4 Mysterious New World Monuments | What the Stuff?!
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10 سال پیش
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For modern archaeologists, the ancient
For modern archaeologists, the ancient world continues to hold many secrets. The following is a list of four awe-inspiring sights whose codes haven't been cracked yet.
Article:
http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/5-...
Music:
"Air Hockey Saloon" by Chris Zabriskie
What the Stuff?! episodes are available every Monday and Friday at Noon ET.
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Transcript:
Thousands of years in the future, will people be able to figure out why there’s a huge metal tower in the ruins of Paris? It might sound like a silly question, but over the course of human history we’ve lost the meaning and making of all kinds of things – monuments, cities, entire civilizations. And when we do find these ancient structures, sometimes we just end up with more questions – who built this? Why?
Take the giant statues of Easter Island, called the moai. A single moai can weigh up to 86 tons. We know the people of Easter Island built them, but scientists still aren’t completely sure how (or why) the islanders spent so much time and effort building these monuments. Especially when some authors think building the moai may have led to an ecological collapse – and even cannibalism.
Then there’s Teotihuacan (TOWAH-TEEWAH-KHAN). This was one of the biggest cities in the world in 600 AD, and no one’s sure who built it. We know it wasn’t the Aztecs – they just lived among the ruins. They also gave us the name we use for the city today. Teotihuacan means “place where gods are born”.
And what about Macchu Pichu? While this isn’t the fabled ‘lost city of the Inca’, it’s pretty impressive. The Incan architects built it with precisely cut, smooth polished stones. They interlock without mortar, like a giant jigsaw puzzle. Their work was so precise that, even after centuries of earthquakes, in many places it's still impossible to slip a piece of paper between the seams of two Machu Picchu stones.
Peru isn’t the only country that’s home to mysterious monuments. In 1940, employees of the United Fruit Company began uncovering large stone spheres buried in the forest floor of Costa Rica. The company suits and some treasure hunters stole or damaged many of these, but hundreds of spheres have been discovered. Some are the size of a basketball – others are the size of a small car. No one knows why they were made, but they were certainly popular. Researchers estimate that native Costa Ricans were carving these spheres from as early as 600 AD to as late as 1500 AD.
These are just a few examples of mysterious monuments in the New World, and we’re finding more and more lost monuments, structures and cities every decade. But what’s your take on this? What’s your favorite ancient, mysterious monument? Let me know in the comments. You can also subscribe to our show and visit howstuffworks.com for more information on everything from monuments to moon landings. See you next time.
Article:
http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/5-...
Music:
"Air Hockey Saloon" by Chris Zabriskie
What the Stuff?! episodes are available every Monday and Friday at Noon ET.
Subscribe http://bit.ly/1AWgeM7
Twitter Twitter: HowStuffWorks
Facebook Facebook: HowStuffWorks
Google+ https://plus.google.com/+howstuffworks
Website http://www.howstuffworks.com
Watch More howstuffworks
Transcript:
Thousands of years in the future, will people be able to figure out why there’s a huge metal tower in the ruins of Paris? It might sound like a silly question, but over the course of human history we’ve lost the meaning and making of all kinds of things – monuments, cities, entire civilizations. And when we do find these ancient structures, sometimes we just end up with more questions – who built this? Why?
Take the giant statues of Easter Island, called the moai. A single moai can weigh up to 86 tons. We know the people of Easter Island built them, but scientists still aren’t completely sure how (or why) the islanders spent so much time and effort building these monuments. Especially when some authors think building the moai may have led to an ecological collapse – and even cannibalism.
Then there’s Teotihuacan (TOWAH-TEEWAH-KHAN). This was one of the biggest cities in the world in 600 AD, and no one’s sure who built it. We know it wasn’t the Aztecs – they just lived among the ruins. They also gave us the name we use for the city today. Teotihuacan means “place where gods are born”.
And what about Macchu Pichu? While this isn’t the fabled ‘lost city of the Inca’, it’s pretty impressive. The Incan architects built it with precisely cut, smooth polished stones. They interlock without mortar, like a giant jigsaw puzzle. Their work was so precise that, even after centuries of earthquakes, in many places it's still impossible to slip a piece of paper between the seams of two Machu Picchu stones.
Peru isn’t the only country that’s home to mysterious monuments. In 1940, employees of the United Fruit Company began uncovering large stone spheres buried in the forest floor of Costa Rica. The company suits and some treasure hunters stole or damaged many of these, but hundreds of spheres have been discovered. Some are the size of a basketball – others are the size of a small car. No one knows why they were made, but they were certainly popular. Researchers estimate that native Costa Ricans were carving these spheres from as early as 600 AD to as late as 1500 AD.
These are just a few examples of mysterious monuments in the New World, and we’re finding more and more lost monuments, structures and cities every decade. But what’s your take on this? What’s your favorite ancient, mysterious monument? Let me know in the comments. You can also subscribe to our show and visit howstuffworks.com for more information on everything from monuments to moon landings. See you next time.
10 سال پیش
در تاریخ 1393/10/19 منتشر شده
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