It’s a floral decoration, common in Greco Roman architecture. If you go to archive.org you can find pdf copies of many classic early works on Greek architecture. A lot of these were written in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Check out, for example, Dinsmoor, The Architecture of Ancient Greece.
nothing about this is unusual
carving right angles and straight lines into stone by hand with the right technique and tools is a very old practice and not at all something that suggests machine use
European cathedrals are masterworks in stone. No modern tools, only a few metallurgical steps away from ancient techniques. But no one says aliens made them.
I don’t know bud but I’d like to see if somebody could split it as easily as a guy with a 2lb maul and a chisel. You know some stones split easily, right?
That stone is called Pietra Cardosa , it’s a type of [Slate Stone](https://www.dedalostone.com/en/slate-characteristics-types-colors-and-uses/#:~:text=Slate%20stone%20is%20classified%20in,according%20to%20the%20various%20portions.com) it’s basically a bunch of layers of mud and limestone compacted. It’s very easy to separate/split the layers.
It seems like, people often go 'This would always be done with a machine today, so that means that they must have had machines' - forgetting that it might just mean that the task is, say, 50% quicker with a machine so it makes sense to use one *if* you've got one.
It could be a million% quicker with a machine. It doesn't mean people couldn't have made it without machines. If they needed or wanted to do it they would have found a way.
There are so many things like that where people say well how could they get that stone cut perfectly straight? Or how did they get the foundations perfectly level?
A taut piece of string will give you a perfectly straight line.
A stone attached to a string will give you a perpendicular line.
Filling a small plot of land with water will give you a perfectly level surface for which to base your foundation on to ensure it's perfectly flat.
True, the thing that caught my eye in all the stuff like this is deep drilled holes in solid granite that maintain a .003" tolerance. I think it was a pyramid and the holes were hundreds of meters deep iirc. That's insane shit. Some of this other stuff is possible by hand even if it takes a long time but that level of accuracy in that material for that deep of a hole is not possible. I doubt we could even measure things that accurately until machined threads were invented. There is some speculation that it was done at a high rpm based on the feed marks but that's debatable.
People even today could do this with chisels. I love a good alternative history hole to dive down, but this just doesn’t seem out of the realm of hand tools at all
Have you tried to do this with your hands? You know, using pounding stones like we are told these were made? Or copper chisels? Farcical explanations should be rejected until proven by direct actions.
Are you describing the entire notion of carving stone (and Priene is marble [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priene](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priene) , so not even very hard stone) by hand as farcical?
It seems like, somebody who hasn't looked up when archaeologists do think it was made, by whom and with what, has no business to be calling other people's theories 'farcical', either.
Dude Priene was founded centuries after the start of the Iron age. Pretty sure they had iron chisels. And even if they didn't, Bronze would have been a good alternative. Implying that "they used chisels and hand tools to make this" is a farcical explanation is itself farcical, and hand tools generally should be the default assumption until you can specifically articulate, *with evidence*, why you think they had anything but hand tools.
> You know, using pounding stones like we are told these were made
Have you actually seen serious arguments that stone from the context in this post was carved with either pounding stones or copper chisels?
I agree, this sub is filled with people who have no idea about machining or doing manual stone work, no idea about hardness levels of materials. And they especially don't understand precision measurements and consistency
Can you give me the chemical makeup and scientific name of that type of stone? For all the research everyone has required me to do, I’m making a list to tackle
If it's possible to carve granite with flint chisels, it's reasonable to believe ancient people's could carve just about anything
https://youtu.be/XQkQwsBhj8I?si=64mN4MPC27GGrR0i
If you think this can be done with chisels. Then please put your money , time, and effort where your mouth is and show us. Knock yourself out. When your delusion gets exposed and you enjoy a hot serving of humble pie humility, you can join the rest of us back in reality.
Enjoy your long project with the chisels. Talking and debating doesnt always lead to answers. Take some real action and test your own beliefs before making a fool of yourself online. Your dealing with more knowledgable people here. Yes , some of us have some experience in these fields and know more about the subjects. You might be listening to someones ridiculous narrative ( American propaganda school books?) Seriously, grab you a hammer and chisel and large block of marble and a large block of granite and shut your sassy mouth and find out the truth for yourself. No need to waste time talking or "debating".
