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00:00 We've had to rethink the history of technology completely as a result of this single object.
00:06 This is Unveiled, and today we're counting down our picks for the most amazing ancient
00:10 relics that display great technological innovation.
00:14 The challenge for the Roman engineers was to keep the water flowing at the same speed
00:19 on its entire journey.
00:21 10.
00:22 The Roman Dodecahedrons
00:23 Since 1739, over 100 copper dodecahedrons have been found throughout Europe.
00:30 These objects are typically quite small, measuring between 1 and 4 inches, and date back to the
00:35 second century.
00:36 This one, being a Roman dodecahedron, is hollow, and as you can see it has these holes.
00:43 Each face has a different sized hole.
00:45 While they look like something out of a steampunk movie, we have no idea what they were used
00:50 for.
00:51 A host of theories have been put forth, ranging from the religious to the mathematical, but
00:56 the truth may be far more mundane.
00:58 Some experts theorise that they were used to spool knitted gloves, even though they
01:03 predate spool knitting by about 1,000 years.
01:07 This theory has been bolstered by modern technology.
01:09 3D printed versions of the dodecahedrons have been made, and successfully used to make knitted
01:15 gloves.
01:16 9.
01:17 Zhang Heng's Seismoscope Living between the years 78 and 139, Zhang
01:27 Heng was one of China's greatest minds.
01:30 He did a little bit of everything, from cartography and engineering to art and philosophy.
01:35 Zhang also fancied himself a seismologist, because why not, and created the world's
01:41 first seismoscope.
01:54 Used to measure the direction of earthquakes, it's a primitive but no less impressive gadget
01:59 that demonstrated its maker's knowledge of directional sensitivity.
02:03 The device was shaped like an urn and contained eight dragons, which corresponded to eight
02:08 directions of the compass.
02:10 A single bronze ball ejected from the dragon's jaws would determine the exact direction of
02:15 the earthquake.
02:16 This design was at once consummately scientific and simply effective.
02:21 When a distant earthquake occurred, a ball would drop out of one of the dragon's mouths,
02:26 indicating from which direction it materialised.
02:29 It's unknown what happened to the original seismoscope, but various reconstructions have
02:33 since been produced.
02:52 When you think of amazing technological discoveries, concrete probably doesn't come to mind.
02:57 But there's a reason ancient Roman buildings and bridges are still standing, and that's
03:02 because they made killer concrete.
03:14 Roman concrete, or opus caementicium if you want to be fancy, was used in iconic buildings
03:20 like the Pantheon and Colosseum.
03:23 The great thing about Roman concrete is that it is basically indestructible, and that's
03:27 thanks to two key ingredients.
03:30 Quicklime and a type of volcanic ash known as pozzolana.
03:45 The ash prevents cracks from forming and spreading, but if they did, the quicklime allows them
03:50 to self-repair.
03:51 This is the Wolverine of concrete, and the Romans had it figured out 2,000 years ago.
03:58 7.The Nimrud Lens
04:00 Back in 1850, English historian Austin Henry
04:03 Layard was working in the Assyrian city of Nimrud when he found a small rock crystal
04:09 measuring just over one inch in diameter.
04:12 The crystal dates back to about 750 BC, and now, thousands of years later, is housed inside
04:19 the British Museum.
04:21 While no consensus has been reached regarding its function, many convincing theories have
04:25 been published.
04:26 One theory posits that it was used to start fires, like a kid playing with a magnifying
04:31 glass.
04:38 And speaking of magnifying glasses, well, that's another leading theory.
04:43 Some even take this theory further, assuming the lens was used in some sort of ancient
04:48 telescope.
04:49 6.The Lycurgus Cup
04:52 Remember that "is it black and blue or white and gold" dress?
04:55 It all started with a simple plea for help.
04:58 Scottish singer Caitlin McNeill posted to her Tumblr site, "Guys, please help me.
05:03 Is this dress white and gold or blue and black?"
05:06 Well, this is like the ancient version of that.
05:09 Dating from the 4th century, the Lycurgus Cup is an exceptional piece of craftsmanship
05:14 that was well ahead of its time.
05:16 The cup's outer shell depicts the mythical Greek figure Lycurgus of Thrace, which is
05:22 impressive enough.
05:23 But the real beauty here is the dichroic glass that was used in the cup.
05:28 Thanks to nanoparticles of gold and silver embedded inside the material, it changes colour
05:33 depending on the light source.
05:35 When lit from behind, the glass appears red.
05:38 When lit from the front, green.
05:40 The construction of this glass is unbelievably complex.
05:43 In fact, researchers don't know how the makers incorporated the nanoparticles of gold
05:48 and silver.
05:49 5.The Ljubljana Marshes Wheel
05:53 As unexciting as it may be, the wheel is our technological masterpiece.
05:57 It's definitely one of the most important and enduring tools.
06:00 And if we want to find the granddaddy of wheels, we must travel to the Ljubljana Marsh.
