Change my pitch up
Stack some bricks up!
I love how often “we have no idea how they did it!” and “they couldn’t possibly do something this sophisticated!” turns into “we know how, when, where they got the materials and the name of the project foreman” when you just ask an archeologist.
People found the pyramid building manual quite recently. At the turn of the century, it was still a mystery.
Normal people don’t keep up with stuff that recent.
Even when archaeologists don’t have that level of detail, they can still confidently tell you that people don’t really change. If we can imagine something now, they could most likely imagine the same thing a thousand years ago.
For example, you know what’s an incredibly common thing to find on a dig? Dildos. Phallic stuff is everywhere, and when you find a well-polished, life-sized clay dick, it’s pretty clear what it was used for. The Greeks had devices that were essentially computers that could predict celestial movements. Running water and indoor plumbing was relatively common in the ancient world.
We’re so egotistical to think that humans in the past were somehow incapable of thinking, planning, or building at our level. And we convince ourselves that we’re better than them because we have all this fancy stuff No, their brains were just as complex and capable, they just didn’t have access to the same kinds of tools that we do.
@BertramDitore @Hegar
Running water and indoor plumbing was relatively common in the ancient world.really ?
In 1920, only *** 1% of US homes** had indoor plumbinghttps://www.aceee.org/files/proceedings/2004/data/papers/SS04_Panel1_Paper17.pdf
My favourite example:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2023/aug/chinas-oldest-water-pipes-were-communal-effort
A system of ancient ceramic water pipes, the oldest ever unearthed in China, shows that neolithic people were capable of complex engineering feats without the need for a centralised state authority, finds a new study by UCL researchers.
Yeah, that has more to do with American social issues and lack of government support for the general population. Water engineering is expensive no matter where or when you are, and America is huuuge.
Plumbing was common in the ancient world in the Near East, Middle East, Mediterranean (Greece and Rome), and really wherever there were people. Keep in mind if you ask two different archaeologists, you’ll get two slightly different answers, but it’s pretty common knowledge that running water is not a modern invention.
Some sources (only a quick search, I don’t have access to all the academic journals where you’d find the good stuff):
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7004096/
https://ancientengrtech.wisc.edu/greece-overview/water-systems/
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/roman-aqueducts/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek_technology
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1506/ <–this one is really cool, the Qanats are still fully functional today
Edit: fixed links
Everyone, or just the people who would call in to coast to coast am?
I get the same reaction from my fellow Americans when i tell them I walk my groceries home so I’m not surprised
I live two blocks from my local market, I understand you.
Also, they don’t understand that giving me a bag for milk is not worth it, milk has a handle.
It actually pisses me off to no end when people put their plastic jug of milk into a plastic bag. Like, the jug is heavy enough that the bag will never hold it, just fucking carry it like a normal person
No, it comes in a plastic lined cardboard box with a screw on lid 😛
Omg I can’t believe I’m about to do this but…
^This
I refuse to believe medieval people could build cathedrals. They lacked modern tools for such precise masonry and glasswork.
aliens don’t like white people
Well, they were modern at the time.
Okay but if they really built a hydraulic lift elevator that’s so cool
i got into an argument on tiktok with someone who insisted that no ancient civilization could build the pyramids. i asked them if they knew what tools were and they clapped back with “what tools did they have back then?” mf never heard of simple machines
“but how did they make the lines so straight???!!!”
Mf never pulled on a piece of string.
Show them a video of an automaton to blow their minds.
They also gain approval from the Royal Society of Putting Things On Top Of Other Things.
The same thing with things like Stonehenge. I liked the theory that said these types of constructions are the result of the prehistoric version of Burning Man, where they built it just because they could as an art installation.