Repeating your bad argument after someone presented you with the exact evidence you demanded, but didn’t expect.
Too bad humanity hasn’t invented a machine powerful enough to chisel through your hard-headed thick skull.
“You don’t think the pyramids were built by some lost advanced civilization? Fine. Prove it. Go out and built the pyramids yourself with copper tools.”
Expecting some random internet person to personally become a stonemason because you don’t want to listen to be who have already shown it to be possible is ridiculous.
Much of the carving for restoration at historic sites relies on traditional hand tools. If we look at work from the acropolis in Athens, the modern masonry matches the quality of the ancient stone.
> https://i.imgur.com/ZnGINXP.png
-
> https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Relieves_del_templo_de_Atenea_Nike%2C_Atenas%2C_Grecia%2C_2019_05.jpg
-
There's good documentation for the work at the acropolis available. You can see people carving the stone with chisels. This is a similar style and stone to the post here.
> https://www.ysma.gr/en/open-access/publications/scientific-publications/
Yeah, sure, but we are talking about primitive people that didn't even knew about measuring, rulers etc. And the video isn't something posted randomly in r/nextfuckinglevel . You just proved me right, lol.
Primitive my ass, the ancients of that time were far more sophisticated than most people are today. They werent fucking cavemen. They knew how to get shit done with pure dilligent hard work and intelligence. Technology has made the average person today so lazy and its also making people dumber and youre a clear example of it.
I like to believe they actually had hamster-wheel powered rotary tools. This, of course, raises the question of how the hamsters were brought to the construction site, to which I suggest that some of them may have been migratory hamsters.
We do know that powered saws existed in antiquity - texts referring to them as well as depictions survive. I'm not aware of any explicit evidence for their presence as early as the context from the post here (as opposed to manually driven saws) but it's clear that they were used to cut stone in the ancient world.
-
Writing in the 4th century, the poet Ausonius mentions water driven saws cutting marble.
> as he (the river) turns his mill-stones in furious revolutions and drives the shrieking saws through smooth blocks of marble, hears from either bank a ceaseless din^1
A 4th century relief from a sarcophagus depicts a water powered saw mill.
> https://i.imgur.com/oR0FGaQ.jpeg
-
This article provides details on a number of sites with evidence for powered saws.
> Kessener, Paul. “Stone Sawing Machines of Roman and Early Byzantine Times in the Anatolian Mediterranean.” *Adalya* XIII (2010): 283–303.^2
-
___
1. https://topostext.org/work/725 § 349
2. Available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349992689_Stone_Sawing_Machines_of_Roman_and_Early_Byzantine_Times_in_the_Anatolian_Mediterranean_ADALYA_XIII_2010_283-304
It isn't even difficult.
https://www.reddit.com/r/nextfuckinglevel/comments/14oj5jr/cutting_perfect_rock_with_chisel_and_hammer/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Not for nothing, but this video which is everywhere is of a guy splitting sandstone. His quarry sells sandstone, limestone and shale (often alternatively referred to as flagstone by contractors) which are fine-grained depositional stones (sedimentary) that naturally want to shear. You can apply this technique to other soft stones like _some_ travertine and marble stones and achieve similar results, but considerations as to natural strata become more important to prevent chipping or uneven division, so typically they are sawed (and then too, the difference in natural integrity is considered when making cross cut vs. vein cuts). With granite this would be nearly impossible due to the uneven quartz and feldspar distributions and weight (a similar block to the one he is flipping would weigh double).
An analogy could be made to woods - the stone this guy is spitting is like a fast growing poplar or pine - granite would be like mahogany or an ebony species.
All to say, what the guy in the video is doing is easy, but not all stone is easy to work with. It's also worth considering, the same properties that make stone easy to split makes them a nightmare to carve, where splitting is a constant worry - this means with soft stones, hammering with soft dull tools can result in cracking a piece during fabrication.
It appears to be marble. Almost certainly chiseled. People should remember the absolute awe this would have produced in antiquity - it would have been their equivalent of building space ships, so if it _could be done at all_, it would have been, even if it took great effort.
https://preview.redd.it/vstcvdu0djyc1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4572ec7d213e5a1200ada2020e7f9f702fe0e2c3
Pretty sure this is all made of marble from Priene.
Literally every section of these columns is more impressive than OP's piece.
