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LIFTED SPIRITS

Mystery of how Ancient Greeks built temples SOLVED after ‘world’s first crane’ found

THE ANCIENT Greeks were using the world's first "cranes" 150 years earlier than we thought.

Research shows some of the civilisation's earliest temples were built using a complex system of ropes, levers and logs around 2,700 years ago.

Prior to the Greeks, groups like the Ancient Egyptians used giant ramps to lift the huge stone blocks needed to create temples and pyramids.

That all changed with the invention of the crane – a contraption so effective that the way it works has hardly changed through history.

"The foremost discovery of the Greeks in building technology is the crane," said archaeologist Dr Alessandro Pierattini, from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, USA.

"No previous civilisations are known to have used it, and it has remained central to building construction without remarkable changes for nearly 25 centuries – because it was perfect."

These ancient stone blocks were used to build some of the earliest Ancient Greek temples. Grooves in the blocks (white arrows) reveal that a complex system of ropes and levers was used to lift them during construction around 2,700 years ago
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These ancient stone blocks were used to build some of the earliest Ancient Greek temples. Grooves in the blocks (white arrows) reveal that a complex system of ropes and levers was used to lift them during construction around 2,700 years ago
It's believed the Greeks invented the crane in the 6th Century BC. However, some of the ancient civilisation's temples were built 150 years before this. in the late 7th Century BC. Precisely how the Greeks constructed them remains a mystery
4
It's believed the Greeks invented the crane in the 6th Century BC. However, some of the ancient civilisation's temples were built 150 years before this. in the late 7th Century BC. Precisely how the Greeks constructed them remains a mysteryCredit: Getty - Contributor

It was previously thought the Greeks cooked up the idea for the crane in the 6th Century BC.

However, new research shows workers were using a complex lifting system nearly 150 years earlier than this.

Scientists looked at grooves carved into stone blocks leftover from some of the first Ancient Greeks temples.

Built in the cities of Isthmia and Corinth, the huge structures were put together using 400kg stone blocks some time in the 7th Century BC.

Artist's impression of Corinth during the Roman period
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Artist's impression of Corinth during the Roman periodCredit: jbrown67
The Greeks were great builders, with parts of their largest constructions amazingly still standing today
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The Greeks were great builders, with parts of their largest constructions amazingly still standing todayCredit: Getty - Contributor

An analysis of the grooves, combined with experiments with ropes as they would have been made at this point in history, reveals the rocks were carefully hoisted and dropped into position.

Ropes were passed through the grooves and wrapped around the stone, before it was lifted with a crane-like contraption.

Cuttings and grooves in several of the blocks suggests they were rolled into place after they were lifted using a clever system of rollers and levers.

This laid the basis for later, more complex cranes that would help the Greeks construct gigantic temples across their vast empire.

 

"While examining the blocks, I found evidence that after being lifted, the blocks were manoeuvred into place with a method anticipating the Classical period's sophisticated lever technique," Dr Pierattini said.

"The placement involved a combination of levers and ropes that allowed for lowering each block tight up against its neighbour already in place in the wall.

"This is the earliest documented use of the lever in Greek construction in historical times."

A brief history of Ancient Greece

Here's what you need to know...

  • The powerful Ancient Greek civilisation is generally regarded as emerging into the world in the 8th century BC
  • They ruled over a vast part of the world for centuries and this only ended when Greece fell to the Romans in 146 BC
  • The Ancient Greek Empire is well known for being sophisticated and for its connection to philosophers, artists, poets and other geniuses that still impact the world today
  • It is also regarded as the time in which the concept of a city-state was officially established
  • The Ancient Greeks invented the Olympics and their gods and impressive architecture are widely discussed and studied throughout the world
  • Before them came Mycenaean Greece, which was the last stage of the Bronze Age in Ancient Greece and lasted from approximately 1600–1100 BC
  • Mycenaen Greece perished with the Bronze Age but represents the first mainland civilisation in Greece and did influence the culture and innovations of the Ancient Greek Empire

Dr Pierattini said the find pushes back the invention of lifting machines by around 150 years.

The use of "proper" cranes, with winches and hoists, didn't come until later, he added.

The research was published in the .

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How do you think the Ancient Greeks lifted the blocks? Let us know in the comments...

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