• Optional@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    arrow-down
    6
    ·
    5 months ago

    Well sure - but in these pictures, look at the lower right one, say, there’s no rocks in-between, it’s just one bigass rock perfectly carved to fit another bigass rock, and so on. So at least it had to either be done before placement or using some sort of flexible template such that mortar wasn’t used. Which is pretty neat at least. And given the size, one expects it was an enormous PITA.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      7
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      5 months ago

      Of course it was done before placement. It couldn’t be done after placement. It’s really not hard to carve one shape of a rock to fit another shape of a rock given enough time and patience.

      What is so funny to me is that these peoples achieved things like massive irrigation systems that enabled them to feed large populations and complicated textile processing and weaving, but these armchair archaeologists think that the wall is the important thing just because it’s the most prominent feature remaining.

    • EvacuateSoul@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      5 months ago

      The template doesn’t have to be flexible. You can scribe the edge lines onto wood with a compass in 10 seconds.