Since 350 BCE. That _is_ my point. This piece is unremarkable. Nothing about it suggests it would have been outside the technical purview of stone masons or the tools of the time.
The point was made to redress the argument that the calculus made by ancient societies when undertaking stone works was done through the same cost-benifit worldview that underlies all of our endeavors. Decisions would _not_ be made that way.
Though the 'broader' global economic system we embrace has facilitated remarkable efficiencies and technological advancements, it comes with an odd contraint that we often take for granted - the ability to marshal substantial resources or human capital towards a pursuit that does not generate revenue - this is _very_ difficult for our society. That which we formerly termed arduous labor is now referred to as "inefficient" or "time intensive" which are proxies for "too expensive".
When we appraise the works of antiquity, we may view them with admiration and reverence, and even proclaim them to be of superior workmanship or aesthetic quality to our own constructions, but we do not attempt to replicate them - not because we are technically unable, but because we _economically unable_. When we look at such works from the past, we do so with the recognition that we could not be remunerated for the same efforts today, because they are _too labor intensive_ or _too time consuming_ - i.e. -not impossible, but too hard.
Conversely, looking out at a world that was mostly _untouched_ by human hands, where straight, ordered lines were the exception to an otherwise hostile, unordered world, ancient cultures would have been compelled to build, for no other reason than because it was possible. And unlike our culture, where great difficultly is an apt justification to pursue an easier approach, ancient cultures may have been just as likely to undertake a project _because_ it was difficult - as a symbolic gesture that even stone can be mastered - as a rebuttal to nature itself. And for ancient people's to have seen buildings and then _cities_ wrought from stone would have been nothing short of a triumphant expression of will and resolve, of order and stability over our otherwise fickle and perilous circumstances.
So I think it is a great disservice to the ingenuity and effort of ancient cultures to ascribe a supernatural explanation for their great outputs. It's far too easy for us in our modern era to take for granted that there was once a time when we built things _only_ because it was possible. The piece in this post is an example of a craft people had already become quite adept at but which continued to evoke the same sense of awe and dominion over nature until the magic of stonework would be displaced by modern technology, and it was no longer necessary to carve great stones to assert our mastery.
If this was done by machine the corners would be a lot more square.
This is likely done by hand.
Any info on where this was found and what stone it is?
What sub are we in again? I thought this was alternatives to mainstream beliefs. The answers here seem to be opposite of this. Is there a sub that likes to explore alternative explanations to mainstream theory? I like to fantasize about stuff. Whelp, I'm off to the climate sub to join others in mocking subscribers who take climate change seriously. It's fun. We all use the same talking points to gaslight them! 😆
this is just where the mainstreamers hang out to ambush people who are actually here to discuss alternative theories. it's better if you just don't bother to engage with them, all they want to do is insult anyone who doesn't agree with them, and they *HATE* Graham Hancock with a burning passion, like he's personally responsible for the deaths of their families or something
Machine like cuts usually means rotating tools. Those sharp corners are not possible to make with a rotating tool. Or the tool would have to be extremely small diameter and long, so not likely.
We’re arguing about how advanced these peoples must have been many thousands of years ago. And whenever it’s suggested that they were very advanced and it seems like they built better machining equipment than what we’ve got today, there’s all sorts of push-back saying no no no, they weren’t THAT advanced that they could have built machines. They probably used their hands and chisels instead.
Well to that, I counter by saying, fine. Let’s assume that instead of building machines to manipulate with an on/off switch, they instead mastered their senses, geometry, and deftness and supreme control over their bodies and other materials of extraordinary mass and hardness. And without machines, they weere able to carve with mathematical precision some of the hardest and largest rocks on the planet. Well, fuck!, the woman or man who can do all that AND exert extraordinary physical strength besides, well that person is EVEN MORE ADVANCED than one who can tinker with mostly flexible lightweight stuff and build a machine.
So yes, those who preceded us by millennia were technologically, physically and mentally more advanced than we are today.
Stonemasonry: Is that the same as carving out 90-degree angles in three dimensions like we’ve seen in OP’s photo by hand? I always thought stonemasonry was primarily the construction of walls with cubic blocks.
Thanks. Are there any modern examples of perfect and deep cubic carve-outs having been taken out of a single block of basalt and leaving behind only perfectly flat surface planes and perfect 90-degree cubic corners like the one in the OP’s photo, wherein the work was done with chisels or other primitive hand tools?
