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These discoveries dramatically altered humanity's understanding of ancient history. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most amazing ancient relics that display great technological innovation.
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00:00We've had to rethink the history of technology completely as a result of this single object.
00:06Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most amazing ancient relics
00:10that display great technological innovation.
00:14The challenge for the Roman engineers was to keep the water flowing at the same speed on its entire journey.
00:22Number 10, the Roman dodecahedrons.
00:24Since 1739, over 100 copper dodecahedrons have been found throughout Europe.
00:31These objects are typically quite small, measuring between 1 and 4 inches, and date back to the 2nd century.
00:37This one, being a Roman dodecahedron, is hollow, and as you can see, it has these holes.
00:45Each face has a different sized hole.
00:47While they look like something out of a steampunk movie, we have no idea what they were used for.
00:52All sorts of theories have been put forth, ranging from the religious to the mathematical.
00:57But the truth may be far more mundane.
01:00Some experts theorize that they were used to spool knitted gloves,
01:03even though they predate spool knitting by about 1,000 years.
01:08This theory has been bolstered by modern technology.
01:113D printed versions of the dodecahedrons have been made, and successfully used to make knitted gloves.
01:17Might not be quite true to form with just using this Roman dodecahedron.
01:219. Zhang Heng's Seismoscope
01:24Living between the years 78 and 139, Zhang Heng was one of China's greatest minds.
01:31He did a little bit of everything, from cartography and engineering, to art and philosophy.
01:37Zhang also fancied himself a seismologist.
01:40Because why not?
01:41And created the world's first seismoscope.
01:44On its outer walls, we find perched eight dragons, evenly distributed,
01:48their heads looking down while their jaws stand slightly open.
01:52Within each of their jaws lies a small bronze ball.
01:55Used to measure the direction of earthquakes, it's a primitive but no less impressive gadget
02:00that demonstrated its maker's knowledge of directional sensitivity.
02:04The device was shaped like an urn and contained eight dragons,
02:08which corresponded to eight directions of the compass.
02:11A single bronze ball ejected from the dragon's jaws would determine the exact direction of the earthquake.
02:17This design was at once consummately scientific and simply effective.
02:22When a distant earthquake occurred, a ball would drop out of one of the dragon's mouths,
02:27indicating from which direction it materialised.
02:30It's unknown what happened to the original seismoscope,
02:33but various reconstructions have since been produced.
02:37His seismograph is the pride and glory of the Chinese people.
02:41It took five years, from 2002 to 2007,
02:45for a group of experts to finally rediscover its secrets and construct his magnificent piece.
02:51Number eight, Roman concrete.
02:53When you think of amazing technological discoveries,
02:56concrete probably doesn't come to mind.
02:58But there's a reason that ancient Roman buildings and bridges are still standing,
03:03and that's because they made killer concrete.
03:06This is still today the largest unreinforced concrete dome ever built on this planet.
03:15Roman concrete, or Opus Caimentechium, if you want to be fancy,
03:20was used in iconic buildings like the Pantheon and Colosseum.
03:24The great thing about Roman concrete is that it is basically indestructible.
03:28And that's thanks to two key ingredients,
03:31quicklime and a type of volcanic ash known as pozzolana.
03:36Now it turns out that that incredible strength, durability,
03:39and ability to set underwater of the Roman cement,
03:42that came from the pozzolana, that volcanic ash that was added.
03:46The ash prevents cracks from forming and spreading,
03:48but if they did, the quicklime allows them to self-repair.
03:53This is the wolverine of concrete,
03:56and the Romans had it figured out 2,000 years ago.
03:59Number seven, the Nimrud Lens.
04:02Back in 1850, English historian Austin Henry Layard
04:05was working in the Assyrian city of Nimrud
04:08when he found a small rock crystal measuring just over one inch in diameter.
04:13The crystal dates back to about 750 BC,
04:17and now, thousands of years later,
04:19is housed inside the British Museum.
04:22While no consensus has been reached regarding its function,
04:25many convincing theories have been published.
04:28One theory posits that it was used to start fires,
04:31like a kid playing with a magnifying glass.
04:33And speaking of magnifying glasses,
04:41well, that's another leading theory.
04:44Some even take this theory further,
04:46assuming the lens was used in some sort of ancient telescope.
04:51Number six, the Lycurgus cup.
04:53Remember that, is it black and blue or white and gold dress?
04:57It all started with a simple plea for help.
04:59Scottish singer Caitlin McNeil posted to her Tumblr site,
05:02Guys, please help me.
05:04Is this dress white and gold or blue and black?
05:07Well, this is like the ancient version of that.
05:10Dating from the 4th century,
05:12the Lycurgus cup is an exceptional piece of craftsmanship
05:15that was well ahead of its time.
05:18The cup's outer shell depicts the mythical Greek figure
05:21Lycurgus of Thrace, which is impressive enough.
05:25But the real beauty here is the dichroic glass that was used in the cup,
05:29Thanks to nanoparticles of gold and silver embedded inside the material,
05:34it changes colour depending on the light source.
05:37When lit from behind, the glass appears red.
