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> when we can't even figure out all of the wonders accomplished by our ancestors and to the precision of the way they built so many of structures that still exi
by abritinthebay 9y ago
> when we can't even figure out all of the wonders accomplished by our ancestors and to the precision of the way they built so many of structures that still exist today
Err, source?
There are a few surprising examples of advanced stuff (Damascus Steel for example) but almost always they are due to taking advantage of luck/sources (like Damascus Steel) rather than inherent skill or design that was "lost".
Have any examples in mind?
- thaumasiotes 9y agoSocietal loss of skill is well attested; Mycenaean fortresses were so impressive to the post-dark-age Greeks that they assumed the fortresses had been built by cyclopes rather than men. (Also, the Mycenaeans kept written records; their writing system was lost and the classical Greeks had to develop a new one.) And the Australians who colonised Tasmania soon lost most of the technology they'd brought with them. Whether we today can understand how to build massive stone fortresses or make bows and arrows is a somewhat different question.