Several methods of fabrication of the polygonal masonry using clay/gypsum replicas, a topography translator, and reduced clay models of the stone blocks along with a 3D-pantograph are described in the article “Fabrication methods of the polygonal masonry of large tightly-fitted stone blocks with curved surface interfaces in megalithic structures of Peru” (DOI: 10.20944/preprints202108.0087.v7). RUclips does not allow a direct link. Search by the article title.
@@scotch_onrocks1876 Did you read the article? Search for the 7th edition (7th version) of the article at Preprints website by title or by DOI 10.20944/preprints202108.0087.v7.
On my family's farm there is a road about 1/4 mile long raised several feet above the wet meadow. My grandfather and his brother built that with shovels and a wheelbarrow because their father told them to. Now that's simple compared to massive stonework, but already it seems impossible to do without an excavator and dump-truck. There was a tool in our toolbox for most of human history that is no longer there. And that is the tool of TIME.
I was 26 before i ever RAN a mile... A single mile felt like an eternity and was daunting. It's really no big deal, one foot in front of the other and a little time and you've covered your ground. Do it again and you've covered 2x you ground... And it took less than 16 minutes. Not forever, just get working and you'll accomplish something.
No truer words have ever been said " Find the laziest guy and he will show you the most efficient way of doing any job". I've been preaching this at my work for decades. Love your stuff Mike keep up the good work.
Says "This place is not that big of a deal as they claim", then proceeds to pan around showing 1000's of linear feet of walls built on the side of a mountain. We'll have to disagree on what a "big deal is" :). That's impressive even if done today. Thanks for sharing.
Not a big deal??..With all the " theories" out there you'd think with the 9 billion people on planet earth there would be one that would want to PROVE his , hers or their favourite academia's perspective; that today's man could accomplish such an easy feat. They have to go out, find a bare side of a mountain, and with a thousand volunteers, and no infrastructure support for medical, grocery stores, daycare etc, etc, live off the land, transport a billion tons of massive boulders, with no tools to speak of, and no machinery..from a remote location. And then with bare hands hue the stones in perfect alinement. Until that someone can step up to the plate, I'll go with super intellect humans that could altar the kinetic energy of frequencies. K I'm done here; Scottie beam me up!
I think he's saying that it's humanly possible and doesn't need to involve Aliens or magic to explain how this got there. It's incredible work, but not supernatural.
Greg9504 Seriously. No one or group on the earth today could make and place 20 of those megalithic stones let alone the huge walls that exist all around the earth. No big deal though. Childish attitude really.
@@kimsand53 I'd like him to visit the stones that are perfectly flat to within 2 ten-thousandths of an inch, something we can't even do today with our most advanced MODERN technology, and they had around a DOZEN of them that were entirely massive in size to boot.
"Hi Mike, how did they build machu pichu?" "well ghryst, they found a lazy guy" "oh thanks mike, that clears that one up, lets go look at the pyramids next"
Hi Ghryst, I also did videos on conwy castle, cathedral of St. John divine and coral castle and as a stone mason they were far more impressive than anything I seen at Machu Picchu, was st the pyramids also, Thanks, mike
@@MikeHaduck impressiveness is not the issue. no one can replicate this with period tools. ppl havent even tried, cos logic. these ppl supposedly only had copper tools at best
They didn't, he explained how they did it by hand with a small stone that was harder than the stone they used for the walls. They chip, chip, chipped away over days to sculpture one large stone to fit another. Lots of trial & error tilting the stone back & forth until they fitted nicely.
@@MikeHaduck I guess in the minds eye of unicorns and pink fairies I could rub and bang out a 60 ton granite rock to sub-milimeter precision in about what ,10,000 years ? if I can live that long in this make believe world. And that would be a single rock! how many did you imagine were in matchu pichu? maths don't quiet add up let alone these primitive people supposedly didn't have Einstein IQ's. I think your assumption may be alittle wishful. but I'm just a simple mechanical engineer, and have no real knowledge on much of anything.
@@j.sagiechode Your whole statement reeks of false statements. There is NO sub millimeter precision....first of all. Second of all you're not banging out 60 tons of rock on a 60 tone stone. Only the outer later which may be 10's of pounds since they used stones that already had close to the proper fit in the first place, or that were cut together at the quarry so they were almost a perfect match before work even began. It doesn't take 10, 000 years......it just takes hours of hard work. Not just one man.......thousands of people working at any one time. The IQ of the people working there is equal to the IQ of people living today, however their work ethic was tenfold what we have today. Being an engineer obviously hasn't taught you to be critical thinker.....get off your desk and your computer, and go build something. You'll see it actually can be done. The fact that it was done almost everywhere on the planet is pretty compelling proof. There's no mystery. Stone shapes stone. Harder stone shapes softer stone quicker. Charcoal can be used to draw on stone. The rest is just general labour. It doesn't get any simpler. People still do this type of work today, they just use better tools so the work progresses faster. Just like Engineers used to use pencils and rulers before computer modelling.
I have been at the edge of my seat since the how we got there video. So wonderful to see the stonework and have a person that works within the art form speak. Better than tv because the company don’t control the words. It gets exponentially better because their is trust. Show us the good stuff. Grimé.
Some people are so dumb that they will never believe that humans have done amazing things with little more than rocks, dirt, grass, and some logs. Anyone who has ever worked with their hands and learned some simple mechanics realizes that if you get enough people together they can do some impressive stuff without any space aliens needed.
Great, let's see a pic of a tiny 12'X12' wall in your back yard with that size stone and precision. Just grab a few neighbors and stack'em up. Shouldn't be hard.
@@seriousguitarinstructionbo6690 Of course we could. The question is not actually about methods, it is one of motives. If me and my neighbors were actually motivated, we could do that.
A lot of the limestone is light in weight and thinner in section than it looks from the front . The poliganal shape is made because the mason wants to do less work and so stones are measured and cut to interlock in a natural way with a man made finish for some reason u tubers want to up the achievement which I admit is considerable but not impossible. Limestone varies a lot but it can be carved easily.
Mike many to day have little clue as to the effectiveness of the the simple machines. The lever the roller and inclined plane. I have done some millwrighting, moving and setting heavy machinery. I know first hand that one person can move and set something that weighs many ton with nothing more than a lever rollers and cribbing. But I will leave the cutting and shaping of stone to someone like you ; )
How exactly do you move a boulder weighing a hundred tons plus, lift it and set it perfectly in place only with stone and maybe some bronze tools? Add in a steep mountainside slope... modern engineers would love to hear the answer to this.
@@MikeHaduck take 2 slabs of granite 2x2 from quarry cut to perfectly flat and seamed together within microns with only stone and copper tools and then I might put thought into saying you're right. This is still a challenge with modern tooling. I also think people were to worried about eating and raising livestock to spend copious amounts of time a day slamming rocks together
You know that there are another sites with megalithic wall, right? Why you don't post videos from these sites: Sacsayhuamán, Look at coricancha , stones are smooth on all sides. Diorite cusco wall ollantaytambo ruins, stones also smooth on all sides Sun temple pisac Peru, stones also smooth on all sides And maybe many more.. Machu piccu maybe "not that big deal", but combine all those sites, then it is big deal.
Hi Prios, yes, today it's called thermal facing, I have a few examples on my videos " stone cutting and making patterns mike haduck and stone work ( part 2) mike haduck, but the hotter you get the stone the easier it is to face it, thanks Mike
@@MikeHaduck Hi Mike, sorry, but english is not my native tongue...what exactly means facing? Same topic, different question: would it be possible to weaken a stone locally with high heat and then shock cool it to take out material i.e. shape it?
The local people always knew about it. What I think he means is that, after the Spanish came over here and the local people learned about cement, the local people then used the cement to repair walls of structures that they were still using or living in up on Machu Pichu. Its my understanding that the abandonment of Machu Pichu was a gradual process driven largely by the difficulty with getting resources up there. Old stone masonry villages continue to be slowly abandoned in the modern era driven largely by similar issues.
@@MikeHaduck Before making comments that are lies, You should talk to authentic Peruvian archaeologist; most of them speak English. They will tell you that Spanish Conquers never found or knew about this place, only and some local aborigen knew it. Actually this place was considered a Sacred Place or Temple for the INCAS only and its close relatives or descendants. NO one else in PERU during the conquer and its independence did not know this place exist. It was until July 14th of 1902 a local Peruvian-citizen called Agustín Lizárraga discover this site. He tried to obtain financial aids from the Peruvian government and was denied; then one guy from USA called Hiram Bingham, sponsored by Yale University took credit for it. Know a days is when they star using some cements for small repairs in Machu-Pichu.
Hey Mike, really appreciate your videos. I live in Montana and I’m wondering about adding a modified Thinset to my mortar mix for use on some exterior flagstone steps? Is that necessary or is a basic type S mortar mix sufficient? Thanks-Nate
I remember seeing a program on British TV at least two decades (maybe more) ago. It demonstrated (not just talked about) how using very simple techniques that whomever built these structures slid huge stones into place. I have looked and cannot find it but it is out there somewhere. Like your work Mike, thank you.
Great video, thank you! Same as with pyramids and all other ancient structures, it's not half as ideal, as many people want to believe. Respect to mason from an architect, cheers:)
My favorite part is how you default to a diamond tip saw blade to cut the stone as your demonstration. Wondering how the biggest, 20+ ton sized stones were cut with precision back then? So you're saying the natives quarried by hand on top of a mountain, measured, cut, hammered, removed the stone, adjusted cut/hammering, fitted into place, then checked stone next to to one their working on, then moved it out again, made adjustments, then put it back , repeat. All by hammering & rubbing with another stone of the same density & hardness? Really? & achieved super tight fitted joints? & your estimate on how long this method would take to build Machu Picchu? Then you demonstrate how a stone on stone pounding and rubbing will get you pristine, puzzle smoothed, contact surfaces that a sheet of paper can not fit through. Oh wait, you stopped & did not complete that task, so that means you did not demonstrate how you think they did it back then, I wonder why? Maybe too hard for modern stone masons to do? I'm also wondering why you didn't show what looks like melted stone "slag" that shows up now & then at those sites? Or discuss the perfect cylindrical drill holes through granite & basalt. Did they pound those drill holes too? Until a modern stonemason builds with the tools & the stones at their largest sizes that are found in Machu Picchu & meets the exact details that are found at the ruins, we'll never learn what it takes to match the forgotten methods used back then.