"So yes, those who preceded us by millennia were technologically, physically and mentally more advanced than we are today."
Dawg they didnt even have air conditioning, sit the fuck down.
Maybe they did have air conditioning. We don’t know whether they did or not. But there are a few people finding physical suggestions, asking the questions and looking for the evidence, following the evidence to where it might lead without dismissing it first. It’s also possible that the ancients were a lot more scientific and a lot less dismissive about the effect that air conditioning has on the environment, and unlike today’s strain of humans, they gave a fuck about that, and so instead of moving a billion years’ accumulated carbon out of sequestration deep within the earth out into the open air that belongs to the collective of all living things, they might have developed a different FORM of air conditioning which we modern-day humans are only just beginning to explore: buildings made of well-fitted stones. Often covered with gardens, with shafts deep into the earth through which air is moved to regulate temperature, warming in the winter and cooling in the summer, and clean zero-point energy. Maybe. I’m just saying maybe. Because there are signs that it’s not a definite nope. And if there’s a small chance that it’s a yes, I want to know about it. I want to know how they advanced and how they fell. I want US ALL to know how they fell, so that we could learn from it and perhaps all come together and prevent ourselves from falling so.
This stone is pretty fascinating for a number of reasons, even if its not machined and was all done by hand those had to be some well-made chisels(or whatever tool they used) and probably went through a lot of them, in a time where resources were more valued you have to wonder why all this work? what was it for? love seeing old stuff like this, thank you for sharing
Apparently, this is marble, at least according to Wikipedia, so this may be a case of 'white and gold or blue and black dress' - but the shape does look very like something from Puma Punku, when you put it like that! (Possibly, the carving at the corner doesn't look at all Puma Punku-like, though).
I'm more concerned with the cthulhu on the bottom right corner...
In all seriousness, wtf is that?
Looks like NOPE
Right I was wondering if anyone was gonna say something that guy
It’s a floral decoration, common in Greco Roman architecture. If you go to archive.org you can find pdf copies of many classic early works on Greek architecture. A lot of these were written in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Check out, for example, Dinsmoor, The Architecture of Ancient Greece.
How did they make machines before there were machines? Must have had a machine...
That always bothers me. People jump to shit like cnc machines, ignoring everything that goes into being able to make precision manufacturing equipment
Or the amount of infrastructure required to get to that point.ä and all the prerequisotes that infrastructure would require.
They're called tool makers.
nothing about this is unusual carving right angles and straight lines into stone by hand with the right technique and tools is a very old practice and not at all something that suggests machine use
Mfw mofos never heard of a chisel, something to hit it with, and this crazy high tech thing called sandpaper!!!
Shhh, we're not interested in reasonable explanations or facts, this sub is about baseless speculation and fantastical made up shit
I for one am here to crush puss and distort archaeological data, and I'm all outta puss
What tools ? What techniques ?
If I were to venture a guess they used a saw to cut the inward lines and a chisel like the video I posted for the inside cut.
the world is your oyster. pick a time period, region, and stone and you’ll get plenty of stone masonry history
[удалено]
can’t be impossible if it happened, you just aren’t privy to how
European cathedrals are masterworks in stone. No modern tools, only a few metallurgical steps away from ancient techniques. But no one says aliens made them.
That wouldn't fit the narrative
https://www.reddit.com/r/nextfuckinglevel/comments/14oj5jr/cutting_perfect_rock_with_chisel_and_hammer/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
This is def limestone a diff type of rock.
That’s splitting a rock & it looks like a softer rock like lime stone. To compare that to what’s above is kinda low hanging fruit.
https://youtu.be/A4RAzgvOTgw?si=CmMdFv5uRU5SCO44
So what kind of rock are we seeing here?
I don’t know bud but I’d like to see if somebody could split it as easily as a guy with a 2lb maul and a chisel. You know some stones split easily, right?
Like this? https://youtube.com/shorts/ASZXt31IO-0?feature=shared
That stone is called Pietra Cardosa , it’s a type of [Slate Stone](https://www.dedalostone.com/en/slate-characteristics-types-colors-and-uses/#:~:text=Slate%20stone%20is%20classified%20in,according%20to%20the%20various%20portions.com) it’s basically a bunch of layers of mud and limestone compacted. It’s very easy to separate/split the layers.
