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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

11:29 subscribe and ring the bell for our latest content.

11:32 [music]

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10 Ancient Technological Discoveries That Changed The World | Unveiled

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