The Theory Of The Humongous Stones Thread

[FAX]

Whilst working this evening, I happened to have the TV tuned to the History Channel as they were re-airing a documentary on Ancient Aliens. Basically, it was the same old hash about huge, old monuments and the assumed difficulties involved in building them without the use of technology in some form or fashion ... blah, blah, ho hum, etc.

But then, all of a sudden, this one wacky dude made a statement that caught my attention. He said, "Why would the builders make their job so much more difficult by carving, transporting, and elevating these mammoth, individual stones?"

When you think about it, that's a darn good question. The weights we're talking about are formidable. For example, The Colossi of Memnon in Egypt are carved from two stones weighing an estimated 1000 tons each (some archaeologists peg them at 1200 tons each, actually).

Then there's the Stellae of Axum which weighs about 500 tons, the Ramesseum in Egypt which weighs in at an estimated 1000 tons, the 'Stone of the South' in Lebanon which is around 1200 tons, and the Unfinished Obelisk also in Egypt and also in the 1200 ton range. And these are just a few examples of enormous, megalithic stones which modern builders would have great difficulty manipulating in a construction setting.

The reason is that there are a variety of modern cranes rated to the 100- to 300-ton capacity. However, it takes a custom crane to lift anything beyond that tonnage. NASA, for example, had to build a custom crane with a lifting capacity of 430 tons to lift the shuttle. And, a New York engineering company has a specialty crane with a lift capacity of 500 tons that is used to lift other cranes to the top of high-rise construction sites. So far, I haven't identified any modern crane with the lift capacity to handle a 1000 ton rock. And, of course, that's just lifting ... not transporting, or manipulating the stone into place at the job site.

Okay, so these builders liked big rocks. I get that part. However, it's completely obvious that they could have used smaller stones that were easier to quarry, easier to transport, and far easier to use in construction to accomplish the same building objectives. So why did they choose to make their job so much more difficult by using these enormous stones?

The argument for many "ancient technology" theorists seems to be that the builders used big rocks because, for them, it just wasn't all that difficult ... in other words, they had super secret methods and means of which we modern dudes are unaware (like those used by the crazy Coral Castle guy, maybe).

I know that Planeteers understand building stuff, hauling stuff, and stacking stuff, so I thought I'd throw this thread out there to see what you guys think about the question. Is it possible that the ancients worked with megalithic stones because they had the ability to do so easily? Or, were they just making their slaves work their asses off for the sheer joy of it?

FAX

Disclaimers: Sorry if repost.

[Pants]

Repost.

[DaneMcCloud]

If you believe in Dan's Brown theory, which is put forth in his latest novel "The Solomon Key", the Ancient Mysteries also include the forgotten and long lost power of the human mind and "collective consciousness".

He basically states that human beings when focusing on one event, whether it be prayer or moving 500 ton stones, can accomplish God-like "miracles" with the power of the human mind.

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by FAX

Whilst working this evening, I happened to have the TV tuned to the History Channel as they were re-airing a documentary on Ancient Aliens. Basically, it was the same old hash about huge, old monuments and the assumed difficulties involved in building them without the use of technology in some form or fashion ... blah, blah, ho hum, etc.

But then, all of a sudden, this one wacky dude made a statement that caught my attention. He said, "Why would the builders make their job so much more difficult by carving, transporting, and elevating these mammoth, individual stones?"

When you think about it, that's a darn good question. The weights we're talking about are formidable. For example, The Colossi of Memnon in Egypt are carved from two stones weighing an estimated 1000 tons each (some archaeologists peg them at 1200 tons each, actually).

Then there's the Stellae of Axum which weighs about 500 tons, the Ramesseum in Egypt which weighs in at an estimated 1000 tons, the 'Stone of the South' in Lebanon which is around 1200 tons, and the Unfinished Obelisk also in Egypt and also in the 1200 ton range. And these are just a few examples of enormous, megalithic stones which modern builders would have great difficulty manipulating in a construction setting.

The reason is that there are a variety of modern cranes rated to the 100- to 300-ton capacity. However, it takes a custom crane to lift anything beyond that tonnage. NASA, for example, had to build a custom crane with a lifting capacity of 430 tons to lift the shuttle. And, a New York engineering company has a specialty crane with a lift capacity of 500 tons that is used to lift other cranes to the top of high-rise construction sites. So far, I haven't identified any modern crane with the lift capacity to handle a 1000 ton rock. And, of course, that's just lifting ... not transporting, or manipulating the stone into place at the job site.

Okay, so these builders liked big rocks. I get that part. However, it's completely obvious that they could have used smaller stones that were easier to quarry, easier to transport, and far easier to use in construction to accomplish the same building objectives. So why did they choose to make their job so much more difficult by using these enormous stones?