Hi hitman, I agree with the saw and drill marks, the ancient people were not stupid, but I did videos on conwy castle, the Great Wall of China, the cathedral of St. John, coral castle and as a stone mason they were far more impressive than anything I seen at Machu Picchu, Thanks, mike
Finally a pragmatic approach that isn't laced with ancient astronaut theories. Always thought their stonework was well done for the tools that were available. If there were power tools available 10k years ago then it would have been much more symmetrical - IMO. The fit always amazed me. It was only the facing and the sides; not the back part that was fitted was a keen observation. As far as lifting the stones just watch how they leverage up a house using blocking. Simple and effective. There are still some mysteries yet to be discovered about ancient times beyond our current understanding of the methods used to construct large works. Well done sir, i appreciate your perspective.
They weren't going for symmetry, because asymmetrical keystone-cut masonry is much more resistant to earthquake damage. You know absolutely nothing about megalithic monuments.
@heygeno1951 King tuts sword is made of iron that is thought to have originated from a meteorite. The ancients very well could have used iron meteorite tools to do some of stone work. They could have also made pure sand from specific types of minerals like diamonds, ruby's, hematite, iron meteorite, etc. Simply crush hematite or a meteroite and you have an abrasive much more efficient than your common desert sand. The fact is there are hundreds of ways it could be done without electricity or modern tools. Water and wind carved out the Grand Canyon, it didn't take diamonds raining down or Paul Bunnen dragging his axe. Lol, just a whole lot of time.
Interesting theory for the smaller stone walls but not the megalithic ones. To think they trimmed and lifted and fit and then lifted and trimmed and repeated hundreds of times for just one block is just too much for me to believe! The lifting devices would have to have been incredible to move them about like that. This would have multiplied the time of construction by factors of 10-20X!
I understand that Mike... but like you say... they were cut to order for your jobs. So you just fit them together like lincoln logs. These stones at the megalithic sites are all random shapes and sizes and fit perfectly. I suppose they could have gotten them from a huge slab at a quarry and just used a rope saw of some sort to cut them and they would fit perfectly but that's something we will never know.
@@rockinbobokkin7831 If alien (or paranormal) theorists are described as "everyone" you're in a dodgy social situation or click the wrong videos on RUclips. Let's hope that's not what he meant...
curiouser and curiouser! I just had a thought watching your excellent video. I have messed with rock walls in CT but nothing like this, and even that was hard work! So when i see how close they fit, I wonder how to do that with out having to lift and chisel out, lift and refit...so hard to do that with 50 ton rocks....soooo???WTF! but if they carved out the bottom rock, then did a plaster (mud?) cast of the top, then they could use that as a template to shape the next block? Or one of those nifty rigs with lots of spokes that shape to things ...you said find the laziest person, and I am always trying to find the easiest way to do things. But how they lifted them I have no clue! and thanks for the grass-over-the-top of the retaining wall, makes sense!
Oh thank you, anything to do with Manchu Picchu on RUclips usually leads to UFO's & giants. So nice to hear someone sane actually explaining this sort of thing. Liked & Subscribed.
@IRHanley He was commenting on some religious peoples ideas that giants built these megalithic structures and proceeded to disagree with it when he stated his hypothesis that they were indeed built by ancient humans. And that's not a "conspiracy" theory. Lol. Look up the definition of conspiracy. That's just a theory. I guess we could more accurately call that a biblical theory or mythological theory? I can't see how it could be a conspiracy.
How would you describe the building style where some stones interlock with the ones below & above them? The last only similar modern style I’m aware of is in light house construction.
Hi Alex, I don’t see anything that is special down there, back on the 60s I was working with the old timers that was doing all the railroad and wpa work, and it was basically the same, thanks Mike
Thanks Mike - great to hear some sanity on this subject! I agree about Egypt - there you have only 2 short work-seasons - plant and harvest with crops yielding so much that they made a lot of it into beer. .. So for the other half of the year, you have essentially nomadic tribes all crammed together - well fed and drunk causing mayhem - specially the young men. So you give them something to do: "Hey let's make a giant pyramid by banging rocks together!" The Pharos were geniuses. And in between banging rocks together, you could get them to kill the surrounding tribes. Things haven't changed much - and the lazy man still rules technology .. and media .. etc ;)
@@MikeHaduck Mind you Mike - I am attracted to the "stone-softening" techniques some talk about .. the lower parts of the big stones are more shaped than the upper-parts .. that sounds suitably lazy to me? And what I can't get good pictures of is the back sides of the big stones .. I saw one where I think it looks like it was ground-in for the front with the back looking more like a scoop than a cut. Certainly not well crafted. Have you seen such?
Hi oz, I got to say when I was looking at the pyramids and the temples in Egypt and Greece , they were not perfect, lots of imperfections ( I wish I had the cameras I got now), but I seen greater works in the cathedrals and castles of Europe, my opinion, just me, I appreciate it, mike
@@ozwhistles Stone softening granite? Why does science and engineering know nothing about this if this ever was a thing? It sounds utterly preposterous to me.
Hey Mike, another question if you don’t mind? I’m building a brick mailbox, about 28”x28” and 5’ tall. Should it have a cinder block core that is anchored to my concrete pad or are just the bricks enough? I was also wondering if weep holes are necessary? Thanks so much-Nate
I'm definitely not saying you're wrong. Because I don't know. But I've heard a theory or hypothesis that maybe they used an acid that was readily available to them to soften the stone before working it. Any thoughts?
Hi Phxto, I don,t see the big deal at that site, I believe there is saw marks, but I have videos on conwy castle and the cathedral of St. John which I think is far more impressive from a stone masons point of view, i appreciate it, mike
PhxtoNash: Not sure Mike answered your question. His comment was duplicated on several other posts. I will be in Peru next week to examine and image the differing types of megaliths microscopically inside and out. It will provide clues to the finishing proces. (saw, grind, pound, mould, etc) I'll post images on my RUclips account if you're interested.
It's a known ancient technique to use fire and freezing conditions to make some stone more brittle and easier to chip and shape. It's common in flint knapping for instance. I dont believe acid makes stone softer as much as it simply dissolves it in some cases like with limestone. I'm a rock hound and I use various acids to help clean specimens. So that's my experience any way.
Hi Aussie, I did videos on conwy castle, the cathedral of St. John nyc, coral castle, etc etc, and as a stone mason I was far more impressed with these, than anything I seen at Machu Picchu, Thanks, mike
@@MikeHaduck Me again : ) Thank you again for taking the time to do all these wonderful videos, which I am telling friends and family about and reposting on FB & Twttr (because wonderful things and PEOPLE should always be shared!) and for answering my question re stone foundation - I will get it done. No big deal : ) I pray and hope that you or whoever you're with at the VA will be well. God bless you again : )ruclips.net/video/PJg_n9BGck0/видео.html
Dolerite pounders to create pefect joints in 40 ton stones and 90 degree internal angles? i don't think so.I'd like to see a modern stone mason create just one of those perfect large granite stones using stone hammers and copper.They would never be able to do it.
Hi Nicholas, I am about 20 videos behind but when I get to the rest of Peru I will do a demonstration, but I agree with forester about the saw marks, thanks, mike
Hi Mainor, I did videos on conwy castle, the cathedral of St. John ,the Great Wall of China, coral castle, etc etc and as a stone mason they were far more impressive 5han anything I seen at Machu Picchu, Thanks, mike
Because I am trying to make the point that Machu Picchu is a nice post card and of course interesting but compared to real stone masonry it is nothing, thanks, mike
@@MikeHaduck well we disagree Mike.. you're a great mason though i learn a lot from you... Definitely would like to see you reproduce this with the period tools .. thanks
My brother who is in the stone business also is going to drop some granite off today, no big deal, Machu Picchu is Disney world compared to other sites, the Great Wall of China is 13000 miles long, thanks, Mike
Wow! Amazing you follow Brien Froester. I’ve watch you both separately thinking about stone work! Make sure you check in on ‘Ancient Architects’ he’s got a video about the puma punku stones possibly being a geopolymer matrix mixed with organic material so it’s like very hard rock concrete. The stones you are looking at may have been sculpted with a acid slurry from acid lakes near by. Still very mysterious and amazing!
Hi Slappy, I did some videos on conwy castle, cathedral of St. John And the coral castle and as a stone mason they were far more impressive to me than anything I seen a Machu Picchu, thanks, mike
Surely you aren't expecting a single person or even a group to replicate something that literally thousands of people built? The moving and shaping of stone using tools and resources available to the time and area has been demonstrated enough that proof of concept has been established. It's a simple extrapolation from that point that more hands make for light work, so to speak. It's okay to be skeptical but cynicism is no one's friend.
I ran a large boring mill. The heaviest thing I ever moved weighed roughly 19 tons. It took a lot of heavy, high tech tackle, and a monstrous overhead crane to place the steel block where it needed to be, and it is an extremely dangerous and delicate operation. There is no way you could have placed enough humans around the piece to even budge it. Just telling you my experiences with large and heavy objects. It only needed to be lifted around 4 feet from floor level and standing it up on edge was very nerve wracking. The vast majority of people, and this is not meant as any sort of insult, have no comprehension of weights like that.
