More On Construction Using Giant Stones Why is it so many unexpected ancient constructions are found? Some of them go against everything archaeologists believed ancient man was capable of and yet while these people were indeed ancient and seemed to lack the tools to create these structures, they are there and they are incredible. It is hard to believe the ancient people could have been able to do what we can’t today, but they did it. There is an ancient site which was called Heliopolis during the Roman Empire but was known as Heliopolis by the Greeks. There is a large platform made up of large cut stones which is several layers high. On the Upper layer we find a cut stone weighing 1,242 tons. How could anyone even today lift something that heavy, let alone in ancient times? Construction with large stones is repeated throughout ancient history but seems to stop hundreds of years ago. If one looks at those who try and explain how these giant stones were lifted, their explanations seems to run out when we get to the really heavy stuff. They might have figured out how to raise stones weighing a couple of tons, but not a thousand tons. No wonder there are so many people who think extraterrestrials helped move these monster stones. After all, it was hard enough to try and figure out how they were lifted and we failed at that, but we also have the problem of transportation, especially when some of these stones came from far away. People are so amazed at these stones, there are lists of them by size. We know the Egyptians cut some very heavy stones because we found their quarry where they did the cutting for some of them. In that quarry was a partially cut monster stone. In the quarry was an unfinished obelisk known as the Obelisk of Aswan. The weight is about 1,200 tons and one must wonder how they were going to move it. The obelisk was never entirely finished because it seems cracks were found in it so they stopped work on it while the bottom was still attached to the bedrock. Sometimes so called experts who look at these huge stones do not agree on the weight, but the disagreements usually still result in all giving incredible weigh estimates. One stone was said to weigh close to 2,000 tons by one expert but another said it was more like 1,300 tons. Either estimate meant the stone was of an incredible size and even if it was 1,300 tons, we still are amazed at how it was going to be moved. I say if because this particular stone was never finished. There is the remains of a statue in Egypt created by the ancient Egyptians at the temple of Ramesses II. What is so incredible about it is it was over 1,000 tons and had been moved there. It is in ruins now, but we have to wonder if the stone it was made from was brought there first and carved, which meant it was even heavier when moved, or carved somewhere else and moved. It seems to me if you wanted to make a statue like this and not take the chance to damage it while moving, you would carve it on site. It seems the ancient Egyptians never worried about moving large and heavy stones, they just did it somehow. The Incas moved some very heavy stones with the largest said to have weighed about 3,000 tones. An Inca archaeological site in Peru is named Ollantaytambo. The Incas were conquered by the Spanish in 1438. They still seemed to have the knowledge of moving huge stones for their construction as evidenced at Ollantaytambo where there are giant carved rocks used in construction which fit together without mortar. When the question is asked how did the Incas move and lift these heavy stones the experts say they were dragged over gravel roads the Incas built and they know this because the rocks are shiny on the bottom. The problem is they don’t know how they were lifted into place. It is a shame we lost this ancient knowledge. There is a stone which was erected in Europe. It is part of an array of 19 stones. The stone is broken now, but it is believed it weighed 355 tons. Archaeologists have dated the stone array as being from about 3,300 B.C. and think it was built over another even more ancient structure from 4,500 B.C. It is believed the stone had been moved from about 10 kilometers away. The array is in France. Some people like to talk about the Great Pyramid when giant stones are being discussed, and there are some heavy stones in its construction. It is believed the stones in the pyramid range in weight from 25 tons to 80 tons. I believe the heaviest stones are on the inside of the pyramid. Its funny, but when we talk about some incredibly heavy stones being moved the 25 tons stones of the Great Pyramid seem small, but they certainly are not. An estimate of the number of stones in the Great Pyramid was made by a computer program which stated there were 590,712. This is much less than a previous estimate of 2,300,000. Even at mostly 25 tons can you imagine having to place almost 600,000 of these heavy stones? It was an incredible job and it was accomplished with extreme accuracy which we might not be up to today. Even more ancient people are moving giant stones and constructing structures with them. In megalithic times there were burial sights named dolmens. They were usually composed of two stone walls with a very large stone used for the roof. Most are dated from around 4,000 B.C. but some are from as late as 3,000 B.C. There are others though which date back to over 7,000 years ago. They are regarded as tombs, but this is not a certainty. It seems humans from the earliest times had this desire to build. In the beginning they were living in caves we believe, but maybe not. Maybe some modern humans were living in shelters they made from branches and grass. None of these would still be around today. Somewhere along the line humans decided to build using stone and not always for shelter. They did this to honor their dead and their gods. It is believed the oldest temple complex found to date is Gobekli Tepe. It is located in Turkey and has been dated as being about 12,000 years old and some think it could be as much as 20,000 years old. This is far older than we believed anything like this would have existed and it has beautiful carved stones depicting the animals of the time. I will be looking for even more surprises in ancient construction in the future.
|
