Magazine - Year 2004 - Version 1
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Language: ENGLISH
Language: ENGLISH
Man was Endowed with Marvelous Intuitive Ingenuity even in the Stone-Age
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Modern theories on the history of evolution of mankind hold that in the remote past man everywhere was extremely primitive and ignorant and his progress since then has been gradual. This implies that our early ancestors were steeped in backwardness in all respects. This also assumes that it is only the modern man who stands at the apex of the evolutionary pyramid.
This linear model of the process of development is only partially correct. It goes without saying that modern man has achieved great successes in the fields of physical and material sciences. He is in a far superior position in terms of lifes comforts and conveniences and the resources at his command. But it does not necessarily follow that the prehistoric age was a dark age with regard to physical or social sciences. We will not talk here of the achievement level of the ancients in the spheres of metaphysics, ethics, intellectual integrity, social harmony and peace of mind. Even in pure physical sciences, the available evidences are making it clear that in the earliest periods of history man had acquired substantial knowledge and some measure of control over many branches of science.
The extant samples of his stupendous feats leave scholars and scientists of today awe-struck. The more one studies these relics of the past, the more one is unable to comprehend how such impossible-looking artefacts of technological and engineering feats could have been made possible in those prehistoric times!
One such marvel is the pyramids of Egypt, of which the largest is at Giza. Archaeological and other evidences including radiocarbon dating establish that the Giza Pyramid was built around 2600 B.C. In the 19th century Charles Piazzi Smith put forth many propositions, one of which is that the great Pyramid stands exactly at the centre of the earth. No one exactly knows how such massive blocks of stone, weighing 2 to 5 tons, were carried long distances and placed one atop the other in a tapering matrix. Were these stones pushed upward on makeshift sand slopes or some heavy mechanical device was used to loft them up? It is thought that the blocks were slid into place by lubricating them with a liquid gypsum mortar.
The very first big challenge facing the builders was to make level the huge foundation spreading over 13 acres of area. How could they successfully accomplish it? A new theory is that an earthen ring dam was first constructed along the entire perimeter. It was then filled with water. The dunes and other uneven parts jutting above the water level were cut and sliced to bring them in alignment with the water surface. The water level was gradually lowered by draining out water and, in each phase, the projecting parts smoothened out to make level the water surface. In this ingenious way, the ancient Egyptian engineers achieved in the solid plinth a very high level of horizontal flatness with the margin of error reduced to 1 in 10,000. In modern day constructions, the error margin is about the same.
Dr. Livio Steshini, a professor of ancient history in William Peterson College, New Jersey and Dr. Peter Tompkins have examined the distinctive mathematical and geometrical principles underlying the design and construction of this pyramid. According to them, the great pyramid is a very precisely located terrestrial landmark. With the help of this benchmark, a survey of the whole earth and its curvature could be made. This formed the basis of preparation of an ancient atlas of the world.
The pyramid was also an observatory, which enabled minute mapping of the canopy of the sky and preparation of precise charts.
In olden days, when metal was unknown, the building material was rock. There has been an extraordinary use of these rocks in a variety of structures. The level of technical skill and the power resource required in moving, handling and exact placement of these large rock pieces defies comprehension. How and from where had this knowledge and resource come?
A book titled The World Atlas of Mysteries contains illustration of the British Isles and her other possessions. Dark spots mark the locations of various kinds of stone-structures and other monuments. Some of these are: Calanish, Stenes Bradgar, Clava, Newganze, Arburlow, Stenton Durolrite Stones, Stonehenge, Carnak etc. These are some of the oldest and the most mysterious structures ever built by man - huge and tall pillars and columns, stone-circles, earthen dunes, burial chambers etc. These are scattered in a 2500 km. long belt along the Atlantic coast of Europe.
The oldest of these remains goes back to a mind numbing antiquity while the climactic achievement of these lost civilizations appears to be the Stonehenge structures.
What motivated the ancients to spend so much labour and energy in cutting and dragging such large and heavy monoliths? At some locations, the construction sites lie several miles away from the quarry.
The black slabs of Stonehenge have come from distant Presley Mountains of Wales, about 200 km away. Stonehenge evokes reverential wonder, but even bigger pieces have been used elsewhere. In Lake Mariaker area of France, there is a monolith named Grand Menhir Brize. Once this giant column stood 50 meters tall and weighed 340 tons. At Karnack, there are rows and rows of rocks planted erect in the earth. Numbering more that 3000, they stretch farther than the eye can see. In fact, these rocks originally formed even a bigger geometric pattern.
A recent theory is that these places were probably charged with some kind of special energy and this knowledge had been somehow obtained from careful astronomical surveys. For a deeper probe into this aspect, a new branch of study, astro-archaeology, has emerged. Alexander Thomas considers these remains as the pinnacle of geometrical attainments of which any engineer in the history of mankind of any time and place could be proud.
Using such varied and locally available positional marks as rock projections, narrow mountain valleys, specially erected square stone-blocks and the like, they had turned these circles of stone into observatories. They calculated not only simpler occurrences like mid-summer or mid-winter sunrise but also measured very minute astronomical movements and changes requiring purity level of 1:1000. They even knew about the momentary stoppage of the lunar motion.
How did these astronomer-priests acquire this knowledge? How was this knowledge transmitted from generation to generation? The British astrophysicist Sir Fred Hoyle quips, "Some Newton or Einstein must have been at work on this. May be, there was a kind of university where students were taught till they mastered this science."