Hi Dan, checkout my videos on conwy castle and the cathedral of St. John, they far outweigh anything I seen at Machu Picchu, a stonemasons opinion, thanks, mike
Mike Haduck Masonry No one today can build some of the megalithic stone walls found all around the face of the earth. No one can place together stones of that size in interlocking fashion having all four sides matching without any deviation whatsoever that is displayed in some of those walls. Your right about some of the newer works, I'm talking about the ancient stone structure. Sorry, you may think you can, but you cannot, not you or anyone else in today's world and you are perpetuating a false narrative by saying that you can with a little bit of experience. You cannot. There was a technology used in ancient times that has been lost and is now being intentionally suppressed by a power that none of us fully understand. All the kings men and all the kings horses could not even begin to build those walls and neither could you. Go read Genesis 6, maybe you can gain some understanding.
How do you explain all the ancient carvings, they are a lot more intricate than any big megalithic stone that everyone is making such a big deal about, and the ones making the big deal are not carvers, stonemasons, quarry men or movers, ???? With respect, mike
I trekked to Machu Picchu 25 years ago. None of that stonework is pre-Inca. It as believed by most archeologists to have been built for the Inca Emperor Pachacuti in the 15th century, only about a hundred years before the Spanish arrived. The Inca did have a well known style of polished drystone walls for important buildings. They didn't just come along later and pile up rocks on the existing stonework. As for the Spanish, they aren't responsible for all that reconstruction with mortar. That's all 20th and 21st century. The Conquistadors never found Macchu Picchu, and it was only known to local people until Hiram Bingham (an American academic/explorer) announced its "rediscovery" in 1911. He had been shown the ruins by local, indigenous farmers in a remote spot. It's worth seeking out old photos before all the restoration work (much might better be called reconstruction). Back in 1911, there were no gables left; they've all been reconstructed. There are photos from 1912 after the jungle had been cleared, and the scale of 20th century reconstruction becomes obvious. Not those massive, very finely dressed and fitted stones, but things like the more rudely constructed houses. Cusco, the Inca capital has some astonishing stonework, on an even more epic scale. Machu Picchu is very special, in part because the Spanish never came and wrecked it. Whilst the Spanish were happy enough to adapt Inca stonework, as can be seen at Cusco, they would have never tolerated what the saw as the pagan religious elements, such as the "Hitching Stone of the Sun", which is the contemporary name for that upright. Cusco also has pre-Inca stonework, such as nearby Sacsayhuamán which was started by the Killke around 1100 but expanded and enhanced by the Inca in the 13 century onwards.
The monument (at 4:26 on your video) carved out from one same rock which name you didn't know is called Intihuatana and is supposed to be a solar observatory ... What is your opinion on that? ... I noticed you didn't show us the place were Hiram Bingham claimed to have found a mummy, which is megalithic and has an entrance cut to allow the sunlight hit various parts of the inside according to the distinct inclination of the Sun across the year ... The second story of this structure has a floor carved in a curious way ... You are right on the two kinds of structures of Machu Picchu: megalithic and post-megalithic ... And megalithics are thousands of years old ... Is the same opinion expressed by Daniel Ruzo, who also said there is a small ruin that appears to be an eight-sided ancient pyramid built by the same people that did the megalithic work ...
Hi Jorge, I can't say who or when they were built, but I don't see what the big deal is about shaping them. I know as a former navigator in the navy you learn a lot about stars just observing them every night, all common sense to me, I appreciate it, mike
Great video, Mike it's great to see you in Peru. I watched a lot of your other videos on stone wall building, brickwork, how to mix concrete, etc. I always found your videos very interesting. It's nice to hear a experienced, expert stone mason giving his two cents on "how could they have possibly done it". Lets face it, we don't have all the answers and probably never will. But Peru sure is an interesting place. Lets see more videos and don't forget Bolivia. They have some very interesting stone structures there, too.
fellow pennsylvanian. ever hear about ancients using sound/frequency to cut and melt stone? like a giant tuning fork? fascinating stuff. i worked at a plantation that had a spring fed troth craved out of a single stone in 1700's was larger than a bath tub. had stone mortarless walls for fences. was an awesome place.🍻
I picked up the trowel in 1978 and am still laying block , brick and setting stone. There are techniques used in stonework , lost trade secrets used in India, south America and world wide we have yet to rediscover. There is a stone technology they had way back then that we are only guessing at. I repeat guessing at.
Hi Roy, I agree about everybody guessing but I haven’t seen anything yet couldn’t be copied, men were just as smart back then, Thanks for the comment, mike
Once upon a time, a long time ago, after a battle near the town of Marathon, a run was done by a messenger only to bring quickest possible transmission of news about the battle result to the king. At this time, even high society was not able to get this important information faster than with a runner in sandals. Today it takes less than a microsecond because we have better techniques. So does it have to be proven again and again today that it is possible to run 42 kilometres very fast, by foot, only to share a message? For sporting reasons, yes. But not for scientific reasons. And not for military or economic reasons. It is simply absurd what is demanded by the spiritualists. You think it was Aliens? Please proof it. Very simple. ... Look at what has been built and stone worked since the last 2000 years. Incredible things, cathedrals, sculptures, dams or what ever. Only talking about stone, not the other developments. It was always unbelievable for the elders. But made by living people. Not by gods or aliens. Do you realy think it is more difficult to build pyramides than a skyscraper? And please think about my remark that we still dont have any skyscrappers in Cologne, a city founded by the romans already 2000 years ago. ... Not because we are not able to do it. But because of the Cathedral, by respect. ... The roman stuff still exists, but in museums.
Three years ago I fulfilled a lifetime desire when my 2nd wife and I visited this site and was every bit as impressive as we both thought it would be. So many have postulated how this was constructed but noone knows for sure.
Great video. Saw a show recently about the "Faros" in Egypt . They used molten lead to seal the joints of the grantite block and wooden dowels to lock one to another.
What would keep you from rubbing the two stones at the faces where they join? It seems like it would take half the time and the fit would be prefect. Like you said the hard part is lifting the stones. Clearly they could do that. The weight might even help with the grind pressure if you stack them.
Let the lazy man figure it out. As a man that worked commercial roofing for over 30 years. That statement is a fact. For anyone that thumbs down that statement. You think to much. Just do it don’t over think it. I needed to move a round bail of hay. It weighs 1700 lbs No big tractor. I back up a trailer to the bail and unhook it. I shove a long bar into the bail. I hook a chain to the bail and to truck. When I pull forward it flips bail onto the trailer. Hook up to trailer and away I go A winch would be faster. But mine was broken. I used what was available at the time. Don’t overthink.
@@roberttaylor5668 Well, the lazier man would've also cut the stones from up to 60 tons down to smaller pieces that are easy to carry. The laziest man wouldn't have done it at all. This lazy man reasoning sure makes sense...
just watched this again and it's almost like you made all the walls to prove the points you have been repeating from PA. love sharing your vids from your channels with friends and family. thanks again Mike
You were close on several points. They didn't use handheld stones to rub stones together. They suspended larger stones in scaffolding and ropes, the scaffold could sway back and forth, which rubbed the stones against each other until they fit perfectly. When I was a kid living in MA there was a farmer who built a wall using those methods. My friends and I didn't know anything about stonework and didn't think it was an unusual wall. But remembering back, I know now that the stones he put in place fitted perfectly without any spaces in between them so tightly you "couldn't even get a razor blade between them". It wasn't until a decade ago that I came across a video on megalithic structures that I realized that his wall was unusual. I've been back there but the farm was sold off years ago and turned into condominiums.
Question : how is granite formed into blocks back then? Im asking because when i had to split a small granite stone on way of sewage pipe in foundation - by beating it with iron spike, all i got as 45 minutes of work lot sparkles and no splitting. I'ts seems really crazy to me - granite is is lot like quartz, has quartz cristalles inside its on morh scale 9 - i think. Can tell because I know ceramic tiles coating (glass) is similar. As of Ancent Alien theory it is easy for me to figure out that it possible bulley- rope systems (convertion of momentum) to move large rocks. But shaping the granite, thats hard
The thing is 45 minutes to you is a long time. 4000 years ago or whenever some of these stoneworks were made, someone could take a year to do one cut maybe two.. That would have been someone's job. "How was your day?" "Same.."
Best explanation I've heard yet!! Engineers and scientists should always defer to experienced present day craftsman for explaining 'the how they did it'.. answers about ancient construction.. Building really hasn't changed much since then!!
Hi salin, go to the museums, they have all the harder stones etc, I did a video called, carving stones with ancient technology, no big deal to people who work with stone, thanks Mike
@@MikeHaduck HistChan +/- 2KAD an American contractor in Egypt built a small scale corner repro of the pyramids. Perhaps if you just were to w/ native stone built an Inca wall section w/ door & neich (MEGA) style w/ Inca era bronze, copper & diorite tools?
@@MikeHaduck PUMA PUNKA been there? The famed 'H' blocks are symbolic of what's left of what is thee most incredible complex pre-Columbian. A man did a miniature 3D printed repro discovering that the 'H' nieches are dove-tailed. The 'H's he put were functional in purpose not decorative. They held massive door hinges.
,with respect, I dont see the big deal, all these bedroom archaeologist come up with all these theories and none of thg them are stone masons, big hats no cattle, thanks , mike
I used to unload heavy boxes out of trucks. I used to spin the box in one direction and then the other to move it forward. It's not that I'm lazy but I try to work smart and not hard. I try not to expend all my energy on a task and make myself tired. But I did like your comment in another video about finding the laziest guy to move the heaviest stones from one place to another. Where there's a will, there's a way.
great channel mike i've been a bricklayer in the u k nearly 40 years and i love the old school old buildings old wall bonds sites today are about laying as many as you can with low grade materials when i get the chance to build something i know is going to be there a 100 years im off with me tools because i know i will enjoy every brick,keep the videos coming
@@MikeHaduck thanks! Subscribed to both and am enjoying your music, my wife too. I many times spend huge amounts of time thinking how the walls in South America were built. I'd love to go there sometime.