05:39When lit from the front, green.
05:41The construction of this glass is unbelievably complex.
05:45In fact, researchers don't know how the makers incorporated
05:48the nanoparticles of gold and silver.
05:51Number five, the Ljubljana Marsh's wheel.
05:54As unexciting as it may be, the wheel is our technological masterpiece.
05:58It's definitely one of the most important and enduring tools.
06:02And if we want to find the granddaddy of wheels,
06:04we must travel to the Ljubljana Marsh.
06:07Located south of Slovenia's capital of the same name,
06:11the Ljubljana Marshes once housed a community of stilt houses.
06:15And in 2002, archaeologists working in the area
06:19uncovered an ancient ash wood wheel measuring 28 inches in diameter.
06:24Further research showed that this wheel belonged to a pushcart
06:27and is approximately 5,000 years old.
06:30This makes it the oldest wooden wheel ever discovered.
06:34Number four, aqueducts.
06:36Humans are masters of ingenuity.
06:38If the wheel isn't impressive enough, may we present aqueducts?
06:43If we tried to live in a specific location that didn't have enough water,
06:46we brought the water to us.
06:49They built the majestic arched aqueducts we know today.
06:54These plumbed into a network of fountains that fed water to a million Romans.
06:59Aqueducts date back to the Minoans,
07:02who likely made the first ones on Crete around 2000 BCE.
07:07The Assyrians also constructed complex aqueduct systems in the 7th century BC,
07:12bringing water to their capital city of Nineveh.
07:15And surprisingly, we're still finding ancient aqueducts.
07:19Segovia's famous aqueduct bisects the city's central plaza.
07:25It looks like a Victorian railway bridge, but it's around 2,000 years old.
07:31In October 2023, archaeologists found one in Jerusalem
07:35that dated to the city's Roman period and fed King Herod's palace.
07:40It has been called one of the grandest and most sophisticated water projects in the ancient world.
07:48Number three, lunar calendars.
07:50The Gregorian calendar, aka the one most of us use,
07:54is an example of a solar calendar.
07:56That is, a unit of time based on the Earth's position in relation to the sun.
08:01Historically, you could have two calendar systems,
08:04either one that's based on the sun, the brightest object in the sky,
08:07or on the moon, which is the second brightest object in our sky.
08:11This is in contrast to the lunar calendar, which is based on the phases of the moon.
08:16While we now take them for granted, calendars are a brilliant invention,
08:20and they were made by our distant ancestors.
08:22Some believe that the moon was used to measure days up to 30,000 years ago,
08:27and markings on a 27,000-year-old bone baton may be some type of early timekeeping device.
08:35And in 2004, the National Trust for Scotland unearthed a monument dating to 8,000 BCE
08:41that they believe is the world's oldest calendar.
08:45It represents a time when people became concerned with anticipating, measuring time,
08:53and in some ways represents the start of history.
08:56Number two, the Baghdad Battery.
08:58Did ancient civilizations have a primitive form of electricity?
09:02That's the question at the heart of the Baghdad Battery.
09:05This isn't a singular battery, but a series of interconnected devices,
09:09a large ceramic pot, a smaller tube of copper, and a rod made out of iron.
09:15When paired with an acidic liquid like vinegar,
09:18this device would generate a small electric current
09:21that could be used for electroplating or shock therapy.
09:25This was the leading theory put forth by Austrian archaeologist Wilhelm Koenig,
09:30but most modern experts have rejected the idea.
09:34Regardless, a replica of the battery was made on Mythbusters,
09:37and they were able to generate 4 volts of electricity.
09:41So, while unlikely, it could plausibly be used as a small battery.
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10:02Number one, the Antikythera Mechanism.
10:05The ancient Greeks were so advanced that they created the world's first analogue computer.
10:11Found northwest of Crete is the Antikythera Wreck,
10:15an ancient Roman ship dating to the 1st century BCE.
10:20This wreck was found by sponge divers in 1900,
10:23and inside was the now famous Antikythera Mechanism.
10:28It was not recognised at all as being anything interesting when it was discovered.
10:31It was just a corroded lump about the size of a large dictionary.
10:34The device is intricately designed,
10:37containing a complex system of gears and wheels.
10:40It was extensively used to study astronomy,
10:43predicting the orbit of the moon,
10:45the dates of future eclipses,
10:47and the positions of planets and stars.
10:49And it uses bronze gear wheels to calculate the cycles of the cosmos.
10:55It was also used to track the cycle of the Olympiad,
10:59thereby determining the dates of the Olympics.
11:01It was an ancient event planner, celestial calendar, and computer.
11:07And it's one of the most fascinating discoveries in human history.
11:11It is completely astonishing that the ancient Greeks
11:15firstly had the conception of making this technology,
11:18and secondly, the ability to actually physically make it.
11:21Are you amazed by these devices?
11:23Let us know in the comments below.
11:24So the first part is made of Roman concrete
11:29that has inside fragments of travertine stone and tufa stone,
11:34which are heavy and very compact.
11:37And step by step, these materials are getting lighter.
11:40Did you enjoy this video?
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11:47We'll see you next time.
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