Posted on 12/23/2009 6:54:38 PM PST by SunkenCiv
The ancient Mayans may have had enough engineering know-how to master running water, creating fountains and even toilets by controlling water pressure, scientists now suggest... Scientists investigated the Mayan center at Palenque in Chiapas, Mexico. At its height, this major site, inhabited from roughly 100 to 800 AD, had some 1,500 structures -- residences, palaces, and temples -- holding some 6,000 inhabitants under a series of powerful rulers. The center at Palenque also had what was arguably the most unique and intricate system of water management known anywhere in the Maya lowlands. These involved elaborate subterranean aqueducts to deal with the spring-fed streams that naturally divide the landscape and could otherwise cause flooding or erosion... One peculiar finding at Palenque was a buried, spring-fed conduit some 216 feet long (66 m). While other aqueducts under the site's main plaza stayed relatively level and maintained a roughly constant width, the rectangular conduit was located on a steep slope and abruptly narrowed at its end. Assuming this sloping conduit was smoothly plastered as the aqueducts were at Palenque, the researchers calculated the resulting water pressure could drive a fountain shooting water roughly 20 feet high (6 m)... Running water would have been a luxury, not a necessity. "I actually think that the creation of water pressure at Palenque was a sign of wealth," French said.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
“scientists say”?
is this like “some say”?
perhaps this is the same scientist who says it is possible to yodel on the moon in a vacuum.
Aztecs and Myans...two different civilizations.
“If dolphins are so smart, why do they live in igloos?”
Heh heh... did we give up when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?
If you yodel on the Moon, successfully, in a vacuum, do you then shout, “Eureka!” ?
:’) Even better is the line from throwaway movie “Maid to Order” — “I didn’t spend six years in junior college to...”
Never saw it, but remember it. When I first heard the title, I thought, how the heck did a porno movie land in mainstream theaters??
It has a Grand Rapids joke in it, so...
- What's the difference between a fountain and a toilet?
- I don't know.
- Then you're not visiting my garden!
:’)
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