5 Ancient Inventions Science Can't Explain!
And you thought that your computer was advanced.
We live in age where are more technologically advanced than ever before, or are we? As it turns out, our ancient ancestors were much smarter than we though, and in fact, some of their inventions were so advanced that they baffle modern day scientists.
Here are 5 ancient inventions that science can't explain.
5. STONE BALLS OF COSTA RICA
Number five are the Stone Balls of Costa Rica.
Spread across the Osa region in southern Costa Rica over 300 stone balls, know as Las Bolas, have mystified archaeologists for decades.
They were created between 600 and 1000 AD and vary from only a couple inches to over six feet in diameter and weigh up to 15 tons.
Each one of them is made from gabbro, limestone, or sandstone.
They're nearly perfectly round and would've been carefully sculpted and sanded into a shape from much larger boulders.
The Diquis people who are native to the area, are likely the ones who made them.
However, nobody knows why or how they were able to accomplish this.
One theory is that they were put into lines leading to the chief's home, but by the time the spheres were discovered in the 1930s, they may have been moved.
Some believe that the balls were relics left from the lost city of Atlantis, while others tried blowing them up in order to see if they contained hidden gold treasure, but to this day, nobody has any answer for why then even exist.
4. DAMASCUS STEEL
Number four is Damascus Steel.
Damascus Steel was first discovered around 300 BC, but all remaining traces of how the steel was forged were lost by the 18th century.
The steel was named for the capital city of Damascus in Syria where it was founded and made into some of the world's deadliest swords, including Viking swords.
The steel was known for it's beautiful wave patterns and was said to be able to bend 90 degrees and bend back into place without breaking.
The indestructible material was made from wootz, which is combination of iron and steel that would have been imported from Asia and then melted with a mix of raw plant matter to make a crucible steel. It was and extremely advanced nanotechnology alchemy.
It's only thanks to modern scanning electron microscopes that scientists even have and understanding of what made the steel so strong, but exactly how the swords smiths dis this is still unknown.
3. ZHANG HENG'S SEISMOSCOPE.
Number three is Zhang Heng's seismoscope.
It may just look like a badass piece of ancient art, but when Chinese inventor and astronomer, Zhang Heng, created the seismoscope around 130 AD, he actually invented the first known earthquake detector.
The bronze urn-shaped device was incredibly decorated, with eight dragons attached to its sides representing the eight basic directions facing eight open-mouthed frogs which sat bellow them.
when it detected and earthquake, the dragon representing the direction of the quake would drop a ball into the frog's mouth.
It was amazingly accurate and could detect a quake from hundreds of miles away, but what's truly incredible it that this was done despite tectonic plates not even being discovered yet.
Scientists have been trying to replicate this seismoscope for centuries, even as recently as 2005, all unsuccessfully.
Even the mechanisms inside the vessel and how the ball dropped are still unknown.
2. THE GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZA.
Number two is the Great Pyramid of Giza.
One of the biggest mysteries of the ancient Egyptians it the Great Pyramid of Giza.
The pyramid would have been finished around 2560 BC and would have taken tens of thousands of workers 10 to 20 years to build.
it's the oldest and largest of the three Giza pyramids and amazingly it's still largely intact, and for centuries, it was the largest man made object on earth.
It's made from 5.5 million tons of limestone, 8,000 tons of granite, and 500,000 tons of mortar.
its base is 756 feet and when it was first built, it would have been 481 feet tall, but it's not the why it was built that remains a mystery.
In fact, researchers believe that it was actually a tomb for the Fourth Dynasty pharaoh, Khufu, but instead how it was built.
Now, there are numerous theories, from using scaffolding, pulley, ropes, or ramps all the way to alien intervention, but despite year of investigation, no one can agree on how it was planned or even how the blocks were put in place.
1. SAKSAYWAMAN
And number one is Saksaywaman.
Located on the outskirts of Cusco, Germany in an ancient walled city known as Saksaywaman.
It was built on a hilltop between 900 and 1000 AD by the Killke culture before it was expanded during the 13th century under the Inca Empire. But it's not what lies behind the walls that's so interesting, but instead, the walls themselves.
The walls are made from massive carved limestone boulders over 27 feet tall and weighing over 100 tons.
They would've been transported from a quarry nearly two miles away, and they are some of the strongest walls ever built. That's because the stones fit together so perfectly that not even a blade of grass can wedge between them. Even more impressive is that mortar wasn't even used to keep them together. Some people have theorized that the tones were carved all together, but they're so oddly shaped and yet so precise that scientists still have no idea what technology would have been used to calculate the angles, just one of many mysteries that remain unsolved.