged inorganic solid particles (A) of a size of from about 50 .ANG. to about 0.5 micron, such as silica dust particles, and densely packed solid particles (B) having a size of the order of 0.5-100 micron and being at least one order of magnitude larger than the respective particles A, such as Portland cement particles, the particles A being homogeneously distributed, especially densely packed, in the void volume between the particles B, are made from an easily flowable composite material containing a very low amount of liquid and an extremely high amount of a dispersing agent, such as a concrete superplasticiser. Test specimens with Portland cement-silica dust-based matrices with dense packing of the silica dust have higher compressive strengths than hitherto reported, and reinforcements such as fibers or steel bars are subject to a high degree of fixation in the dense Portland cement-silica dust matrix because of the density of the matrix contacting the reinforcement such as illustrated in FIG. 5 which shows a plastic fiber incorporated in the dense matrix. Composite material for making shaped article comprises dispersing agent in sufficiently high amount to obtain a viscous to plastic consistency of the composite material with the small volume of liquid necessary to fill voids between particles A and B. The shaping of the composite material may be performed in a low stress field and without exchange of liquid with the surroundings.