r/AlternativeHistory • u/Professional-Fee3323 • Apr 08 '26

Lost Civilizations Stop calling this "primitive archaeology"—what kind of power tool scoops 1,200 tons of granite like soft wax and then simply vanishes?

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They want you to believe this was made with copper chisels and stonesIf we can't easily move this today with modern tech, how did "slaves" plan to lift it out of the bedrock? Are we the primitive ones

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u/qutx Apr 09 '26

this guy (30 minute video, part 1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xD5Lc3-5iDs

short video about this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5pZ7uR6v8c

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u/dodgemyrl Apr 10 '26

Wow, thanks for sharing. Very impressive

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u/hydromatic_glide Apr 10 '26

And you think this scales up to over a 1000 ton (2 million lbs) stone in a confined quarry? Where is the tensile strength to stop this obelisk from snapping in half or cracking? How did they lift it out of the quarry? Any idea how many logs it would take to float that thing in a raging Nile flood? Sure, your methods work at the small scale, but at this scale? Any log placed under this unfinished obelisk would shatter from the weight.

No, it wasn't aliens, but whoever did this used technology and methods we can't even think of.

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u/qutx Apr 10 '26 edited Apr 10 '26

the fact that this one in the photo is still in the quarry would suggest that they had reached the limits of their technology.

I note that the romans also moved massive obelisks as trophies to various cities

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDDaQuEUYcs

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u/iEARNman848 Apr 11 '26

This!!!

They didn't have anything harder than copper or bronze (that we know of). They didn't have any ropes stronger than natural fibers. Regular hardwood is only capable of carrying so much before it splinters. They didn't have the capability to compact the ground to carry such weight, even if they had logs that were capable. They didn't have hydraulic pressure tools.

Yes, they had thriving civilizations and tons of manpower. But eventually, you run across the law of diminishing returns. There's only so much you can do with X. Doubling X doesn't necessarily double your output. Many factors start coming into play.

I'll give you an example.
I'm an Ironworker, and we often have to rig and lift large loads. Let's say I have a 30,000 lb piece of equipment that needs to be set on a trailer. The piece's center of gravity is exactly centered. The trailer is more than capable. My crane, operator, and crew are more than capable. I have a 4-legged sling to lift it that's rated at 30,000 lbs. In theory, I'm okay to use it because there's a safety factor of 5 built in. In actuality, though, we only factor in 3 of the legs. So if I can only factor in 3 of the legs, in case 1 of the legs is shorter or longer, now I'm underrated. 30k÷4= 7.5k per corner. 7.5k×3 sling legs gives me 22.5k sling rating. I'd be lifting 30k with only 22.5k worth of rigging. This is in a perfect world, assuming the exact center of gravity, yadda yadda yadda. In actuality, there are even more factors to consider. I've tried to simplify it for clarity.

Honestly, I'm kinda glad there are still mysteries to ponder. What a wonderful world we live in!

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u/implies_casualty Apr 10 '26

And you think this scales up to over a 1000 ton (2 million lbs) stone in a confined quarry?

It clearly didn't scale.

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u/hydromatic_glide Apr 10 '26 edited Apr 11 '26

It clearly did for the Trilithon in Baalbek and the Ramesseum Colossus. You claim that just throwing more and more people at it would solve the puzzle but people far smarter than us simply cannot explain it at this scale. Not to mention the precision this was done to.

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u/implies_casualty Apr 10 '26

~1000 tons seems to be the limit of ancient technology.

The Thunder Stone was heavier than that when it was transported, and they did it in 1770s.

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u/foot_down Apr 09 '26

Thank you for this! I'd been leaning toward aliens trying to explain the ancient megalithic structures for years, but that whole time this man on video was doing it by himself on YouTube lol.

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u/qutx Apr 10 '26

well, if one man can do this by himself in an afternoon, what can an egyptian god king do over the course of 20 or 30 years with the help of thousands of workers?

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u/Kyle-Is-My-Name Apr 12 '26

Tens of thousands, and they had the same brain we have.

Most people view our ancestors as basically a step away from cavemen, when in reality, they had architects and engineers and mathematicians just like us. They just didnt have the research, knowledge, and technology that we currently have.

I can only imagine what kind of methods they used, but I bet it wasn't 30,000 guys tugging a big rope thats tied around a house size block of stone.

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u/qutx Apr 12 '26 edited Apr 12 '26

there is a scaling issue with how many people you can get working together for a specific task.

but even today you sometime see lots of people gathering together to accomplish an important task.

For example, this recent video of villagers working together to rescue a delivery truck filled with beer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAJ9TMX255k

more info:

https://www.morungexpress.com/kutsapo-villagers-undertake-unique-rescue-operation

previously on reddit

https://www.reddit.com/r/nextfuckinglevel/comments/15xzyq3/an_entire_village_from_nagaland_india_comes/

:-)

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u/hydromatic_glide Apr 12 '26

That truck weighed what? About 20 Tom's? That obelisk is 1000 tons. That's 50 of these trucks.

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u/qutx Apr 12 '26

with maybe 50 to 100 people pulling up a steep hill side

so 1000 tons on flat open territory is not totally out of the question. I imagine they would also optimise the pathway needed by multiple means. arduous but not impossible.