5,300-year-old 'bow drill' rewrites story of ancient Egyptian tools • Hacker News Board

Re: 5,300-year-old 'bow drill' rewrites story of ancient Egyptian tools

#91

Post by spwa4 » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 12:29 PM UTC

aydyn wrote: post #75

rm30 wrote: post #46

I think archaeology requires a multidisciplinary approach that has only recently begun to emerge. For too long, especially in past centuries, archaeologists focused on history and languages while neglecting engineering, chemistry and the practical techniques that enabled survival and innovation. That's why the general public views our ancestors as 'primitive,' when in reality they possessed techniques many of which w…

> That's why the general public views our ancestors as 'primitive,' when in reality they possessed techniques many of which we've lost or still don't fully understand. Well stated. We often forget that people in the past had the same exact minds and abilities as the people of today and were in no way inferior or "primitive". I think this accounts for a lot of presentism that leaks into our understanding of history.

On the other hand, it's becoming pretty clear that the dark ages were not an exceptional period and that mostly, humans don't advance or even regress ... because they just don't see the point.

Re: 5,300-year-old 'bow drill' rewrites story of ancient Egyptian tools

#92

Post by orwin » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 12:34 PM UTC

dev_l1x_be wrote: post #65

thordenmark wrote: post #60

Conspiracy theorists have long pointed out the obviously drilled holes in stonework that was >5000 years old. Of course they want to attribute it to lost advanced technology, but the more believable answer is that ancient Egyptians had really refined mundane tools like a bow drill. I still want to know how the scoop marks were made in the ancient quarries. What tool could do that?

So they were right when questioning the chisel story? Btw. the scoop marks are still a mystery. I would not classify people who are challenging the current narratives conspiracy theorists, they are skeptics really.

People who don't have a theory are skeptics. People who do are not. And you can challenge any narrative you want, especially when no consensus exists. A lot of archeologists though bow drill was a reasonable explanation about some stonework, but as none were found (yet), none of them wrote about it. It is still talked about as interesting research subject. Another interesting subject is the usage of acidic mixtures in Inca stoneworks (to help grind stones). You won't see any layman article on it, but it is heavily discussed (just go on Reddit).

Re: 5,300-year-old 'bow drill' rewrites story of ancient Egyptian tools

#93

Post by IAmBroom » Wed, Mar 04, 2026, 4:58 PM UTC

spwa4 wrote: post #91

aydyn wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That's why the general public views our ancestors as 'primitive,' when in reality they possessed techniques many of which we've lost or still don't fully understand. Well stated. We often forget that people in the past had the same exact minds and abilities as the people of today and were in no way inferior or "primitive". I think this accounts for a lot of presentism that leaks into our understanding of history.

On the other hand, it's becoming pretty clear that the dark ages were not an exceptional period and that mostly, humans don't advance or even regress ... because they just don't see the point.

One could almost say that need creates innovative spirit, in a sort of motherly fashion.

I wish there were a shorter way to express this idea...