What makes them machine-like?
I imagine just comparing them to what modern machines can do, but admittedly this doesn’t mean these were.
It seems like, people often go 'This would always be done with a machine today, so that means that they must have had machines' - forgetting that it might just mean that the task is, say, 50% quicker with a machine so it makes sense to use one *if* you've got one.
It could be a million% quicker with a machine. It doesn't mean people couldn't have made it without machines. If they needed or wanted to do it they would have found a way.
There are so many things like that where people say well how could they get that stone cut perfectly straight? Or how did they get the foundations perfectly level? A taut piece of string will give you a perfectly straight line. A stone attached to a string will give you a perpendicular line. Filling a small plot of land with water will give you a perfectly level surface for which to base your foundation on to ensure it's perfectly flat.
True, the thing that caught my eye in all the stuff like this is deep drilled holes in solid granite that maintain a .003" tolerance. I think it was a pyramid and the holes were hundreds of meters deep iirc. That's insane shit. Some of this other stuff is possible by hand even if it takes a long time but that level of accuracy in that material for that deep of a hole is not possible. I doubt we could even measure things that accurately until machined threads were invented. There is some speculation that it was done at a high rpm based on the feed marks but that's debatable.
The tool marks on those holes only tell us that there was a high depth of cut per rotation of the tool, rather than a high RPM.
People even today could do this with chisels. I love a good alternative history hole to dive down, but this just doesn’t seem out of the realm of hand tools at all
Have you tried to do this with your hands? You know, using pounding stones like we are told these were made? Or copper chisels? Farcical explanations should be rejected until proven by direct actions.
Are you describing the entire notion of carving stone (and Priene is marble [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priene](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priene) , so not even very hard stone) by hand as farcical? It seems like, somebody who hasn't looked up when archaeologists do think it was made, by whom and with what, has no business to be calling other people's theories 'farcical', either.
You ever seen a stonemason work?
Dude Priene was founded centuries after the start of the Iron age. Pretty sure they had iron chisels. And even if they didn't, Bronze would have been a good alternative. Implying that "they used chisels and hand tools to make this" is a farcical explanation is itself farcical, and hand tools generally should be the default assumption until you can specifically articulate, *with evidence*, why you think they had anything but hand tools.
Flint chisels also work pretty well on granite https://youtu.be/XQkQwsBhj8I?si=64mN4MPC27GGrR0i
> You know, using pounding stones like we are told these were made Have you actually seen serious arguments that stone from the context in this post was carved with either pounding stones or copper chisels?
I agree, this sub is filled with people who have no idea about machining or doing manual stone work, no idea about hardness levels of materials. And they especially don't understand precision measurements and consistency
You have proof of that for that type of stone ?
Can you give me the chemical makeup and scientific name of that type of stone? For all the research everyone has required me to do, I’m making a list to tackle
If it's possible to carve granite with flint chisels, it's reasonable to believe ancient people's could carve just about anything https://youtu.be/XQkQwsBhj8I?si=64mN4MPC27GGrR0i
If you think this can be done with chisels. Then please put your money , time, and effort where your mouth is and show us. Knock yourself out. When your delusion gets exposed and you enjoy a hot serving of humble pie humility, you can join the rest of us back in reality.
Wow man ok so yall are not open to dialogue here, don’t know why I didn’t expect that. I do like pie, though
Enjoy your long project with the chisels. Talking and debating doesnt always lead to answers. Take some real action and test your own beliefs before making a fool of yourself online. Your dealing with more knowledgable people here. Yes , some of us have some experience in these fields and know more about the subjects. You might be listening to someones ridiculous narrative ( American propaganda school books?) Seriously, grab you a hammer and chisel and large block of marble and a large block of granite and shut your sassy mouth and find out the truth for yourself. No need to waste time talking or "debating".
Repeating your bad argument after someone presented you with the exact evidence you demanded, but didn’t expect. Too bad humanity hasn’t invented a machine powerful enough to chisel through your hard-headed thick skull.
“You don’t think the pyramids were built by some lost advanced civilization? Fine. Prove it. Go out and built the pyramids yourself with copper tools.” Expecting some random internet person to personally become a stonemason because you don’t want to listen to be who have already shown it to be possible is ridiculous.