The argument for many "ancient technology" theorists seems to be that the builders used big rocks because, for them, it just wasn't all that difficult ... in other words, they had super secret methods and means of which we modern dudes are unaware (like those used by the crazy Coral Castle guy, maybe).

I know that Planeteers understand building stuff, hauling stuff, and stacking stuff, so I thought I'd throw this thread out there to see what you guys think about the question. Is it possible that the ancients worked with megalithic stones because they had the ability to do so easily? Or, were they just making their slaves work their asses off for the sheer joy of it?

FAX

Disclaimers: Sorry if repost.

[Buck]

They didn't have TV back then FAX.

[FAX]

Okay. Power of combined consciousness. I can grok that. No problem.

And regardless of how skeptical you repost police and critics and neer-do-wells may be about the megalithic constructions throughout the world, the question of, "Why would they use the big rocks when they didn't have to ..." is a damn good question, in my book anyhow.

Sure, they were barely out of prehistoric times and, therefore, stupid ... but, damn. One would think that eventually somebody would have said, "Hey! Let's stop carrying these big ass rocks and, instead, let's use lots of little ones."

FAX

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by FAX

Okay. Power of combined consciousness. I can grok that. No problem.

And regardless of how skeptical you repost police and critics and neer-do-wells may be about the megalithic constructions throughout the world, the question of, "Why would they use the big rocks when they didn't have to ..." is a damn good question, in my book anyhow.

Sure, they were barely out of prehistoric times and, therefore, stupid ... but, damn. One would think that eventually somebody would have said, "Hey! Let's stop carrying these big ass rocks and, instead, let's use lots of little ones."

FAX

They didn't carry them, they used their collective consciousness to move them telepathically.

Easy as pie.

They must have had really big trucks back then because I rarely transport anything that won't fit on my truck. I can get some 4'x16' sheetrock on there.

[FAX]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

They didn't carry them, they used their collective consciousness to move them telepathically.

Easy as pie.

I wonder how many people it took to "think move" a 1000 ton rock a dozen or so miles ...

For that matter, I wonder how many people it would take to "think" the BP oil gusher to stop. That would be damn cool, actually. We could get a medal probably. Maybe even some free gas.

FAX

[ChiefaRoo]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

They didn't carry them, they used their collective consciousness to move them telepathically.

Easy as pie.

You're high.

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by FAX

I wonder how many people it took to "think move" a 1000 ton rock a dozen or so miles ...

For that matter, I wonder how many people it would take to "think" the BP oil gusher to stop. That would be damn cool, actually. We could get a medal probably. Maybe even some free gas.

FAX

Collective People: We stopped the oil gusher! Now we get free gas from BP as part of their gratitude!

BP: lol no

Collective People: But we fixed your problem. You should repay us!

BP: Well, that's what you get for thinking

*rimshot*

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

They didn't carry them, they used their collective consciousness to move them telepathically.

Easy as pie.

Wouldn't that be telekenetically?

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

Wouldn't that be telekenetically?

My apologies.

I typed that message using telekinesis while communicating telepathically with my wife.

[stevieray]

How many men does it take to lift a two ton car?

World's Strongest Ancient Dudes Comptetitions.

[bowener]

Moving large heavy boulders and statues is one thing, carving something like this without using diamonds... ****ing impossible (only rock harder than the one being carved is a ****ing diamond)!

This one has equidistant holes drilled in the carved line. It almost looks like the way we fasten metal or plastic pieces to each other today... imagine a strip of gold or silver running down the insert cut out, and the back of the metal would have pegs that snap into the equidistant holes. At least that is what it looks like to me.



This is pretty ingenious. Apparently similar "metal ties" have been found in Egypt and Angkor Watt. What I think is pretty cool is that they are all the exact same size and cut (the metal tie inserts).



These are just ****ing fascinating to me. The show FAX is talking about had a guy on there that uses the same tools that ancients used (the ones found), and he basically said there is no way to do this without some form of modern tools (diamond tipped cutting devices or ultra high heat torches).





Then there are these ****ing blocks. They work like giant granite legos.



This is all fascinating shit. They apparently hauled these stones (without trees to use in any way) 10 miles from the quarry to their temple spot at 4000 meters above sea level. Then they carved the 2nd hardest stone, diorite (2nd to diamond), by hand using copper and the same diorite... even though copper isn't strong enough to do this, and using diorite to cut itself would take almost forever. Either they had help or they threw all their tools into some sea or we have severely underestimated how boring their lives were and the collective willpower of a people with no written language (but apparently masters of mathematics through oral discussion/tradition).



Oh yeah, I forgot, the massive ****ing stone walls/terraces. No mortar is used, nor is there a simple angle on any stone, yet they all fit together perfectly.