Mentioned above are only a few of the numerous achievements of a time when man was considered to have been backward, ignorant and resourceless. Upon objective and serious rethinking, it would appear that man has indeed treaded the path of gradual progress but even during the so-called primitiveness of the Stone Age he was not always devoid of highly evolved scientific mind.
This linear model of the process of development is only partially correct. It goes without saying that modern man has achieved great successes in the fields of physical and material sciences. He is in a far superior position in terms of lifes comforts and conveniences and the resources at his command. But it does not necessarily follow that the prehistoric age was a dark age with regard to physical or social sciences. We will not talk here of the achievement level of the ancients in the spheres of metaphysics, ethics, intellectual integrity, social harmony and peace of mind. Even in pure physical sciences, the available evidences are making it clear that in the earliest periods of history man had acquired substantial knowledge and some measure of control over many branches of science.
The extant samples of his stupendous feats leave scholars and scientists of today awe-struck. The more one studies these relics of the past, the more one is unable to comprehend how such impossible-looking artefacts of technological and engineering feats could have been made possible in those prehistoric times!
One such marvel is the pyramids of Egypt, of which the largest is at Giza. Archaeological and other evidences including radiocarbon dating establish that the Giza Pyramid was built around 2600 B.C. In the 19th century Charles Piazzi Smith put forth many propositions, one of which is that the great Pyramid stands exactly at the centre of the earth. No one exactly knows how such massive blocks of stone, weighing 2 to 5 tons, were carried long distances and placed one atop the other in a tapering matrix. Were these stones pushed upward on makeshift sand slopes or some heavy mechanical device was used to loft them up? It is thought that the blocks were slid into place by lubricating them with a liquid gypsum mortar.
The very first big challenge facing the builders was to make level the huge foundation spreading over 13 acres of area. How could they successfully accomplish it? A new theory is that an earthen ring dam was first constructed along the entire perimeter. It was then filled with water. The dunes and other uneven parts jutting above the water level were cut and sliced to bring them in alignment with the water surface. The water level was gradually lowered by draining out water and, in each phase, the projecting parts smoothened out to make level the water surface. In this ingenious way, the ancient Egyptian engineers achieved in the solid plinth a very high level of horizontal flatness with the margin of error reduced to 1 in 10,000. In modern day constructions, the error margin is about the same.
Dr. Livio Steshini, a professor of ancient history in William Peterson College, New Jersey and Dr. Peter Tompkins have examined the distinctive mathematical and geometrical principles underlying the design and construction of this pyramid. According to them, the great pyramid is a very precisely located terrestrial landmark. With the help of this benchmark, a survey of the whole earth and its curvature could be made. This formed the basis of preparation of an ancient atlas of the world.
The pyramid was also an observatory, which enabled minute mapping of the canopy of the sky and preparation of precise charts.
In olden days, when metal was unknown, the building material was rock. There has been an extraordinary use of these rocks in a variety of structures. The level of technical skill and the power resource required in moving, handling and exact placement of these large rock pieces defies comprehension. How and from where had this knowledge and resource come?
A book titled The World Atlas of Mysteries contains illustration of the British Isles and her other possessions. Dark spots mark the locations of various kinds of stone-structures and other monuments. Some of these are: Calanish, Stenes Bradgar, Clava, Newganze, Arburlow, Stenton Durolrite Stones, Stonehenge, Carnak etc. These are some of the oldest and the most mysterious structures ever built by man - huge and tall pillars and columns, stone-circles, earthen dunes, burial chambers etc. These are scattered in a 2500 km. long belt along the Atlantic coast of Europe.
The oldest of these remains goes back to a mind numbing antiquity while the climactic achievement of these lost civilizations appears to be the Stonehenge structures.
What motivated the ancients to spend so much labour and energy in cutting and dragging such large and heavy monoliths? At some locations, the construction sites lie several miles away from the quarry.
The black slabs of Stonehenge have come from distant Presley Mountains of Wales, about 200 km away. Stonehenge evokes reverential wonder, but even bigger pieces have been used elsewhere. In Lake Mariaker area of France, there is a monolith named Grand Menhir Brize. Once this giant column stood 50 meters tall and weighed 340 tons. At Karnack, there are rows and rows of rocks planted erect in the earth. Numbering more that 3000, they stretch farther than the eye can see. In fact, these rocks originally formed even a bigger geometric pattern.
A recent theory is that these places were probably charged with some kind of special energy and this knowledge had been somehow obtained from careful astronomical surveys. For a deeper probe into this aspect, a new branch of study, astro-archaeology, has emerged. Alexander Thomas considers these remains as the pinnacle of geometrical attainments of which any engineer in the history of mankind of any time and place could be proud.
Using such varied and locally available positional marks as rock projections, narrow mountain valleys, specially erected square stone-blocks and the like, they had turned these circles of stone into observatories. They calculated not only simpler occurrences like mid-summer or mid-winter sunrise but also measured very minute astronomical movements and changes requiring purity level of 1:1000. They even knew about the momentary stoppage of the lunar motion.
How did these astronomer-priests acquire this knowledge? How was this knowledge transmitted from generation to generation? The British astrophysicist Sir Fred Hoyle quips, "Some Newton or Einstein must have been at work on this. May be, there was a kind of university where students were taught till they mastered this science."
Mentioned above are only a few of the numerous achievements of a time when man was considered to have been backward, ignorant and resourceless. Upon objective and serious rethinking, it would appear that man has indeed treaded the path of gradual progress but even during the so-called primitiveness of the Stone Age he was not always devoid of highly evolved scientific mind.