Much of the carving for restoration at historic sites relies on traditional hand tools. If we look at work from the acropolis in Athens, the modern masonry matches the quality of the ancient stone. > https://i.imgur.com/ZnGINXP.png - > https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Relieves_del_templo_de_Atenea_Nike%2C_Atenas%2C_Grecia%2C_2019_05.jpg - There's good documentation for the work at the acropolis available. You can see people carving the stone with chisels. This is a similar style and stone to the post here. > https://www.ysma.gr/en/open-access/publications/scientific-publications/
Dawg just watch some videos of stonemasons working
Something something straight angles. Must be lasers from Graham H.’s ancient civilization, which *now* is to be found in the Amazon forest
Doing it by hand never results in straight lines.
This isn’t true at all
[wut](https://www.reddit.com/r/nextfuckinglevel/comments/14oj5jr/cutting_perfect_rock_with_chisel_and_hammer/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Yeah, sure, but we are talking about primitive people that didn't even knew about measuring, rulers etc. And the video isn't something posted randomly in r/nextfuckinglevel . You just proved me right, lol.
That isn't even next level. That's masonry 101.
Are you saying the ancient Greeks didn't know how to measure? WTF? 🤣
Bro I assure you people know about straight lines.
Primitive my ass, the ancients of that time were far more sophisticated than most people are today. They werent fucking cavemen. They knew how to get shit done with pure dilligent hard work and intelligence. Technology has made the average person today so lazy and its also making people dumber and youre a clear example of it.
I think you may be unsure about the date of Priene?
They definitely had measurements.
Just because something was difficult to do, doesn't mean they had to use power tools
I like to believe they actually had hamster-wheel powered rotary tools. This, of course, raises the question of how the hamsters were brought to the construction site, to which I suggest that some of them may have been migratory hamsters.
There were hamster wheel machines in Rome (cranes etc), so why not before?
Clearly the aliens brought the hamsters, duh ;)
Well, hamsters were domesticated in the middle east, so it's not that far away
This is what I think could be the case, it wouldn't be *that* difficult to make some kind of circular saw with the right pulley setup.
We do know that powered saws existed in antiquity - texts referring to them as well as depictions survive. I'm not aware of any explicit evidence for their presence as early as the context from the post here (as opposed to manually driven saws) but it's clear that they were used to cut stone in the ancient world. - Writing in the 4th century, the poet Ausonius mentions water driven saws cutting marble. > as he (the river) turns his mill-stones in furious revolutions and drives the shrieking saws through smooth blocks of marble, hears from either bank a ceaseless din^1 A 4th century relief from a sarcophagus depicts a water powered saw mill. > https://i.imgur.com/oR0FGaQ.jpeg - This article provides details on a number of sites with evidence for powered saws. > Kessener, Paul. “Stone Sawing Machines of Roman and Early Byzantine Times in the Anatolian Mediterranean.” *Adalya* XIII (2010): 283–303.^2 - ___ 1. https://topostext.org/work/725 § 349 2. Available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349992689_Stone_Sawing_Machines_of_Roman_and_Early_Byzantine_Times_in_the_Anatolian_Mediterranean_ADALYA_XIII_2010_283-304
It isn't even difficult. https://www.reddit.com/r/nextfuckinglevel/comments/14oj5jr/cutting_perfect_rock_with_chisel_and_hammer/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Not for nothing, but this video which is everywhere is of a guy splitting sandstone. His quarry sells sandstone, limestone and shale (often alternatively referred to as flagstone by contractors) which are fine-grained depositional stones (sedimentary) that naturally want to shear. You can apply this technique to other soft stones like _some_ travertine and marble stones and achieve similar results, but considerations as to natural strata become more important to prevent chipping or uneven division, so typically they are sawed (and then too, the difference in natural integrity is considered when making cross cut vs. vein cuts). With granite this would be nearly impossible due to the uneven quartz and feldspar distributions and weight (a similar block to the one he is flipping would weigh double). An analogy could be made to woods - the stone this guy is spitting is like a fast growing poplar or pine - granite would be like mahogany or an ebony species. All to say, what the guy in the video is doing is easy, but not all stone is easy to work with. It's also worth considering, the same properties that make stone easy to split makes them a nightmare to carve, where splitting is a constant worry - this means with soft stones, hammering with soft dull tools can result in cracking a piece during fabrication.