It's great that someone with the skill set actually went to these locations and explained how it was done,rather than an armchair expert looking at images and saying "no way we couldn't have built that."
Hi Mike firstly thanks for taking the time to make your videos. Can you or have you done a video on you making a couple of these granite stones fit together like they do, (good size ones) and move them around to see what will fit best together. i mean no disrespect i would just like to see someone recreate one of these walls so i can stop wondering how they did it! you say its very easy but i need better than you rubbing a couple stones together for 5 seconds! thanks
@@MikeHaduck That would be great if you could. until then ill keep wondering as no-one seems to have a video of them just doing a couple of stones (sad face)
There's so many wacky superstitious theories on these ancient sites, it's refreshing to hear the common sense approach. Places like Egypt and the Incas had expert stone workers that perfected their trade for generations. It shouldn't be that surprising that they made some incredible stuff. I've also heard so many times that they couldn't possibly cut granite with bronze and crap like that, thanks for debunking that part.
@@MikeHaduck hey I figured as much but if I would have had the option I'd have learned from you instead of the rubby-dubs I started with. I have and always will recommend your videos to anyone entering the crafts. You for me are the go-to guy if I'm gonna show someone that can better explain and offer solid advice if you have an opinion and the facts of how its done. I stumbled on you about two years ago very glad I did. I hope you enjoy your retirement to the fullest! (And wicked cool you got to go to Machu Picchu. And actually get to feel it and see it and appreciate it.) Anyway I truly appreciate you, Mike. Thanks for your wisdom care brother. -A true fan
I find this to be a very good video. Wish your videos on these structures were longer, and more detailed though. Of ALL the documentaries (or videos) I've watched over the years on the ancient stone structures, I've never seen one through the eyes and mind of a mason. To me, this is extremely interesting to watch and meditate on concerning the information you give. The Bible does say that there were giants in the days prior to the Flood of Noah, and after. I was watching a ministry video recently and it was stated that the Sphinx has erosion marks that are not from wind and sand, but from water, giving confirmation of it being a pre-Flood structure. Any thoughts? Also, it was stated that many animals were of much larger size before the Flood as well, because of the massive sizes of the fossils found. So much to consider! Love the videos Mike!
Hi Rhonda, lots of things from the past men are guessing at, I think only God knows, but the pyramids, cusco etc is primitive work, to me the cathedrals and palaces are far more intricate and advanced, thanks Mike
Yes that's fine and dandy on a rock you can flip around in your hands. Now try it on a 10 20 30 ton plus bolder you can't be lifting flipping around, marking, grinding. Checking and doing again on a steep slope..
Thanks for the world tour, looks like they knew how to bust their stones over there....lol. I still love a good old Pennsylvania field stone structure. Im in Bucks county....old farm houses when they knock off the white plaster and repoint ....it looks great.
Very practical assessment, Mike. I was glad I watched your vid. You mention Brian Forrester's theory that the megalithic was an earlier civilization than the Inca, but it seems to me it is all Inca, and they just had a limited number of big stones and natural outcroppings that were amenable to quarrying, nearby enough to be transportable. Shaping large stones for a special "fit" was hard work and time consuming. As you note, you start with stones that already fit together in the natural outcrop they came from, if you want to get things done at a reasonable pace.....So probably, they had big plans but their supply of big stones just ran out and they had to top the walls with small stones, only requires an assessement of how high you want the walls for the human effort involved. Different look is just from the different types of labour....experienced stonemasons versus child labor crews likely were at the architects disposal.
AT 6:15 these steps appear to be for water. You really think you can work any of those surfaces to that joint? Id fail even with my 14 inch diamond blade.
I would love to see that old Egypt video; going to see if it’s on your channel right now. Thank you sir for taking the time, I’ve been looking everywhere for a stonemason’s take on all these ancient sites
Several methods of fabrication of the polygonal masonry using clay/gypsum replicas, a topography translator, and reduced clay models of the stone blocks along with a 3D-pantograph are described in the article “Fabrication methods of the polygonal masonry of large tightly-fitted stone blocks with curved surface interfaces in megalithic structures of Peru” (DOI: 10.20944/preprints202108.0087.v7). RUclips does not allow a direct link. Search by the article title.
Hi Rostislav, it's only stone, not a big deal, just make your patterns and match it up, thanks Mike
Yeah clay is same as granite
I did a video called " carving stones with ancient technology? Not a big deal, just time ,money and labor, thanks Mike
@@scotch_onrocks1876 Did you read the article? Search for the 7th edition (7th version) of the article at Preprints website by title or by DOI 10.20944/preprints202108.0087.v7.
The 10th article edition (DOI: 10.20944/preprints202108.0087.v10) is posted at Preprints. Search the article by DOI or by title.
On my family's farm there is a road about 1/4 mile long raised several feet above the wet meadow. My grandfather and his brother built that with shovels and a wheelbarrow because their father told them to. Now that's simple compared to massive stonework, but already it seems impossible to do without an excavator and dump-truck. There was a tool in our toolbox for most of human history that is no longer there. And that is the tool of TIME.
Thanks Jim, very well said, mike
I was 26 before i ever RAN a mile... A single mile felt like an eternity and was daunting. It's really no big deal, one foot in front of the other and a little time and you've covered your ground. Do it again and you've covered 2x you ground... And it took less than 16 minutes. Not forever, just get working and you'll accomplish something.
No truer words have ever been said " Find the laziest guy and he will show you the most efficient way of doing any job". I've been preaching this at my work for decades. Love your stuff Mike keep up the good work.
Hi John, very true, lol, Mike
My 20/20 HIND sight says the samething.
My grandfather used to say that same thing and I would have to agree.
@@MikeHaduck we used to always say .. work smart NOT hard lol
The lazy guy would say, let's not use granite but one of the softer stones that are easy to work.
Says "This place is not that big of a deal as they claim", then proceeds to pan around showing 1000's of linear feet of walls built on the side of a mountain. We'll have to disagree on what a "big deal is" :). That's impressive even if done today. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Greg, mike
Not a big deal??..With all the " theories" out there you'd think with the 9 billion people on planet earth there would be one that would want to PROVE his , hers or their favourite academia's perspective; that today's man could accomplish such an easy feat. They have to go out, find a bare side of a mountain, and with a thousand volunteers, and no infrastructure support for medical, grocery stores, daycare etc, etc, live off the land, transport a billion tons of massive boulders, with no tools to speak of, and no machinery..from a remote location. And then with bare hands hue the stones in perfect alinement. Until that someone can step up to the plate, I'll go with super intellect humans that could altar the kinetic energy of frequencies. K I'm done here; Scottie beam me up!
I think he's saying that it's humanly possible and doesn't need to involve Aliens or magic to explain how this got there. It's incredible work, but not supernatural.
Greg9504
Seriously. No one or group on the earth today could make and place 20 of those megalithic stones let alone the huge walls that exist all around the earth. No big deal though. Childish attitude really.
@@kimsand53 I'd like him to visit the stones that are perfectly flat to within 2 ten-thousandths of an inch, something we can't even do today with our most advanced MODERN technology, and they had around a DOZEN of them that were entirely massive in size to boot.
"Hi Mike, how did they build machu pichu?"
"well ghryst, they found a lazy guy"
"oh thanks mike, that clears that one up, lets go look at the pyramids next"
Hi Ghryst, I also did videos on conwy castle, cathedral of St. John divine and coral castle and as a stone mason they were far more impressive than anything I seen at Machu Picchu, was st the pyramids also, Thanks, mike
@@MikeHaduck impressiveness is not the issue.
no one can replicate this with period tools.
ppl havent even tried, cos logic. these ppl supposedly only had copper tools at best
@@Ghryst The technocratic elite maintain power over the world by gatekeeping the advanced technology of the ancients.
@@desktorp mmm!
buzzword salad for lunch
@@Ghryst you explain it then, fuckhead
“Strange sheep they got here”. Ha! I am so glad you, as a real stone mason, did these videos. Thanks for taking the time.
Thank you, Mike
Those are called "kissing sheep" b/c they love when you get face to face with them ;-)
How truly good it is to have somebody that knows his stone
to make a presentation based on real experience.
Thanks ARailway, I appreciate it , mike
So how do you figure they rubbed and banged together 20-60 tonne granite rocks with less than millimeter precision?
They didn't, he explained how they did it by hand with a small stone that was harder than the stone they used for the walls. They chip, chip, chipped away over days to sculpture one large stone to fit another. Lots of trial & error tilting the stone back & forth until they fitted nicely.
Duh! They used lazy guys
Hi J , just use your patterns and keep rubbing till they fit, thanks, mike
@@MikeHaduck I guess in the minds eye of unicorns and pink fairies I could rub and bang out a 60 ton granite rock to sub-milimeter precision in about what ,10,000 years ? if I can live that long in this make believe world. And that would be a single rock! how many did you imagine were in matchu pichu? maths don't quiet add up let alone these primitive people supposedly didn't have Einstein IQ's. I think your assumption may be alittle wishful. but I'm just a simple mechanical engineer, and have no real knowledge on much of anything.
@@j.sagiechode Your whole statement reeks of false statements. There is NO sub millimeter precision....first of all. Second of all you're not banging out 60 tons of rock on a 60 tone stone. Only the outer later which may be 10's of pounds since they used stones that already had close to the proper fit in the first place, or that were cut together at the quarry so they were almost a perfect match before work even began. It doesn't take 10, 000 years......it just takes hours of hard work. Not just one man.......thousands of people working at any one time. The IQ of the people working there is equal to the IQ of people living today, however their work ethic was tenfold what we have today. Being an engineer obviously hasn't taught you to be critical thinker.....get off your desk and your computer, and go build something. You'll see it actually can be done. The fact that it was done almost everywhere on the planet is pretty compelling proof. There's no mystery. Stone shapes stone. Harder stone shapes softer stone quicker. Charcoal can be used to draw on stone. The rest is just general labour. It doesn't get any simpler. People still do this type of work today, they just use better tools so the work progresses faster. Just like Engineers used to use pencils and rulers before computer modelling.
