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The incredible accuracy with which Egyptians built their pyramids remains one of history’s greatest architectural feats. Similarly, the origins of the giant stone spheres of Costa Rica continue to puzzle researchers, offering another glimpse into the mysterious past.
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00:00Secant, cosine, tangent, sine, 3.14159.
00:05Yeah, that was the cheer we heard coming from the trigonometry club back in the day.
00:10For the rest of us in math class, terms such as sine, tangent, and pi were just bewildering.
00:17Who invented these, and why?
00:19Was their only purpose to make it harder for students?
00:22Well, not quite.
00:24Trigonometry was invented by the ancient Egyptians.
00:27They needed this knowledge to construct pyramids, and they did a pretty good job too.
00:32The Great Pyramid in Giza still stands today, some 4,500 years after it was built.
00:39No recalls either.
00:40So let's get out of that classroom and on a journey through time
00:44to reveal the secrets behind the ancient Egyptians' precision.
00:48Here you are, standing on the Great Pyramid's construction site, some 9 miles from Cairo.
00:54Well, the city still isn't there, as you're surrounded only by the desert and teams of construction workers.
01:00They're transporting large stone blocks weighing two and a half tons each.
01:05They're inside a wooden sled that sits on large rollers.
01:09A crew of eight men rolls these blocks along the ground.
01:13You immediately think of the rollers on a supermarket cash register.
01:17The principle is exactly the same, but the scale is greater, much greater.
01:22Scientists estimate that the Egyptians used 2.3 million such blocks in the Great Pyramid alone.
01:29And the block in front of you is one of the lighter ones.
01:32The heaviest of them weighed up to 15 tons.
01:35But where did all these blocks come from?
01:38Most of them originated from quarries around Giza.
01:42It's not that impressive, you think.
01:44But wait until you hear how ancient engineers transported the granite used in construction over 500 miles to the Pyramid.
01:53There were no railways or highways back then, but the mighty Nile was always there.
01:59Researchers even believed that the Egyptians dug a canal to connect the Nile directly to the Pyramid's construction site.
02:06All they had to do then was to wait for the flood season to begin, and voila!
02:12The rising water levels floated the heavy stone blocks for them.
02:16But how did they lift the enormous stones on dry land to stack them up to the top?
02:21Did they use oversized cranes?
02:24Well, ancient Egyptians worked around this problem, literally speaking.
02:28One of the workers is now pointing to the giant ramp going around the pyramid they're building.
02:33This is how a mountain road zigzags its way to the top.
02:38If the ramp went directly to the top of the pyramid, then workers couldn't pull the stone blocks along it.
02:44It would be too steep.
02:45Scientists have calculated that 8% could be the maximum incline.
02:50So, ancient Egyptians just extended the ramp around the pyramid.
02:55Again, these are all theories, as the ramp could have been inside the pyramid, as some researchers suggest.
03:01The exact building method is still a mystery, guarded by the Sphinx.
03:06That's its real name, right?
03:07Wrong.
03:09As the Great Sphinx is just the statue's alias.
03:12You know, the name writers take when they want to hide their true identity.
03:16Or a singer's stage name.
03:18The Sphinx's real name, translated from Egyptian, means Horus in the horizon.
03:24That was the name for the Egyptian deity of the sky.
03:26The trail of mystery doesn't end there.
03:29As a man walks past you with a bucket of paint, he's going to add a touch of color to
03:34the Great Sphinx.
03:36Researchers found specks of this red color next to its ear.
03:39That was some strong paint, as it survived for thousands of years.
03:44You are now standing straight in front of the Sphinx.
03:47You look up.
03:48It's very tall, right?
03:4966 feet to be precise.
03:51Now, resist the urge to take a selfie.
03:54You can do it!
03:56Now, you notice something else.
03:57It looks like the Sphinx is in the center of a giant triangle in the back.
04:02That's one side of the Great Pyramid.
04:04And no, your eyes are not playing tricks on you.
04:07The Sphinx really does sit in the center of the pyramid's lateral face.
04:12Here's where math comes in handy.
04:14A pyramid has four sides, called lateral faces.
04:17There's also a fifth face, the base.
04:20But that's not visible.
04:22It's, wait for it, face down.
04:26The Sphinx has one last mystery to reveal.
04:28It's age.
04:30Scientists agree that Pharaoh Khafer built the Sphinx.
04:33He ruled after his father, who had built a great pyramid nearby.
04:38So, both structures were finished around the same time.
04:41Let's talk about numbers again.
04:43If you've heard of Cleopatra, the Egyptian princess described as a woman of great beauty,
04:48she saw the pyramids.
