King of the Americas
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So skeptics, did the Easter Islanders have a written language, as to export their designs for their Moai, or did they export these statues like concert T-shirts?
So skeptics, did the Easter Islanders have a written language, as to export their designs for their Moai, or did they export these statues like concert T-shirts?
How so...?
Do YOU believe there was a global civilization before Columbus made his trip?
Working stone is easy. Cutting descending squares into andesite is not possible with copper tools.
So skeptics, did the Easter Islanders have a written language, as to export their designs for their Moai, or did they export these statues like concert T-shirts?
One of my favorite stories is that of Easter Island, where western visitors puzzled over the giant statues found there. There were many competing theories about how they were crafted, from fairly reasonable explanations to the intervention of aliens or supernatural beings.
Then some clever soul got the bright idea to actually ASK THE PEOPLE THAT LIVED THERE how the statues were built...and they, of course, knew exactly how it was done.
Inca construction techniques have long been the subject of wild speculation. Investigations of ancient quarry sites and of numerous cut-stone walls reveal that the amazing Inca constructions were built with very simple means. Stones were selected out of rock falls or just broken out of a rock face with pry-bars. If the blocks needed to be parted, big hammerstones were used to split them. To dress the stones smaller hammerstones were used to pound them until they had the desired shape. The fitting of one stone to another was done by cutting the already laid stones to receive the next ones in a trial-and-error fashion. Experiments show that with this process stones can be mined, cut, dressed, and fit with little effort and in a short time.
I think it much more likely that the good people of Rapanui didn't export their statues at all.So skeptics, did the Easter Islanders have a written language, as to export their designs for their Moai, or did they export these statues like concert T-shirts?
I can't imagine how they did it, so they must have used really advanced technology. They probably shipped them by air freight, on the famous Lirpa Loof system. You didn't heed my warning back there, did you?So skeptics, did the Easter Islanders have a written language, as to export their designs for their Moai, or did they export these statues like concert T-shirts?
Assuming copper tools are what they used.
Here's another possibility: They had a strong oral tradition.
This is something Alex Haley discovered when he was researching Roots. Some African tribes kept meticulous geneological records without writing anything down. The records were verbally passed down, verbatim, from one generation to the next. Haley theorized that our natural ability to memorize verbal data has become atrophied by our dependence on written language.
If I remember correctly. Which I may not because of my dependence on written language.
It probably didn't...But, it probably has something to do with all the trees that disappeared around the time they stopped making the statues.
I have emailed a couple of archeologists that dug the site. Will post results. In the meantime, from the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians:
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I appreciate the clarity; it will help me when I hear from these archeologists.
- you are incredulous about the Egyptian pyramids because of the logistics of moving so many heavy stones (every 9 seconds...)
- you are incredulous about Puma Punku because of the carving technique used on the green andecite stone monoliths
- do you still maintain that there is something other-worldly (lost advanced technology, whatever) about the sandstone, or have you dropped that?
How can one be specific about something unknown?
You tell ME why there are no published works about the tool marks?
I haven't ignored anything. I said that 'shaping' sandstone, limestone, or even marble is NOT the same thing as carving descending squares in andesite.
I've never seen a documentary featuring THE known and demonstrated building techniques of Macchu Picchu. Which link did I miss?
Except, of course, for the sophisticated and surprisingly hard bronze alloys to which you so kindly linked a while back, and the bronze alloys that were conspicuously used to join stones together. Do you really think they had these superior alloys and used them, but never thought to upgrade their copper chisels?Because that is what has thus far been found...
*There are LOTS of really interesting stone work on the GP. The cap stone(s) above the queens chamber for example, they were slid down a shaft into place from above. The stones would crush anyone under it, as it was too big for men alone to put in place, and there was no room around the outside for ropes. Weird. The work itself is literally a marvel, containing no markings, but a single inscription 'painted' in an upper anti-chamber. The problem is that its true contents and purpose is lost. Yet mysteries remain, as several shafts remain blocked and unexplored. The last numbers I looked at said the structure was built in 20, suggesting that they placed an average of 2 tons worth of stone every 9 seconds. If THAT is true, then an 'advanced technology' was employed. Men, ropes, and sand ramps with rollers, did NOT alone do that...
*It is the AMOUNT of mastery level carving there that is simply unbelievable. You simply can't do that without advanced tools and a written language, period. Puma Punku required something now lost.
*There are LOTS of stonework, all around the world. Not all of it is from the same age, and not all of it was done with the same tools. Some of it, is out of place, timeline wise. Meaning that some works are much more advanced, yet lay in the ancient past, before known advanced technology.
I look forward to hearing more about the misplaced Moai.
*There are LOTS of really interesting stone work on the GP. The cap stone(s) above the queens chamber for example, they were slid down a shaft into place from above. The stones would crush anyone under it, as it was too big for men alone to put in place, and there was no room around the outside for ropes. Weird. The work itself is literally a marvel, containing no markings, but a single inscription 'painted' in an upper anti-chamber. The problem is that its true contents and purpose is lost. Yet mysteries remain, as several shafts remain blocked and unexplored. The last numbers I looked at said the structure was built in 20, suggesting that they placed an average of 2 tons worth of stone every 9 seconds. If THAT is true, then an 'advanced technology' was employed. Men, ropes, and sand ramps with rollers, did NOT alone do that...
*It is the AMOUNT of mastery level carving there that is simply unbelievable. You simply can't do that without advanced tools and a written language, period. Puma Punku required something now lost.
*There are LOTS of stonework, all around the world. Not all of it is from the same age, and not all of it was done with the same tools. Some of it, is out of place, timeline wise. Meaning that some works are much more advanced, yet lay in the ancient past, before known advanced technology.
I look forward to hearing more about the misplaced Moai.
Except, of course, for the sophisticated and surprisingly hard bronze alloys to which you so kindly linked a while back, and the bronze alloys that were conspicuously used to join stones together. Do you really think they had these superior alloys and used them, but never thought to upgrade their copper chisels?
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