I have been at the edge of my seat since the how we got there video. So wonderful to see the stonework and have a person that works within the art form speak. Better than tv because the company don’t control the words. It gets exponentially better because their is trust. Show us the good stuff. Grimé.
Thanks, mike
I find all this highly compelling. Thanks
Thanks, Mike
Some people are so dumb that they will never believe that humans have done amazing things with little more than rocks, dirt, grass, and some logs. Anyone who has ever worked with their hands and learned some simple mechanics realizes that if you get enough people together they can do some impressive stuff without any space aliens needed.
Hi deezynar, very well said, thanks, mike
Great, let's see a pic of a tiny 12'X12' wall in your back yard with that size stone and precision. Just grab a few neighbors and stack'em up. Shouldn't be hard.
@@seriousguitarinstructionbo6690 Of course we could. The question is not actually about methods, it is one of motives. If me and my neighbors were actually motivated, we could do that.
A lot of the limestone is light in weight and thinner in section than it looks from the front . The poliganal shape is made because the mason wants to do less work and so stones are measured and cut to interlock in a natural way with a man made finish for some reason u tubers want to up the achievement which I admit is considerable but not impossible. Limestone varies a lot but it can be carved easily.
Thanks, Mike
Very interesting Mike. when I look at this ancient masonry, I always think of - Labor, Time, and Material. Truly a masterpiece!
Hi, your right, it's just time effort and material, thanks Mike
Yeah seems quick and easy right? Get the thousand pound rocks from the other mountains and just bring em on over, cut here, cut there, nothing to it
Wow when interests combine. Didn’t expect something like this on your channel. Love it
Thanks Idaho, Mike
Machu picchu is an example of an ancient public works project.
Hi Mr Krasker, I would believe that, thanks mike
Yeah, using lots of slaves as always.
Thank you for traveling and taking the time to explain the fine details of stone building.
Thanks JAMAEl, I appreciate it, mike
Mike many to day have little clue as to the effectiveness of the the simple machines.
The lever the roller and inclined plane. I have done some millwrighting, moving and setting heavy machinery.
I know first hand that one person can move and set something that weighs many ton with nothing more than a lever rollers and cribbing. But I will leave the cutting and shaping of stone to someone like you ; )
Thanks CD S, I believe you, And I seen some heavy things lifted by the old timers, thanks for a truthfull comment, mike
How exactly do you move a boulder weighing a hundred tons plus, lift it and set it perfectly in place only with stone and maybe some bronze tools? Add in a steep mountainside slope... modern engineers would love to hear the answer to this.
As a granite worker, you are crazy if you think pounding stones together turns out things like these or granite is softer underground lmao
Hi America, I will be putting a video out next week about ollayantambo where I do a small demonstration, thanks, mike
@@MikeHaduck take 2 slabs of granite 2x2 from quarry cut to perfectly flat and seamed together within microns with only stone and copper tools and then I might put thought into saying you're right. This is still a challenge with modern tooling. I also think people were to worried about eating and raising livestock to spend copious amounts of time a day slamming rocks together
You know that there are another sites with megalithic wall, right?
Why you don't post videos from these sites:
Sacsayhuamán,
Look at coricancha , stones are smooth on all sides.
Diorite cusco wall
ollantaytambo ruins, stones also smooth on all sides
Sun temple pisac Peru, stones also smooth on all sides
And maybe many more..
Machu piccu maybe "not that big deal", but combine all those sites, then it is big deal.
Hi Tape, I got the footage but am 20 videos behind with my regular masonry, but I will get there, thanks, mike
s'cuse me...at 16:28 I don't understand what you're saying...are you cutting or colouring the stone with torches?
Hi Prios, yes, today it's called thermal facing, I have a few examples on my videos " stone cutting and making patterns mike haduck and stone work ( part 2) mike haduck, but the hotter you get the stone the easier it is to face it, thanks Mike
@@MikeHaduck Hi Mike, sorry, but english is not my native tongue...what exactly means facing? Same topic, different question: would it be possible to weaken a stone locally with high heat and then shock cool it to take out material i.e. shape it?
Spanish never made it there.. It was undiscovered..
Hi Oscar, I don’t know, mike
The local people always knew about it. What I think he means is that, after the Spanish came over here and the local people learned about cement, the local people then used the cement to repair walls of structures that they were still using or living in up on Machu Pichu. Its my understanding that the abandonment of Machu Pichu was a gradual process driven largely by the difficulty with getting resources up there. Old stone masonry villages continue to be slowly abandoned in the modern era driven largely by similar issues.
@@MikeHaduck Before making comments that are lies, You should talk to authentic Peruvian archaeologist; most of them speak English. They will tell you that Spanish Conquers never found or knew about this place, only and some local aborigen knew it. Actually this place was considered a Sacred Place or Temple for the INCAS only and its close relatives or descendants.
NO one else in PERU during the conquer and its independence did not know this place exist. It was until July 14th of 1902 a local Peruvian-citizen called Agustín Lizárraga discover this site. He tried to obtain financial aids from the Peruvian government and was denied; then one guy from USA called Hiram Bingham, sponsored by Yale University took credit for it.
Know a days is when they star using some cements for small repairs in Machu-Pichu.
Hi, I call it as I see it, sorry if I offended you, mike
Hey Mike, really appreciate your videos. I live in Montana and I’m wondering about adding a modified Thinset to my mortar mix for use on some exterior flagstone steps? Is that necessary or is a basic type S mortar mix sufficient? Thanks-Nate
Hi Nate, on anything laying outside flat I only use Portland and sand, s mortar don’ Hold up in these parts, I hope it helps, thanks,, Mike
Thanks so much for replying Mike, must be something with the added moisture laying flat and the lime that’s in S mortar?
"Steps aren't code." I like your sense of humor, Mike. Big fan from TN.
Thanks fan, I appreciate it, nice to hear from Tennessee , mike
Gallatin TN here
Fan of your Channel
Maybe they had one leg longer than the other.
I remember seeing a program on British TV at least two decades (maybe more) ago. It demonstrated (not just talked about) how using very simple techniques that whomever built these structures slid huge stones into place. I have looked and cannot find it but it is out there somewhere. Like your work Mike, thank you.
Thanks Bill, Mike
Great video, thank you! Same as with pyramids and all other ancient structures, it's not half as ideal, as many people want to believe.
Respect to mason from an architect, cheers:)
Thank you Eau, I appreciate hearing that from a architect, I agree, mike
My favorite part is how you default to a diamond tip saw blade to cut the stone as your demonstration. Wondering how the biggest, 20+ ton sized stones were cut with precision back then? So you're saying the natives quarried by hand on top of a mountain, measured, cut, hammered, removed the stone, adjusted cut/hammering, fitted into place, then checked stone next to to one their working on, then moved it out again, made adjustments, then put it back , repeat. All by hammering & rubbing with another stone of the same density & hardness? Really? & achieved super tight fitted joints? & your estimate on how long this method would take to build Machu Picchu?
Then you demonstrate how a stone on stone pounding and rubbing will get you pristine, puzzle smoothed, contact surfaces that a sheet of paper can not fit through. Oh wait, you stopped & did not complete that task, so that means you did not demonstrate how you think they did it back then, I wonder why? Maybe too hard for modern stone masons to do?
I'm also wondering why you didn't show what looks like melted stone "slag" that shows up now & then at those sites? Or discuss the perfect cylindrical drill holes through granite & basalt. Did they pound those drill holes too?
Until a modern stonemason builds with the tools & the stones at their largest sizes that are found in Machu Picchu & meets the exact details that are found at the ruins, we'll never learn what it takes to match the forgotten methods used back then.
Hi hitman, I agree with the saw and drill marks, the ancient people were not stupid, but I did videos on conwy castle, the Great Wall of China, the cathedral of St. John, coral castle and as a stone mason they were far more impressive than anything I seen at Machu Picchu, Thanks, mike
Hello common sense, I missed you.
Finally a pragmatic approach that isn't laced with ancient astronaut theories.
Always thought their stonework was well done for the tools that were available. If there were power tools available 10k years ago then it would have been much more symmetrical - IMO. The fit always amazed me. It was only the facing and the sides; not the back part that was fitted was a keen observation. As far as lifting the stones just watch how they leverage up a house using blocking. Simple and effective.
There are still some mysteries yet to be discovered about ancient times beyond our current understanding of the methods used to construct large works.
Well done sir, i appreciate your perspective.
Thanks S. Truth, I appreciate it, mike
They weren't going for symmetry, because asymmetrical keystone-cut masonry is much more resistant to earthquake damage. You know absolutely nothing about megalithic monuments.
@@slappy8941 Settle down Napoleon.
@heygeno1951 King tuts sword is made of iron that is thought to have originated from a meteorite. The ancients very well could have used iron meteorite tools to do some of stone work. They could have also made pure sand from specific types of minerals like diamonds, ruby's, hematite, iron meteorite, etc. Simply crush hematite or a meteroite and you have an abrasive much more efficient than your common desert sand. The fact is there are hundreds of ways it could be done without electricity or modern tools. Water and wind carved out the Grand Canyon, it didn't take diamonds raining down or Paul Bunnen dragging his axe. Lol, just a whole lot of time.
Finally a video like this. A lot of authors have opinions on how these are built, but rarely actual experts.
Thanks Waffles, mike
Love your videos. thanks for making them.
Thanks jaboy, mike
Interesting theory for the smaller stone walls but not the megalithic ones. To think they trimmed and lifted and fit and then lifted and trimmed and repeated hundreds of times for just one block is just too much for me to believe! The lifting devices would have to have been incredible to move them about like that. This would have multiplied the time of construction by factors of 10-20X!