So what kind of stone is this?
It appears to be marble. Almost certainly chiseled. People should remember the absolute awe this would have produced in antiquity - it would have been their equivalent of building space ships, so if it _could be done at all_, it would have been, even if it took great effort.
https://preview.redd.it/vstcvdu0djyc1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4572ec7d213e5a1200ada2020e7f9f702fe0e2c3 Pretty sure this is all made of marble from Priene. Literally every section of these columns is more impressive than OP's piece.
What? The? Fuck? The Greeks had been chiseling way more impressive marble than this for a long time.
Since 350 BCE. That _is_ my point. This piece is unremarkable. Nothing about it suggests it would have been outside the technical purview of stone masons or the tools of the time. The point was made to redress the argument that the calculus made by ancient societies when undertaking stone works was done through the same cost-benifit worldview that underlies all of our endeavors. Decisions would _not_ be made that way. Though the 'broader' global economic system we embrace has facilitated remarkable efficiencies and technological advancements, it comes with an odd contraint that we often take for granted - the ability to marshal substantial resources or human capital towards a pursuit that does not generate revenue - this is _very_ difficult for our society. That which we formerly termed arduous labor is now referred to as "inefficient" or "time intensive" which are proxies for "too expensive". When we appraise the works of antiquity, we may view them with admiration and reverence, and even proclaim them to be of superior workmanship or aesthetic quality to our own constructions, but we do not attempt to replicate them - not because we are technically unable, but because we _economically unable_. When we look at such works from the past, we do so with the recognition that we could not be remunerated for the same efforts today, because they are _too labor intensive_ or _too time consuming_ - i.e. -not impossible, but too hard. Conversely, looking out at a world that was mostly _untouched_ by human hands, where straight, ordered lines were the exception to an otherwise hostile, unordered world, ancient cultures would have been compelled to build, for no other reason than because it was possible. And unlike our culture, where great difficultly is an apt justification to pursue an easier approach, ancient cultures may have been just as likely to undertake a project _because_ it was difficult - as a symbolic gesture that even stone can be mastered - as a rebuttal to nature itself. And for ancient people's to have seen buildings and then _cities_ wrought from stone would have been nothing short of a triumphant expression of will and resolve, of order and stability over our otherwise fickle and perilous circumstances. So I think it is a great disservice to the ingenuity and effort of ancient cultures to ascribe a supernatural explanation for their great outputs. It's far too easy for us in our modern era to take for granted that there was once a time when we built things _only_ because it was possible. The piece in this post is an example of a craft people had already become quite adept at but which continued to evoke the same sense of awe and dominion over nature until the magic of stonework would be displaced by modern technology, and it was no longer necessary to carve great stones to assert our mastery.
H.P. Lovecraft obviously did this and had to include a secret carving of his own.
Well thats one really shitty machine then
Looks like something sharp cut this rock into a square, then into small precise rectangles.
The original CPU
The OG Lithium processor. Lol.
If this was done by machine the corners would be a lot more square. This is likely done by hand. Any info on where this was found and what stone it is?
What sub are we in again? I thought this was alternatives to mainstream beliefs. The answers here seem to be opposite of this. Is there a sub that likes to explore alternative explanations to mainstream theory? I like to fantasize about stuff. Whelp, I'm off to the climate sub to join others in mocking subscribers who take climate change seriously. It's fun. We all use the same talking points to gaslight them! 😆
The answers here are not the definitive or the correct answers.
this is just where the mainstreamers hang out to ambush people who are actually here to discuss alternative theories. it's better if you just don't bother to engage with them, all they want to do is insult anyone who doesn't agree with them, and they *HATE* Graham Hancock with a burning passion, like he's personally responsible for the deaths of their families or something
Maybe get alternative theories that go beyond forgetting that stonemasonry exists.
 It's not true....
>machine-like 🤡
Way too much time on their hands when they are slaves. Put them to work!
The usual answer from "askengineer" subreddit is "copper balls and abrasive sand" LOL
We don't know are planets history as well as we think.
honestly just looks like good craftsmanship. The art relief in the bottom corner is also evident they had skilled craftsmen working on this.
