Posted on 05/08/2023 12:44:22 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Temple of Apollo, built ca. 540 BC by the ancient greeks Temple of the Greek god Apollo, built ca. 540 BC, Corinth, Greece. Credit: Following Hadrian/CC BY-SA 2.0 Recent research shows that ancient Greeks used a primitive type of lifting machine to move heavy stones before they began using cranes 2,500 years ago.
It is commonly believed that the foremost discovery of the ancient Greeks in building technology is the crane. Yet, enormous stone structures were known to have been built in Greece at least 150 years before the use of cranes themselves.
Cranes first appeared in the late sixth century BC, according to research published in the Annual of the British School at Athens, but their mechanical forerunners were used in buildings such as the Temples of Isthmia and Corinth at least 150 years before that, around the middle of the seventh century BC.
The researchers say that ancient Greeks were likely to have first used ramps made of earth or mudbrick to lift the heavy stone blocks used in major construction. The lifting devices are thought to have been similar to the ones used by ancient Egyptians and Assyrians centuries earlier.
The precursor of the crane lifting machine The paper, written by Alessandro Pierattini, an assistant professor of architecture at the University of Notre Dame, argues that a kind of lifting machine used by the ancient Greeks was the next precursor to the crane, one which was capable of lifting ashlar blocks weighing over 200 to 400 kilograms (440 to 880 pounds).
Grecian Delight supports Greece The lifting machine was originally invented by the Corinthians, who used it to build ships and for lowering heavy sarcophagi into narrow, deep burial pits. It was not a crane, since it did not use winches or hoists. Instead, the builders redirected the force of the weight by using a rope passed over a frame.
“This kind of masonry represents a crucial step in the development of Greek monumental stone architecture, marking a departure both from mudbrick construction, which had been the norm for most Greek buildings, and from previous experiments with stone construction,” Pierattini writes.
The first documented use of the lever in Greek temples Evidence of the device is considered to be grooves etched onto the bottom of stones used to construct the Corinth and Isthmia temples. These grooves are familiar to historians, but until now, it had been unknown if the grooves had occurred as a result of lifting the blocks during the building process or from moving them around in quarries.
For the study, Pierattini studied stone blocks used in early Greek temples while he also engaged in some hands-on experimental archaeology. He studied the blocks from the mid-seventh-century temples at Corinth and Isthmia and their peculiar markings—two parallel rope-grooves cut into their undersides which turned up on one end.
Using actual stones and ropes, Pierattini found that the grooves could have served a dual function, allowing builders to both lift the blocks and position them tightly against their neighbors along the walls of buildings.
“With heavy stone blocks and high friction between stone surfaces, this was a highly problematic step of construction that in later times would require sets of purpose-made holes for using metal levers,” said Pierattini.
“Μy paper demonstrates that the builders of the early temples at Corinth and Isthmia were already using levers for the final setting of the blocks. This represents the first documented use of the lever in Greek architecture,” the professor explained to Gizmodo.
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Amazing! They used a lifting device to lift things! Brilliant!
Now I’m wondering about the pyramids of Egypt!
My Dad grew up in Europe with horse- and ox-powered farm equipment, and both at work and play here (construction, farming, and clearing land) he used come-alongs, chain-falls, pipe (to roll), and good old heavy steel levers to move rocks, fell trees, and reposition just about anything that he could get leverage on. I am proud to try to do the same, as a woman I push, roll, use ramps and come-alongs, and anything possible to do it solo before I seek help. (And I am the first to admit, the strongest female is NO WHERE near the strength of the average male).
He was fascinated with the theories on Egyptian and ancient construction and had his own. I bet those were some of the first things he wanted to check out on the other side.
Clever folks, those old classical Greeks. Too bad they were scattered to the winds and their ancestral homeland was occupied by others who were little more than barbarians.
A fate lying in wait for that territory once known as the “United States of America”, as it falls into decivilization and rapid balkanization.
Thanks Gene Eric! When the Parthenon was restored some years back (it may have been discovered before that, but this is just AFAIK) the blocks and column parts were found to have scars from where the lifting "pegs" had been left protruding. After each part was lifted and set into place, the pegs were cut off.
The Parthenon (Greek: Παρθενών) is a temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, dedicated to the maiden goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens considered their patron. Its construction began in 447 BC when the Athenian Empire was at the height of its power. It was completed in 438 BC, although decoration of the building continued until 432 BC. It is the most important surviving building of Classical Greece, generally considered the culmination of the development of the Doric order.Engineering Feats of the Golden Age - The Parthenon- Part 1 | 14:07
Discovery Channel Documentary
Klaus Vonderlein | 167 subscribers | 107,140 views | March 25, 2013
talk about being able to shortcut set-up time — wow
Parthenon construction starts at 33:18, there's a link at the page.Engineering an Empire: Ancient Greece (S1, E1) | 44:51
Full Episode | History | 11.8M subscribers
1,898,323 views | July 18, 2020
Cribbing is a thing. It’s not complicated and can be done with a lever and wood.
Excellent. I’ll watch the vid while eating dinner.
Now I’m wondering about the pyramids of Egypt!
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cast stone, not quarried - quarried was used to make later repairs.
But what do ancient astronaut theorists say?
I’ve heard theories that they used some sort of sound waves to “levitate” the blocks. And why the building is impressive, the CUTTING of the blocks is the more impressive thing.
I always thought they flipped them up there like “tiddly winks”.
Alley Oop rents we have what you need.
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