Hi tubedude, all the jobs with huge stones that I worked on were pattered first and the fitted, thanks, mike
I understand that Mike... but like you say... they were cut to order for your jobs. So you just fit them together like lincoln logs. These stones at the megalithic sites are all random shapes and sizes and fit perfectly. I suppose they could have gotten them from a huge slab at a quarry and just used a rope saw of some sort to cut them and they would fit perfectly but that's something we will never know.
Not as impressive as everyone says. Lost me with that.
Hi Brad, I don,t know how to answer that, Thanks, mike
@@MikeHaduck I think I get what you're saying. It's not something that requires a paranormal explanation to exist.
@@rockinbobokkin7831 If alien (or paranormal) theorists are described as "everyone" you're in a dodgy social situation or click the wrong videos on RUclips.
Let's hope that's not what he meant...
To a dull mind a telescope is just a stick.
Brad Butcher
You mean Brad The Butch.
curiouser and curiouser! I just had a thought watching your excellent video. I have messed with rock walls in CT but nothing like this, and even that was hard work! So when i see how close they fit, I wonder how to do that with out having to lift and chisel out, lift and refit...so hard to do that with 50 ton rocks....soooo???WTF! but if they carved out the bottom rock, then did a plaster (mud?) cast of the top, then they could use that as a template to shape the next block? Or one of those nifty rigs with lots of spokes that shape to things ...you said find the laziest person, and I am always trying to find the easiest way to do things. But how they lifted them I have no clue! and thanks for the grass-over-the-top of the retaining wall, makes sense!
Thanks moo moo, I appreciate it, mike
Oh thank you, anything to do with Manchu Picchu on RUclips usually leads to UFO's & giants. So nice to hear someone sane actually explaining this sort of thing.
Liked & Subscribed.
I must have missed that bit.?
@IRHanley He was commenting on some religious peoples ideas that giants built these megalithic structures and proceeded to disagree with it when he stated his hypothesis that they were indeed built by ancient humans. And that's not a "conspiracy" theory. Lol. Look up the definition of conspiracy. That's just a theory. I guess we could more accurately call that a biblical theory or mythological theory? I can't see how it could be a conspiracy.
"usuall leads to UFO' and aliens " AND big foot ,lol
I can't find the video of Ed building the Coral can you tell me how to find Video? Thanks for your time RCW
Hi Robert, my video is " coral castle visit" Mike Haduck and the video where he was filmed doing it is " coral castle , mystery solved" thanks mike
As soon as you started speaking I knew you were from PA....like myself! Nice video!
Thanks D, yep we got our own language in these parts, lol, mike
How would you describe the building style where some stones interlock with the ones below & above them? The last only similar modern style I’m aware of is in light house construction.
Hi Alex, I don’t see anything that is special down there, back on the 60s I was working with the old timers that was doing all the railroad and wpa work, and it was basically the same, thanks Mike
Thanks Mike - great to hear some sanity on this subject!
I agree about Egypt - there you have only 2 short work-seasons - plant and harvest with crops yielding so much that they made a lot of it into beer. ..
So for the other half of the year, you have essentially nomadic tribes all crammed together - well fed and drunk causing mayhem - specially the young men.
So you give them something to do:
"Hey let's make a giant pyramid by banging rocks together!"
The Pharos were geniuses.
And in between banging rocks together, you could get them to kill the surrounding tribes.
Things haven't changed much - and the lazy man still rules technology .. and media .. etc ;)
Thanks ozwhistles, very well said, thanks, mike
@@MikeHaduck Mind you Mike - I am attracted to the "stone-softening" techniques some talk about .. the lower parts of the big stones are more shaped than the upper-parts .. that sounds suitably lazy to me?
And what I can't get good pictures of is the back sides of the big stones .. I saw one where I think it looks like it was ground-in for the front with the back looking more like a scoop than a cut.
Certainly not well crafted.
Have you seen such?
Hi oz, I got to say when I was looking at the pyramids and the temples in Egypt and Greece , they were not perfect, lots of imperfections ( I wish I had the cameras I got now), but I seen greater works in the cathedrals and castles of Europe, my opinion, just me, I appreciate it, mike
@@MikeHaduck Have you seen the 12 angle stone in Cusco? What in those cathedrals or castles matches the perfection of that inca stone?
@@ozwhistles Stone softening granite? Why does science and engineering know nothing about this if this ever was a thing? It sounds utterly preposterous to me.
Hey Mike, another question if you don’t mind? I’m building a brick mailbox, about 28”x28” and 5’ tall. Should it have a cinder block core that is anchored to my concrete pad or are just the bricks enough? I was also wondering if weep holes are necessary? Thanks so much-Nate
Hi Nate, I guess that would depend on the size of the brick, but all the old chimneys were hollow, thanks, mike
I will be curious to see them flip flop the big huge megalithic stone to found the best one to fit together...lol.
Try again.
Thanks Daa3, mike
What is the biggest stone you have ever cut with the ancient method?
Hi Jake, I don’t have to use ancient methods, I don’t have too, if that makes sense, thanks, mike
@@MikeHaduck Definitely seems more trouble than it's worth!
I beg to differ Mike. They found the loudest wife!
Thanks aloh, probably so,lol, mike
😬😬😂😂😂😂😂😂
I'm definitely not saying you're wrong. Because I don't know. But I've heard a theory or hypothesis that maybe they used an acid that was readily available to them to soften the stone before working it. Any thoughts?
Hi Phxto, I don,t see the big deal at that site, I believe there is saw marks, but I have videos on conwy castle and the cathedral of St. John which I think is far more impressive from a stone masons point of view, i appreciate it, mike
@@MikeHaduck thanks
PhxtoNash: Not sure Mike answered your question. His comment was duplicated on several other posts. I will be in Peru next week to examine and image the differing types of megaliths microscopically inside and out. It will provide clues to the finishing proces. (saw, grind, pound, mould, etc) I'll post images on my RUclips account if you're interested.
It's a known ancient technique to use fire and freezing conditions to make some stone more brittle and easier to chip and shape. It's common in flint knapping for instance. I dont believe acid makes stone softer as much as it simply dissolves it in some cases like with limestone. I'm a rock hound and I use various acids to help clean specimens. So that's my experience any way.
Not as big a deal as they claim?? I've been there and i tend to disagree with you mate.
Hi Aussie, I did videos on conwy castle, the cathedral of St. John nyc, coral castle, etc etc, and as a stone mason I was far more impressed with these, than anything I seen at Machu Picchu, Thanks, mike
@@MikeHaduck What is megalithic, mortar-less, anti seismic, ancient in any of those place? Anything like the temple of the sun at Machu Picchu?
Mike, thank you for sharing what you know. Your videos are awesome.
Thanks Vespa, I appreciate it, mike
@@MikeHaduck Me again : ) Thank you again for taking the time to do all these wonderful videos, which I am telling friends and family about and reposting on FB & Twttr (because wonderful things and PEOPLE should always be shared!) and for answering my question re stone foundation - I will get it done. No big deal : ) I pray and hope that you or whoever you're with at the VA will be well. God bless you again : )ruclips.net/video/PJg_n9BGck0/видео.html
Brilliant Mike, I used to wonder why there were no cutting tools found, now I know, the masons took them home with them. 😎👍🏻
Hi Robert, yep I seen that at the flee markets, lol, mike
I wonder how big that mountain was before they were done building those walls.
Hi UN4, good question, thanks, mike
Dolerite pounders to create pefect joints in 40 ton stones and 90 degree internal angles? i don't think so.I'd like to see a modern stone mason create just one of those perfect large granite stones using stone hammers and copper.They would never be able to do it.
Hi Nicholas, I am about 20 videos behind but when I get to the rest of Peru I will do a demonstration, but I agree with forester about the saw marks, thanks, mike
"This place is not that big of a deal as they claim" what an obtuse appreciation on such an architectural wonder..
Hi Mainor, I did videos on conwy castle, the cathedral of St. John ,the Great Wall of China, coral castle, etc etc and as a stone mason they were far more impressive 5han anything I seen at Machu Picchu, Thanks, mike
@@MikeHaduck why do you leave the same comment on every post ? you're not answering any of the questions
Because I am trying to make the point that Machu Picchu is a nice post card and of course interesting but compared to real stone masonry it is nothing, thanks, mike
@@MikeHaduck well we disagree Mike.. you're a great mason though i learn a lot from you... Definitely would like to see you reproduce this with the period tools .. thanks
My brother who is in the stone business also is going to drop some granite off today, no big deal, Machu Picchu is Disney world compared to other sites, the Great Wall of China is 13000 miles long, thanks, Mike
Wow! Amazing you follow Brien Froester. I’ve watch you both separately thinking about stone work! Make sure you check in on ‘Ancient Architects’ he’s got a video about the puma punku stones possibly being a geopolymer matrix mixed with organic material so it’s like very hard rock concrete. The stones you are looking at may have been sculpted with a acid slurry from acid lakes near by. Still very mysterious and amazing!
thanks James, mike
Mike, will you maybe please soon upload a video where you are blowing up a wall with a dynamte to create a window opening?
Hi Dino, I do that on my “breaking out of prison for beginners “video, lol. Thanks, mike
You just explained how you would exploit the seams in the rock. Thats how you would do it. Obviously not how they did it. Next.
Amazing Mike! Thanks for sharing your adventures.
Thanks hey starfish I appreciate it, mike
I'll just wait until you build a megalithic wall with the techniques you claim the ancients used, because others have tried, and all failed.
the only reason people don't is A. they aren't skilled with the equipment and B. it would take several days per stone
Hi Slappy, I did some videos on conwy castle, cathedral of St. John And the coral castle and as a stone mason they were far more impressive to me than anything I seen a Machu Picchu, thanks, mike
Slappy: I'm with you. That's the scientific method at it's core. Can it be duplicated?