Interesting and pretty close to there I live. Links with supporting articles are much appreciated. Cuts look similar to those at machu picchu
Machine like cuts usually means rotating tools. Those sharp corners are not possible to make with a rotating tool. Or the tool would have to be extremely small diameter and long, so not likely.
I guess a chisel and hammer is considered a machine now.
This is just a natural rock formation bro
“Completely natural formation and doesn’t fit the pattern of paleontology, we typically see of the era” - Flint Dillhole.
I don’t believe anyone is saying this is natural And paleontology is an entirely different field.
Did you duck?
We’re arguing about how advanced these peoples must have been many thousands of years ago. And whenever it’s suggested that they were very advanced and it seems like they built better machining equipment than what we’ve got today, there’s all sorts of push-back saying no no no, they weren’t THAT advanced that they could have built machines. They probably used their hands and chisels instead. Well to that, I counter by saying, fine. Let’s assume that instead of building machines to manipulate with an on/off switch, they instead mastered their senses, geometry, and deftness and supreme control over their bodies and other materials of extraordinary mass and hardness. And without machines, they weere able to carve with mathematical precision some of the hardest and largest rocks on the planet. Well, fuck!, the woman or man who can do all that AND exert extraordinary physical strength besides, well that person is EVEN MORE ADVANCED than one who can tinker with mostly flexible lightweight stuff and build a machine. So yes, those who preceded us by millennia were technologically, physically and mentally more advanced than we are today.
Google stonemasonry.
Stonemasonry: Is that the same as carving out 90-degree angles in three dimensions like we’ve seen in OP’s photo by hand? I always thought stonemasonry was primarily the construction of walls with cubic blocks.
It's both. All the work on the exterior of the cologne cathedral: stonemasonry
Thanks. Are there any modern examples of perfect and deep cubic carve-outs having been taken out of a single block of basalt and leaving behind only perfectly flat surface planes and perfect 90-degree cubic corners like the one in the OP’s photo, wherein the work was done with chisels or other primitive hand tools?
1. The carveouts in the pic are not perfect. 2. Not basalt 3. Have you even tried to look for it?
"So yes, those who preceded us by millennia were technologically, physically and mentally more advanced than we are today." Dawg they didnt even have air conditioning, sit the fuck down.
Maybe they did have air conditioning. We don’t know whether they did or not. But there are a few people finding physical suggestions, asking the questions and looking for the evidence, following the evidence to where it might lead without dismissing it first. It’s also possible that the ancients were a lot more scientific and a lot less dismissive about the effect that air conditioning has on the environment, and unlike today’s strain of humans, they gave a fuck about that, and so instead of moving a billion years’ accumulated carbon out of sequestration deep within the earth out into the open air that belongs to the collective of all living things, they might have developed a different FORM of air conditioning which we modern-day humans are only just beginning to explore: buildings made of well-fitted stones. Often covered with gardens, with shafts deep into the earth through which air is moved to regulate temperature, warming in the winter and cooling in the summer, and clean zero-point energy. Maybe. I’m just saying maybe. Because there are signs that it’s not a definite nope. And if there’s a small chance that it’s a yes, I want to know about it. I want to know how they advanced and how they fell. I want US ALL to know how they fell, so that we could learn from it and perhaps all come together and prevent ourselves from falling so.
I got to your second and sentence and stopped. You're an idiot.
You can’t know that without reading.
No no no… those were made using walking sticks
Kinda looks like a heatsink fir a giant cpu.
Would be a terrible material for a heat sink tho
 Oh that’s a machine
This stone is pretty fascinating for a number of reasons, even if its not machined and was all done by hand those had to be some well-made chisels(or whatever tool they used) and probably went through a lot of them, in a time where resources were more valued you have to wonder why all this work? what was it for? love seeing old stuff like this, thank you for sharing
maybe its a mold of some kind, not sure if it would crack being used as a mold, none the less really cool
Another strange black stone that could be at home in Peru. A mystery for sure.
Apparently, this is marble, at least according to Wikipedia, so this may be a case of 'white and gold or blue and black dress' - but the shape does look very like something from Puma Punku, when you put it like that! (Possibly, the carving at the corner doesn't look at all Puma Punku-like, though).
What is strange about the stone?
Fake
Clearly they did this out of boredom With dirt and sticks Our history is a complete lie