04:50But she lived closer to the time of the first iPhone,
04:53then the time of the people who built the pyramids.
04:57Fascinating, right?
04:58You can see thousands of people around you.
05:00They're working hard to build the Pharaoh's tomb.
05:03But how many of them are there exactly?
05:06One Greek philosopher estimated there were as many as 100,000 workers.
05:11Seems like an okay number for such an enormous structure.
05:15But it can't be true.
05:16Science simply can't back up this number.
05:20Egyptologists put the total number of workers at 30,000.
05:24And yes, Indiana Jones was one of them, at least on the big screen.
05:28But he showed up late.
05:30Egyptologists know a lot about the pyramids.
05:33But not everything.
05:34Not because they don't want to,
05:36but because they haven't yet dug up enough evidence.
05:39They can only guess how the building process went.
05:43First, engineers would arrive to choose the right spot
05:46and do the necessary measurements.
05:48That's why they needed all that complicated math.
05:52Then, it's time for sourcing the material,
05:54the large stone blocks I mentioned earlier.
05:57When boats deliver them to the side of the future pyramid,
06:01workers can finally do their thing.
06:03They operated in smaller groups,
06:05but there were at least 2,000 of them
06:08chiseling and carving away at any given time.
06:11Sounds like a typical construction site today.
06:13Well, that's because it is.
06:15Just thousands of years ago.
06:17It's amazing what ancient Egyptians were able to achieve
06:20with just copper and stone tools.
06:23The pyramid is now complete in front of you.
06:26But is it the same pyramid we see today?
06:29Why is this structure shining bright in the desert sun?
06:32Isn't it supposed to be a dusty yellow color?
06:35Well, no.
06:37Human activity and the elements
06:39have completely stripped the outer layer of stones over time.
06:42Expert craftspeople polished these blocks
06:45using nothing but stone and sand.
06:47The end result was a smooth and shiny rock.
06:51On the day it was completed,
06:52the Great Pyramid of Giza was a perfect triangle of light.
06:56Its polished sides acted like giant mirrors,
06:59reflecting the powerful Egyptian sun.
07:01This is the point where you should put your glasses on.
07:04And that shiny thing you see at the pyramid's very top
07:07is actually gold.
07:09The capstone at the top of the pyramid
07:11is called a pyramidion.
07:13It was covered in sheets of gold.
07:16As you can guess,
07:17these were the first stones to disappear.
07:19Let's make another stop
07:21before we get you back to your classroom.
07:23We travel to the British Isles
07:25And no, Stonehenge isn't our destination.
07:28It is Newgrange in County Meath.
07:31Scientists estimate that the ancient peoples of Ireland
07:34built this stone monument around the year 3200 BCE.
07:38This makes it older than both Stonehenge
07:41and the Great Pyramid in Giza.
07:43The function of the circular mound in Newgrange
07:46is the same as the one of the Great Pyramid
07:49and equally mysterious.
07:51The estimated amount of loose stone present in the valley
07:54is over 220,000 tons.
07:57And it's not just randomly thrown on a pile.
08:00The order in which the stones are set
08:03makes the structure water-resistant.
08:06That would explain how Newgrange
08:07had survived for so long.
08:10Kinda makes you want to splash out the cash
08:11for that waterproof phone case, huh?
08:13Well, you're back in your school desk,
08:16but today's math lecture
08:18is the last thing on your mind.
08:20You're thinking about how great
08:21the Egyptian pyramids are,
08:23and if we have something similar today.
08:26It turns out modern engineers
08:28are just as impressed with the Great Pyramid
08:30as you are.
08:31There's a glass pyramid
08:32sitting in the main courtyard
08:34of the famous Louvre Museum in Paris.
08:36The panorama of San Francisco
08:39wouldn't be complete
08:40without the 48-story Transamerica Pyramid.
08:44But Las Vegas went the furthest.
08:46There we find the Luxor Hotel.
08:49It's so big
08:50that it's the third-largest pyramid on the planet.
08:53And guess what's in front of it?
08:54Yup, a replica of the Sphinx.
08:57It's 110 feet tall,
08:59two stories higher than the one in Giza.
09:01Yeah, everything's bigger in Vegas.
09:04Imagine you've booked a tour
09:06through the jungles of Costa Rica.
09:08All of a sudden,
09:10you stumble upon a huge stone sphere,
09:13nearly the length of a king-sized bed in diameter.
09:16How on earth did it end up there?
09:18And what does it symbolize?
09:20You immediately ask your guide.
09:22He's not as amazed as you are,
09:24and tells you that
09:25there are actually several hundreds of them
09:27scattered across the south of the country.