Surely you aren't expecting a single person or even a group to replicate something that literally thousands of people built? The moving and shaping of stone using tools and resources available to the time and area has been demonstrated enough that proof of concept has been established. It's a simple extrapolation from that point that more hands make for light work, so to speak. It's okay to be skeptical but cynicism is no one's friend.
ruclips.net/video/HtNLEYQnFRs/видео.html
I ran a large boring mill. The heaviest thing I ever moved weighed roughly 19 tons. It took a lot of heavy, high tech tackle, and a monstrous overhead crane to place the steel block where it needed to be, and it is an extremely dangerous and delicate operation. There is no way you could have placed enough humans around the piece to even budge it. Just telling you my experiences with large and heavy objects. It only needed to be lifted around 4 feet from floor level and standing it up on edge was very nerve wracking. The vast majority of people, and this is not meant as any sort of insult, have no comprehension of weights like that.
Hi Dan, checkout my videos on conwy castle and the cathedral of St. John, they far outweigh anything I seen at Machu Picchu, a stonemasons opinion, thanks, mike
Yeah, just keep pounding on that stone. You'll get there in about 13 million years.
Hi Kim, if you worked with stone for any length of time you would think different, thanks, mike
Mike Haduck Masonry
No one today can build some of the megalithic stone walls found all around the face of the earth. No one can place together stones of that size in interlocking fashion having all four sides matching without any deviation whatsoever that is displayed in some of those walls. Your right about some of the newer works, I'm talking about the ancient stone structure. Sorry, you may think you can, but you cannot, not you or anyone else in today's world and you are perpetuating a false narrative by saying that you can with a little bit of experience. You cannot. There was a technology used in ancient times that has been lost and is now being intentionally suppressed by a power that none of us fully understand. All the kings men and all the kings horses could not even begin to build those walls and neither could you. Go read Genesis 6, maybe you can gain some understanding.
How do you explain all the ancient carvings, they are a lot more intricate than any big megalithic stone that everyone is making such a big deal about, and the ones making the big deal are not carvers, stonemasons, quarry men or movers, ???? With respect, mike
Not impossible, hard work and a long period of time will get some results. Having a thousand people working on it helps too.
A million years? You must be lazy.
Mike do you have any theories about the saw marks or tube drill holes in egypt? Did the ancients have metal machines?
Hi marshal, I know that had diamonds and the wheel, so that’s the beginning of a modern day saw, thanks mike
You had me at laziest guy.
Thanks, Mike
I trekked to Machu Picchu 25 years ago. None of that stonework is pre-Inca. It as believed by most archeologists to have been built for the Inca Emperor Pachacuti in the 15th century, only about a hundred years before the Spanish arrived. The Inca did have a well known style of polished drystone walls for important buildings. They didn't just come along later and pile up rocks on the existing stonework.
As for the Spanish, they aren't responsible for all that reconstruction with mortar. That's all 20th and 21st century. The Conquistadors never found Macchu Picchu, and it was only known to local people until Hiram Bingham (an American academic/explorer) announced its "rediscovery" in 1911. He had been shown the ruins by local, indigenous farmers in a remote spot.
It's worth seeking out old photos before all the restoration work (much might better be called reconstruction). Back in 1911, there were no gables left; they've all been reconstructed. There are photos from 1912 after the jungle had been cleared, and the scale of 20th century reconstruction becomes obvious. Not those massive, very finely dressed and fitted stones, but things like the more rudely constructed houses.
Cusco, the Inca capital has some astonishing stonework, on an even more epic scale. Machu Picchu is very special, in part because the Spanish never came and wrecked it. Whilst the Spanish were happy enough to adapt Inca stonework, as can be seen at Cusco, they would have never tolerated what the saw as the pagan religious elements, such as the "Hitching Stone of the Sun", which is the contemporary name for that upright.
Cusco also has pre-Inca stonework, such as nearby Sacsayhuamán which was started by the Killke around 1100 but expanded and enhanced by the Inca in the 13 century onwards.
Thanks Steve, I still got 3 more videos on Peru but I am over 30 videos behind now, good to hear what others say, thanks, mike
Wasn’t impressive because it’s not European
The monument (at 4:26 on your video) carved out from one same rock which name you didn't know is called Intihuatana and is supposed to be a solar observatory ... What is your opinion on that? ... I noticed you didn't show us the place were Hiram Bingham claimed to have found a mummy, which is megalithic and has an entrance cut to allow the sunlight hit various parts of the inside according to the distinct inclination of the Sun across the year ... The second story of this structure has a floor carved in a curious way ... You are right on the two kinds of structures of Machu Picchu: megalithic and post-megalithic ... And megalithics are thousands of years old ... Is the same opinion expressed by Daniel Ruzo, who also said there is a small ruin that appears to be an eight-sided ancient pyramid built by the same people that did the megalithic work ...
Hi Jorge, I can't say who or when they were built, but I don't see what the big deal is about shaping them. I know as a former navigator in the navy you learn a lot about stars just observing them every night, all common sense to me, I appreciate it, mike
Great video, Mike it's great to see you in Peru. I watched a lot of your other videos on stone wall building, brickwork, how to mix concrete, etc. I always found your videos very interesting. It's nice to hear a experienced, expert stone mason giving his two cents on "how could they have possibly done it". Lets face it, we don't have all the answers and probably never will. But Peru sure is an interesting place. Lets see more videos and don't forget Bolivia. They have some very interesting stone structures there, too.
Thanks John, I appreciate that, mike
fellow pennsylvanian. ever hear about ancients using sound/frequency to cut and melt stone? like a giant tuning fork? fascinating stuff. i worked at a plantation that had a spring fed troth craved out of a single stone in 1700's was larger than a bath tub. had stone mortarless walls for fences. was an awesome place.🍻
Thanks, mike
I picked up the trowel in 1978 and am still laying block , brick and setting stone. There are techniques used in stonework , lost trade secrets used in India, south America and world wide we have yet to rediscover. There is a stone technology they had way back then that we are only guessing at. I repeat guessing at.
Hi Roy, I agree about everybody guessing but I haven’t seen anything yet couldn’t be copied, men were just as smart back then, Thanks for the comment, mike
Once upon a time, a long time ago, after a battle near the town of Marathon, a run was done by a messenger only to bring quickest possible transmission of news about the battle result to the king. At this time, even high society was not able to get this important information faster than with a runner in sandals. Today it takes less than a microsecond because we have better techniques. So does it have to be proven again and again today that it is possible to run 42 kilometres very fast, by foot, only to share a message? For sporting reasons, yes. But not for scientific reasons. And not for military or economic reasons. It is simply absurd what is demanded by the spiritualists. You think it was Aliens? Please proof it. Very simple. ... Look at what has been built and stone worked since the last 2000 years. Incredible things, cathedrals, sculptures, dams or what ever. Only talking about stone, not the other developments. It was always unbelievable for the elders. But made by living people. Not by gods or aliens. Do you realy think it is more difficult to build pyramides than a skyscraper? And please think about my remark that we still dont have any skyscrappers in Cologne, a city founded by the romans already 2000 years ago. ... Not because we are not able to do it. But because of the Cathedral, by respect. ... The roman stuff still exists, but in museums.
This is brilliant and thank you, its makes sense to me now. Expect this video to go massive.
Thanks again, Mike
Three years ago I fulfilled a lifetime desire when my 2nd wife and I visited this site and was every bit as impressive as we both thought it would be. So many have postulated how this was constructed but noone knows for sure.
Hi, I did a video called " carving stones with ancient technology " its not as big a deal as they make it out to be, thanks Mike
Why is the megalithic stones less deteriorated than the ones above?
Hi MostlyWeed, they are all made of granite, thanks, mike
Great video. Saw a show recently about the "Faros" in Egypt . They used molten lead to seal the joints of the grantite block and wooden dowels to lock one to another.
Hi Michael, lots of things to learn over there, I am scheduled to go back in a few months, thanks mike
What would keep you from rubbing the two stones at the faces where they join? It seems like it would take half the time and the fit would be prefect. Like you said the hard part is lifting the stones. Clearly they could do that. The weight might even help with the grind pressure if you stack them.
Hi Mike, I would bet in some cases they did, Thanks, mike
I must have seen 100 Machu Picchu videos etc - you have shown quite a few things I haven't seen before - well done!
Thanks Trail, Mike
Let the lazy man figure it out.
As a man that worked commercial roofing for over 30 years. That statement is a fact.
For anyone that thumbs down that statement. You think to much. Just do it don’t over think it.
I needed to move a round bail of hay. It weighs 1700 lbs No big tractor.
I back up a trailer to the bail and unhook it. I shove a long bar into the bail. I hook a chain to the bail and to truck.
When I pull forward it flips bail onto the trailer. Hook up to trailer and away I go
A winch would be faster. But mine was broken. I used what was available at the time.
Don’t overthink.
God bless you drmachinewerke, I can tell a man with experience, I appreciate it, mike
Wouldn't the lazy guy choose to not use granite?
@@thomastmc then he wouldn't be the laziest, keep lookin
@@roberttaylor5668 Well, the lazier man would've also cut the stones from up to 60 tons down to smaller pieces that are easy to carry. The laziest man wouldn't have done it at all. This lazy man reasoning sure makes sense...
What make tractor do you suppose they used?
just watched this again and it's almost like you made all the walls to prove the points you have been repeating from PA. love sharing your vids from your channels with friends and family. thanks again Mike
Thanks Thor, mike
You were close on several points. They didn't use handheld stones to rub stones together. They suspended larger stones in scaffolding and ropes, the scaffold could sway back and forth, which rubbed the stones against each other until they fit perfectly.
