Private DVD About Ancient Construction

[Marcus Caelius]

Not quite sure where to place this.

 

Anyway, I wanted to call attention to this website and DVD: http://www.theforgottentechnology.com/

 

Essentially, a retired carpenter in Flint, Michigan, has developed several simple machines and techniques that are allowing him, singlehandedly, to construct a half-scale (?) model of Stonehenge in his back yard, made out of 21,000-lb blocks of concrete. These techniques and machines very well could have been known by the ancients and, extrapolating from his own experience, would mean that the Great Pyramid could have been built by very few men over a comparatively short period of time; I *think* he says something like 500 men could have performed all the hoisting within 20 years.

 

In the process, he explodes several myths about ancient construction. For example, he illustrates how the well-known and modern 3-4-5 rule of modern carpentry used to square porches and walls (aka the Pythagorean Theorem) yields all the major elements of the Great Pyramid, all without reference to standard measurements, either ancient or modern. Between that and his practical on-camera demonstrations, he also renders ridiculous the New Age claims that the ancient Egyptians had extraterrestrial help in the construction; such assistance simply was not necessary, and neither was the many thousands of laborers posited by more conventional historians. Here's a hint: he uses special-purpose levers (which structurally look like prototypes for modern wrenches), and gravity, almost exclusively. Oh; he also uses pebbles and rocks to help move the larger blocks.

 

Unfortunately, Mr. Wallington, the carpenter involved, is not as skilled at web-page design or DVD production. The web site is not intuitive at all; you have to run your cursor over every photo and paragraph, clicking as you go, to find all the goodies. The DVD ($15) is both fascinating and frustrating. Sound reproduction is terrible with his live narration often drowned out by the wind, and the picture often freezes; on my copy, it even skips over an entire section showing how he raises upright columns (fortunately, this is a scene shown on the web site, so I already knew how he did it).

 

BTW, while viewing the web site, be sure to click on the "Forgotten Technology on Discovery" link. This is one of those hidden goodies I mentioned, and is perhaps the most important.

 

If Wallington can clean up the DVD, perhaps find at least a semi-professional producer/technician, this DVD belongs in every high school and college library. As is, despite the glitches, it is worth the $15 simply because his machinery is so simple and basic as to be unbelievably brilliant, and absolutely must be seen.

 

Here's a quote from the web site:

 

"I have found that ancient legends from around the world are true. Some megaliths could have been set in place by as few as one man. I could build The Great Pyramid of Giza, using my techniques and primitive tools. On a twenty-five year construction schedule, (working forty hours per week at fifty weeks per year, using the input of myself to calculate) I would need a crew of 520 people to move blocks from the main quarry to the site and another 100 to move the blocks on site. For hoisting I need a crew of 120 (40 working and 80 rotating). My crew can raise 7000 lb. 100 ft. per minute. I have found the design of the pyramid is functional in it

[Ursus]

Excavations of the village that housed the pyramid workers suggest the village housed between 20,000 and 30,000 men. Not all of these worked on the pyramid; it included support units such as bakers, doctors, security, administrators - and relatives of the workers.

 

Archaeologists think several thousand workers were organized into labor gangs of 2000 people, and these gangs were rotated throughout the year. The exact construction methods are not known, but most likely they used ramps to move materials into position.

 

There is no doubt that the popular image of 100,000 Hebrew slaves building the pyramids at whip point is a myth (and don't even get me started on New Age extraterrestrial theories).

[G-Manicus]

You may find this show of interest.

 

Mega Movers

 

Tue 10/2 9:00 PM

History International

 

Next showing: Ancient Mystery Moves Ancient engineering achievements; Easter Island statues; the 800-ton stones of the Temple of Jupiter.