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Largest Known Maya Structure Found

insidescience.org

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Re: Largest Known Maya Structure Found

#31

Post by jcranmer »

spaced-out wrote: post #27

It's tragic how little we know about the Maya compared to what we could have known. Thousands of books were destroyed, primarily by one Spanish bishop, and only four survive today[1]. If that hadn't of happened, it's possible we could have known as much about the Maya as we do about the Ancient Greeks. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_codices

The Mayans did leave lots of stelae around, and recorded a wealth of chronological information on them using a rather precise calendrical system. Consequently, we actually know more about the Classical Maya than contemporary Europe in this regard, the latter being in the midst of the Dark Ages.

Re: Largest Known Maya Structure Found

#32

Post by thaumasiotes »

pengaru wrote: post #30
colordrops wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's an "undrawn sailbarrow"? Your comment is the only thing that shows up on Google search.

It's a fairly conventional manned wheelbarrow, but with a sail to assist.

No; a conventional wheelbarrow rests its weight on a wheel at the front and on the human holding the handles at the other end (since it's impossible to balance on the front wheel).

The sailbarrow has a large central wheel that bears the weight, relieving the human of the need to personally support the weight of whatever's being carried.

Re: Largest Known Maya Structure Found

#33

Post by vkou »

elboru wrote: post #9
meddlepal wrote: post #7

It's kind of impressive they accomplished so much without inventing the wheel... or has that been debunked and is just long outdated information?

Some wheeled toys have been found in Mexico, it’s not like the wheel was never invented. But The Americas didn’t have domesticable large animals that could be used to pull wheeled carriages (bisons were not domesticated at the time), that’s why the wheel was never used for that purpose. Indeed it’s very impressive how much they accomplished by themselves without the wheel, without big domesticated animals and without…

Wheelbarrows (Both European, and Chinese) are very useful, and do not require large animals to pull.

They aren't super-great in hilly terrain, though.

Re: Largest Known Maya Structure Found

#34

Post by xhkkffbf »

KKPMW wrote: post #6
xhkkffbf wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

I am not sure if you are aware, but you replied to one of a few HN moderators. > You make it sound like posters should write some epic multi-paragraph thumbsucker He doesn't 'sound' like it. He enforces the rules about how it should be. And I agree with the judgement - the comment he replied to had no real substance. It's a kind of thing you post on a reddit meme thread as a first comment in order to accumulate "like…

Oooh. More words == real substance? Nope.

One of my best friends likes to just say "facts" when he agrees with something. If you study Shannon's information theory, you'll find that using more characters doesn't mean there's more entropy in your bit stream.

Re: Largest Known Maya Structure Found

#35

Post by xhkkffbf »

dang wrote: post #25
xhkkffbf wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

A one-word comment referencing an extremely sensational theme clearly is shallow. Even if it was rooted in deep thought on your part, that's a distinction without a difference, because the issue is the effects on the future thread ( https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que... ).

How do you feel about people in the streets with signs that just say, "BLM?" They don't even use a full word.

Mark Twain once said: The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.

It sounds like you just don't want people discussing aliens. Sorry, but I think that massive construction projects like that are best explained with extraterristrial assistance. I wish I had lots of data to bolster this opinion, but I don't. If someone could prove a negative, I would listen but we just don't know. So that's why I think a one word thesis statement is best.

Re: Largest Known Maya Structure Found

#36

Post by metrokoi »

elboru wrote: post #9
meddlepal wrote: post #7

It's kind of impressive they accomplished so much without inventing the wheel... or has that been debunked and is just long outdated information?

Some wheeled toys have been found in Mexico, it’s not like the wheel was never invented. But The Americas didn’t have domesticable large animals that could be used to pull wheeled carriages (bisons were not domesticated at the time), that’s why the wheel was never used for that purpose. Indeed it’s very impressive how much they accomplished by themselves without the wheel, without big domesticated animals and without…

Just think: every single ounce of dirt and stone that comprises that structure was picked, carried, and placed with only human calories expended, likely in baskets carried on backs. I wonder what the amount of total calories expended to complete the project would be? Incredible to think about.

Re: Largest Known Maya Structure Found

#37

Post by BurningFrog »

monocasa wrote: post #11
meddlepal wrote: post #7

It's kind of impressive they accomplished so much without inventing the wheel... or has that been debunked and is just long outdated information?

It's a yes and no kinda thing, last time I checked in on it. There are examples of children's toys with wheels made by Mayans, but examples of wheeled vehicles don't exist. There's an argument that they lacked suitable beasts of burden to pull vehicles (at best is a llama, which isn't really great at pulling), so that might be why, but that's ultimately conjecture.

Aren't Llamas South American mountain animals?

Were they really walking around the tropical jungles of Mexico?

Re: Largest Known Maya Structure Found

#38

Post by xhkkffbf »

therealdrag0 wrote: post #8
xhkkffbf wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

“Aliens” sure doesn’t sound like a serious comment about the posted article. And if you feel like it is, then yes, you have a lot of explaining to do.

I think there's not much evidence of extra-terrestrial intelligence and what exists is rather incomplete, but it sure makes more sense to me than there was some massive slave economy that wasted all of that slave labor moving big rocks.

Remember all of those slaves had to eat. So every calorie expended pushing those rocks into place had to be raised by an even bigger team of farming slaves who also had to eat. The cost in calories to raise those rocks is staggering.

But you can go on dismissing this conclusion as flippant. It's not like anyone will ever really know because the security cameras weren't turned back then.

Re: Largest Known Maya Structure Found

#39

Post by helloooooooo »

jcranmer wrote: post #31
spaced-out wrote: post #27

It's tragic how little we know about the Maya compared to what we could have known. Thousands of books were destroyed, primarily by one Spanish bishop, and only four survive today[1]. If that hadn't of happened, it's possible we could have known as much about the Maya as we do about the Ancient Greeks. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_codices

The Mayans did leave lots of stelae around, and recorded a wealth of chronological information on them using a rather precise calendrical system. Consequently, we actually know more about the Classical Maya than contemporary Europe in this regard, the latter being in the midst of the Dark Ages.

If anyone wants a good primer on pre-Columbian America, read 1491 by Charles Mann.

Re: Largest Known Maya Structure Found

#40

Post by pengaru »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #32
pengaru wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a fairly conventional manned wheelbarrow, but with a sail to assist.

No; a conventional wheelbarrow rests its weight on a wheel at the front and on the human holding the handles at the other end (since it's impossible to balance on the front wheel). The sailbarrow has a large central wheel that bears the weight, relieving the human of the need to personally support the weight of whatever's being carried.

In the case of the Chinese wheelbarrow, that is correct, but the sail is an improvement added later to the existing conventional design of the region and era which happened to use a central wheel.

I'm no expert on international wheelbarrow histories, but assume that the term "sailbarrow" being so general applies to any wheelbarrow having a sail. The historic precedent of the Chinese incarnation is literally their conventional wheelbarrow with a sail added.

I assume the same approach can be (and probably has been) used on any wheelbarrow in appropriate conditions.

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