When I was a kid living in MA there was a farmer who built a wall using those methods. My friends and I didn't know anything about stonework and didn't think it was an unusual wall. But remembering back, I know now that the stones he put in place fitted perfectly without any spaces in between them so tightly you "couldn't even get a razor blade between them". It wasn't until a decade ago that I came across a video on megalithic structures that I realized that his wall was unusual. I've been back there but the farm was sold off years ago and turned into condominiums.
Hi Mrdead, that is one way to do it if you got the time, thanks, ike
Question : how is granite formed into blocks back then?
Im asking because when i had to split a small granite stone on way of sewage pipe in foundation - by beating it with iron spike, all i got as 45 minutes of work lot sparkles and no splitting.
I'ts seems really crazy to me - granite is is lot like quartz, has quartz cristalles inside its on morh scale 9 - i think. Can tell because I know ceramic tiles coating (glass) is similar.
As of Ancent Alien theory it is easy for me to figure out that it possible bulley- rope systems (convertion of momentum) to move large rocks. But shaping the granite, thats hard
The thing is 45 minutes to you is a long time. 4000 years ago or whenever some of these stoneworks were made, someone could take a year to do one cut maybe two.. That would have been someone's job.
"How was your day?"
"Same.."
Siim Kasepõl
Hi Sim, as a stone mason I worked with lots of granite and like anything you got to know how to approach it, thanks, mike
Thank you, Mike. I learned more from this than a guided tour
Thanks Meyer, Mike
Best explanation I've heard yet!!
Engineers and scientists should always defer to experienced present day craftsman for explaining 'the how they did it'.. answers about ancient construction..
Building really hasn't changed much since then!!
Thanks Eaglehead, I agree, mike
But l keep asking - WHERE are all the MEGA artifacts & C14able MEGA kitchen midens? Where are the tool bits n pieces of carbon saws n drills?
Hi salin, go to the museums, they have all the harder stones etc, I did a video called, carving stones with ancient technology, no big deal to people who work with stone, thanks Mike
@@MikeHaduck HistChan +/- 2KAD an American contractor in Egypt built a small scale corner repro of the pyramids. Perhaps if you just were to w/ native stone built an Inca wall section w/ door & neich (MEGA) style w/ Inca era bronze, copper & diorite tools?
@@MikeHaduck PUMA PUNKA been there? The famed 'H' blocks are symbolic of what's left of what is thee most incredible complex pre-Columbian. A man did a miniature 3D printed repro discovering that the 'H' nieches are dove-tailed. The 'H's he put were functional in purpose not decorative.
They held massive door hinges.
,with respect, I dont see the big deal, all these bedroom archaeologist come up with all these theories and none of thg them are stone masons, big hats no cattle, thanks , mike
@@MikeHaduck "BIG HATS no cows." I'm using that.
I used to unload heavy boxes out of trucks. I used to spin the box in one direction and then the other to move it forward. It's not that I'm lazy but I try to work smart and not hard. I try not to expend all my energy on a task and make myself tired. But I did like your comment in another video about finding the laziest guy to move the heaviest stones from one place to another. Where there's a will, there's a way.
Hi Ken and your right, lol I appreciate it, mike
At 4:26, the large stone was the sacrifice altar.
Hi Roy, that’s what they say but who really knows, thanks, mike
great channel mike i've been a bricklayer in the u k nearly 40 years and i love the old school old buildings old wall bonds sites today are about laying as many as you can with low grade materials when i get the chance to build something i know is going to be there a 100 years im off with me tools because i know i will enjoy every brick,keep the videos coming
Thanks yam, I appreciate hearing that from a professional, thanks, Mike
Great video and I loved your music in it! Do you have a link to the music?
Thanks James, just search " cadtle" Mike haduck, My music is on my other channel, thanks Mike
@@MikeHaduck thanks! Subscribed to both and am enjoying your music, my wife too. I many times spend huge amounts of time thinking how the walls in South America were built. I'd love to go there sometime.
It's great that someone with the skill set actually went to these locations and explained how it was done,rather than an armchair expert looking at images and saying "no way we couldn't have built that."
Thanks Clive, I appreciate that, mike
No, what's sadder is an "expert" goes to MP and has no clue what he yammers on about.
@@ArthurDentZaphodBeeb Ok. What's your theory then?
@@tollundman7524 probably aliens again lol
If it was aliens l would have expected them to do a better job. What's wrong with nice square blocks? Lol .
if these were built before the inca came, what tools did they use??
I have another video about ollayantambo coming out next week with a little more of a demonstration, thanks, mike
What about the vitrification of the surface?
Hi Greg, it's only stone, I did a video called " carving stone with ancient technology " Mike haduck, thanks Mike
Hi Mike firstly thanks for taking the time to make your videos. Can you or have you done a video on you making a couple of these granite stones fit together like they do, (good size ones) and move them around to see what will fit best together. i mean no disrespect i would just like to see someone recreate one of these walls so i can stop wondering how they did it! you say its very easy but i need better than you rubbing a couple stones together for 5 seconds! thanks
Hi Glo, I have a few more videos to do on Peru, I would like to when I get the time, thanks, mike
@@MikeHaduck That would be great if you could. until then ill keep wondering as no-one seems to have a video of them just doing a couple of stones (sad face)
There's so many wacky superstitious theories on these ancient sites, it's refreshing to hear the common sense approach. Places like Egypt and the Incas had expert stone workers that perfected their trade for generations. It shouldn't be that surprising that they made some incredible stuff. I've also heard so many times that they couldn't possibly cut granite with bronze and crap like that, thanks for debunking that part.
Thanks Kariakas. I appreciate it, mike
I wish I could apprentice under you mike. You got the knowledge, charisma, and ambition to build the pyramids again.
Thanks for the kind words, but I am retiring, lol, mike
@@MikeHaduck hey I figured as much but if I would have had the option I'd have learned from you instead of the rubby-dubs I started with. I have and always will recommend your videos to anyone entering the crafts. You for me are the go-to guy if I'm gonna show someone that can better explain and offer solid advice if you have an opinion and the facts of how its done. I stumbled on you about two years ago very glad I did. I hope you enjoy your retirement to the fullest! (And wicked cool you got to go to Machu Picchu. And actually get to feel it and see it and appreciate it.) Anyway I truly appreciate you, Mike. Thanks for your wisdom care brother. -A true fan
I find this to be a very good video. Wish your videos on these structures were longer, and more detailed though. Of ALL the documentaries (or videos) I've watched over the years on the ancient stone structures, I've never seen one through the eyes and mind of a mason. To me, this is extremely interesting to watch and meditate on concerning the information you give. The Bible does say that there were giants in the days prior to the Flood of Noah, and after. I was watching a ministry video recently and it was stated that the Sphinx has erosion marks that are not from wind and sand, but from water, giving confirmation of it being a pre-Flood structure. Any thoughts? Also, it was stated that many animals were of much larger size before the Flood as well, because of the massive sizes of the fossils found. So much to consider! Love the videos Mike!
Hi Rhonda, lots of things from the past men are guessing at, I think only God knows, but the pyramids, cusco etc is primitive work, to me the cathedrals and palaces are far more intricate and advanced, thanks Mike
L0l
cool ! how out of breath did you get ? some say this one is pretty hard to do .
Hi Tim, it's up there, Mike
Yes that's fine and dandy on a rock you can flip around in your hands. Now try it on a 10 20 30 ton plus bolder you can't be lifting flipping around, marking, grinding. Checking and doing again on a steep slope..
Hi Charlie, check out my video called "carving stone with ancient technology " Mike haduck, thanks Mike
Mike,
HOW DID THEY CUT THE STONE WITHOUT CHISELS?
Hi James, I thought I showed it, crack it at the seams and pound it with harder stones, thanks, Mike
Excellent. Really interesting having a real stone masons take on it .
Thanks dominic, Mike
Thanks for the world tour, looks like they knew how to bust their stones over there....lol. I still love a good old Pennsylvania field stone structure. Im in Bucks county....old farm houses when they knock off the white plaster and repoint ....it looks great.
Thanks Gibson, I agree , Mike
by this point the whole "not a big deal" kinda became a in-house meme
great video Mike
Thanks Robson, mike
Very practical assessment, Mike. I was glad I watched your vid.
You mention Brian Forrester's theory that the megalithic was an earlier civilization than the Inca, but it seems to me it is all Inca, and they just had a limited number of big stones and natural outcroppings that were amenable to quarrying, nearby enough to be transportable. Shaping large stones for a special "fit" was hard work and time consuming. As you note, you start with stones that already fit together in the natural outcrop they came from, if you want to get things done at a reasonable pace.....So probably, they had big plans but their supply of big stones just ran out and they had to top the walls with small stones, only requires an assessement of how high you want the walls for the human effort involved. Different look is just from the different types of labour....experienced stonemasons versus child labor crews likely were at the architects disposal.
Hi Neo, I don,t know , but it looks like tome it was built and rebuild centuries upon centuries, I guess, thanks, mike
I really appreciate your can do attitude towards getting these projects done. I'm a big fan.
Thanks Jeff, mike
Any plans to go to Petra?
Hi Robin, nothing right now, maybe someday thanks, mike
That tip on retaining walls earned my subscription. I’ve never heard anyone mention that.
Also, hello from Zelienople lol
Thanks, nice to hear from Zelienople, Mike
AT 6:15 these steps appear to be for water. You really think you can work any of those surfaces to that joint?
Id fail even with my 14 inch diamond blade.
Hi silver, I seen a lot of stuff at the Egyptian museum, that says they could have done it, my opinion, thanks, mike
I would love to see that old Egypt video; going to see if it’s on your channel right now. Thank you sir for taking the time, I’ve been looking everywhere for a stonemason’s take on all these ancient sites
Thanks victor, mike
Love the practical demo. Can the megaliths be reproduced. A demo of this would be awesome!
Hi Oisin, I have another video about ollayantambo coming out next week where I do a little more, thanks, mike
@@MikeHaduck I better press the ol' subscribe button then! See you next week! 😉