06:06 Located south of Slovenia's capital of the same name, the Ljubljana Marshes once housed
06:11 a community of stilt houses.
06:14 And in 2002, archaeologists working in the area uncovered an ancient ash wood wheel measuring
06:21 28 inches in diameter.
06:22 Further research showed that this wheel belonged to a pushcart and is approximately 5,000 years
06:28 old.
06:29 This makes it the oldest wooden wheel ever discovered.
06:33 4.Aqueducts
06:35 Humans are masters of ingenuity.
06:37 If the wheel isn't impressive enough, may we present aqueducts.
06:41 If we tried to live in a specific location that didn't have enough water, we brought
06:46 the water to us.
06:47 They built the majestic arched aqueducts we know today.
06:54 These plumbed into a network of fountains that fed water to a million Romans.
06:59 Aqueducts date back to the Minoans, who likely made the first ones on Crete around 2000 BCE.
07:05 The Assyrians also constructed complex aqueduct systems in the 7th century BC, bringing water
07:11 to their capital city of Nineveh.
07:14 And surprisingly, we're still finding ancient aqueducts.
07:18 "Segovia's famous aqueduct bisects the city's central plaza.
07:24 It looks like a Victorian railway bridge, but it's around 2,000 years old."
07:30 In October 2023, archaeologists found one in Jerusalem that dated to the city's Roman
07:36 period and fed King Herod's Palace.
07:39 It has been called one of the grandest and most sophisticated water projects in the ancient
07:45 world.
07:46 3.
07:47 Lunar Calendars
07:48 The Gregorian calendar, aka the one most of us use, is an example of a solar calendar,
07:55 that is, a unit of time based on the Earth's position in relation to the sun.
08:00 "Historically, you could have two calendar systems, either one that's based on the sun,
08:04 the brightest object in the sky, or on the moon, which is the second brightest object
08:08 in our sky."
08:09 This is in contrast to the lunar calendar, which is based on the phases of the moon.
08:15 While we now take them for granted, calendars are a brilliant invention, and they were made
08:19 by our distant ancestors.
08:21 Some believe that the moon was used to measure days up to 30,000 years ago, and markings
08:27 on a 27,000-year-old bone baton may be some type of early timekeeping device.
08:33 And in 2004, the National Trust for Scotland unearthed a monument dating to 8,000 BCE that
08:41 they believe is the world's oldest calendar.
08:44 "It represents a time when people became concerned with anticipating, measuring time, and in
08:51 some ways represents the start of history."
08:54 2.
08:55 The Baghdad Battery
08:57 Did ancient civilizations have a primitive form of electricity?
09:00 That's the question at the heart of the Baghdad Battery.
09:04 This isn't a singular battery, but a series of interconnected devices, a large ceramic
09:09 pot, a smaller tube of copper, and a rod made out of iron.
09:14 When paired with an acidic liquid like vinegar, this device would generate a small electric
09:19 current that could be used for electroplating or shock therapy.
09:24 This was the leading theory put forth by Austrian archaeologist Wilhelm Koenig, but most modern
09:30 experts have rejected the idea.
09:32 Regardless, a replica of the battery was made on Mythbusters, and they were able to generate
09:38 4 volts of electricity.
09:40 So while unlikely, it could plausibly be used as a small battery.
09:46 1.
09:47 The Antikythera Mechanism
09:48 The ancient Greeks were so advanced that they created the world's first analog computer.
09:55 Found northwest of Crete is the Antikythera Wreck, an ancient Roman ship dating to the
10:01 first century BCE.
10:03 This wreck was found by sponge divers in 1900, and inside was the now-famous Antikythera
10:10 Mechanism.
10:11 "It was not recognized at all as being anything interesting when it was discovered.
10:14 It was just a corroded lump about the size of a large dictionary."
10:18 The device is intricately designed, containing a complex system of gears and wheels.
10:24 It was extensively used to study astronomy, predicting the orbit of the moon, the dates
10:28 of future eclipses, and the positions of planets and stars.
10:32 "And it uses bronze gear wheels to calculate the cycles of the cosmos."
10:38 It was also used to track the cycle of the Olympiad, thereby determining the dates of
10:44 the Olympics.
10:45 It was an ancient event planner, celestial calendar, and computer, and it's one of the
10:50 most fascinating discoveries in human history.
10:54 "It is completely astonishing that the ancient Greeks firstly had the conception of making
11:00 this technology, and secondly the ability to actually physically make it."
11:04 Are you amazed by these devices?
11:06 Let us know in the comments below.
11:08 "So the first part is made of Roman concrete that has inside fragments of travertine stone
11:16 and tufa stone, which are heavy and very compact.
11:20 Step by step, this material is getting lighter."
11:22 What do you think?
11:23 Is there anything we missed?
11:25 Let us know in the comments, check out these other clips from Unveiled, and make sure you
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