09:31The mysterious stone spheres
09:33don't have an official name.
09:35The locals simply call them
09:37Las Bolas.
09:38Las, which means balls in Spanish.
09:41While historians refer to them
09:42as Dequis Spheres,
09:44after the culture that produced them.
09:46Scientists have studied
09:47the sediment layers of the earth around them
09:49and estimate that the earliest
09:51were made around the year 600 CE.
09:54And the newest ones
09:55date to the year 1000 CE.
09:58Many of the spheres were relocated
10:00after their initial discovery.
10:01And that's why archaeologists
10:03can't date them precisely.
10:06The Dequis culture completely disappeared
10:09shortly after they were discovered
10:11by the Spanish in the 16th century.
10:14Unlike the Mayas and the Aztecs,
10:17the myths or legends of these peoples
10:19didn't survive.
10:21So, they cannot explain the existence
10:23of the mysterious orbs.
10:26More than 300 of these objects
10:28have been discovered so far,
10:30with some being smaller than
10:31one inch in diameter
10:33and the largest measure 6.6 feet in diameter,
10:37standing taller than most humans.
10:39Although there are ones
10:40made from limestone,
10:42most spheres were carved
10:43out of a coarse version of basalt,
10:46a type of rock that forms
10:47when lava cools rapidly.
10:50Some orbs weigh up to 15 tons.
10:53And in most cases,
10:54their surface is smooth to the touch,
10:56although there are coarse,
10:58mostly unfinished pieces.
11:01If we throw away the theory
11:03that river erosion
11:04naturally sculpted the spheres,
11:06the ancient people
11:07seem to have created them
11:08by hammering boulders
11:10with other rocks.
11:11Once they got the rough shape
11:13they were aiming for,
11:14they would polish the rock
11:15to perfection,
11:16using techniques such as
11:18controlled fracture and grinding.
11:20The mysterious spheres
11:21are located in the Dequis Delta,
11:23on the coast of the Pacific Ocean.
11:25Most of them can be found
11:27in a place called Farm Six,
11:29which, alongside three other sites,
11:32was proclaimed a
11:33UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014.
11:36The area contains other finds
11:39from the pre-Columbian era,
11:40such as paved areas,
11:42burial sites, and mounds.
11:45For centuries,
11:46the stone balls were hidden
11:48under a thick layer of sediment
11:50that protected them
11:52against the elements and looters,
11:54until they were unearthed
11:55during the 1930s.
11:56The company that owned the land
11:58was clearing the rainforest
12:00for banana plantations
12:01when they stumbled upon
12:03these unusual stone constructions.
12:05Some were damaged by bulldozers,
12:07and some by workers
12:09trying to pry them open,
12:10as they believed
12:11there was gold hidden inside.
12:13It took a while
12:14before the authorities intervened
12:16to stop further damage
12:17to the finds.
12:18Doris Stone,
12:20the daughter of an executive
12:21of the company
12:22that owned the land,
12:23was the first to study the spheres.
12:25In 1943,
12:26she published an article
12:28in a leading
12:29American archaeological journal,
12:31turning the world's attention
12:32to the orbs.
12:35Expeditions soon followed,
12:37and archaeologists
12:38were immediately able
12:39to determine
12:39that the stone formations
12:41were human-made,
12:42probably created
12:44by the ancient
12:44indigenous population
12:45of Costa Rica.
12:47To this day,
12:48no one has been able
12:49to fully explain
12:50their function
12:51in a scientific way.
12:52It means there's still room
12:55for some wild theories
12:56about the spheres' origins
12:57and true purpose.
13:00The most popular theory
13:02in the scientific community
13:03is that the stone spheres
13:05served as decorations
13:06and status symbols,
13:07as many of them were found
13:09near the houses of chieftains.
13:11Local tribal leaders
13:13were also laid to rest
13:14with some of the smaller balls,
13:16so these stone formations
13:18were definitely associated
13:19with power in some way.
13:22Chiseling a boulder
13:23to perfection
13:23involved a lot of labor
13:25and planning,
13:26and only powerful individuals
13:28could afford it at the time.
13:31The other popular theory
13:33is that the boulders
13:34were used
13:34for astronomical observations.
13:37Individual spheres
13:38represented stars
13:39like a primitive map
13:41of the night sky.
13:43Since they were
13:44perfectly round,
13:45it was easy
13:45to roll them around.
13:47Before the jungle
13:48engulfed them,
13:49the area where they were found
13:50was a flat alluvial plain,
13:53ideal for rolling
13:54large boulders around.
13:56Another version
13:57of this theory
13:57suggests that the stones
13:59were used
13:59as boundary markers,
14:01much like modern border stones,
14:03which are also
14:04mostly made from stone.
14:07Finally,
14:08legends from other tribes
14:10that lived in the area
14:11tell of how the spheres
14:12were cannonballs
14:13that the deity of thunder
14:15used to drive away
14:16the deity of winds
14:17and hurricanes.
14:20We still don't know
14:21the original purpose
14:22of the Costa Rican spheres,
14:24but they remain
14:25an important part
14:26of the country's
14:26national identity.
14:28The National Museum
14:29in the Costa Rican capital,
14:31San Jose,
14:31has six of them
14:33in its courtyard.
14:34Many other spheres
14:35have become prized
14:36garden decorations
14:37for wealthy Costa Ricans.
14:39There's even one
14:40at Harvard University.
14:42More than a millennium
14:43after they were created,
14:45the mysterious stone spheres
14:46of Costa Rica
14:47are still associated
14:49with power and wealth.
14:51In terms of numbers,
14:53the stone orbs
14:54are not perfectly round.
14:56They are rated
14:57as nearly perfect
14:59at 96% spherical in shape.
15:01And while even that
15:03is pretty impressive,
15:04the spheres of Costa Rica
15:06are not the only ones
15:07of their kind.
15:09Nearly a decade ago,
15:11workers came across
15:12mysterious giant stone spheres
15:14deep underground
15:15in a coal mine
15:17in northern Asia.
15:18The surface of the spheres,
15:20which measured a little
15:21over the length
15:22of a human footstep
15:23in diameter,
15:24was unusually smooth.
15:25And people tried
15:26to explain it somehow.
15:28Some were certain
15:29they were out of this world,
15:31and others suggested
15:32the spheres
15:33were actually
15:33petrified dinosaur eggs.
15:37Scientists quickly
15:38put an end
15:39to further discussion,
15:40as it turned out
15:41that the mysterious spheres
15:42were concretions.
15:44Those are rock formations
15:46that take millions of years
15:48to form deep underground.
15:50Think of a pebble
15:51that picks up snow
15:52as it rolls down a hill.
15:54That's how concretions
15:55are made.
15:56Ground water,
15:57rich in sediment
15:58and minerals,
15:59flows around the sediment,
16:01slowly shaping it
16:02into a perfect orb.
16:04The process is quite common
16:06in nature,
16:06but most concretions
16:08are fairly small.
16:09The spheres found
16:10in the coal mine
16:11grew to their size
16:13in the mineral-rich ground,
16:14and they were big enough
16:15to get the press
16:16and the general public
16:17interested.
16:20Another possible case
16:21of concretions
16:22is the massive stone spheres
16:24found in the Vissoko Valley
16:26in Bosnia.
16:28Samir Osmanagish,
16:30better known
16:30as the Bosnian
16:31Indiana Jones,
16:33was the first
16:34to explore those objects
16:35about as wide
16:36as the length
16:37of a London bus.
16:38He believes
16:39the stone spheres
16:40were carved
16:41by a lost civilization
16:42that lived in the area
16:44a thousand years ago.
16:45The reddish color
16:46of the orbs, though,
16:47is proof to geologists
16:49that they are indeed
16:51concretions,
16:51rich in iron content.
16:54The Mokey marbles
16:56found in rural Utah
16:58are similar in color
16:59to the Bosnian spheres.
17:01These tiny concretions
17:03are the size
17:03of toy marbles
17:05and consist
17:06of a sandstone core
17:07and a shell
17:08made out of hematite
17:09and iron ore.
17:11In South Africa,
17:12miners have come across
17:13Klerkstorp spheres,
17:15which are similar
17:16in shape and size
17:18to Mokey marbles.
17:19The only difference
17:20is that these ones
17:21formed inside
17:23volcanic sediments
17:24and ash.
17:26The most intriguing
17:27among human-made
17:28tiny spheres
17:29are probably the orbs
17:31found on several
17:32Greek islands.
17:33Scientists discovered
17:35700 stones
17:36smaller than golf balls
17:38near the Bronze Age
17:39site of Akrotiri
17:40on the island
17:41of Santorini.
17:43They believed
17:43that the finds
17:44were between
17:453,600
17:46and 4,500 years old.
17:50When they compared
17:52all the stones'
17:53variations in size
17:54and color,
17:55the archaeologists
17:56concluded
17:57that these enigmatic stones
17:59could have easily been
18:00the oldest board game
18:02ever made.
18:03With the help
18:04of artificial intelligence,
18:05scientists are now
18:06trying to work out
18:07the rules of this game.
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