Our world is built on the ideas and achievements of ancient civilizations: much of that, without which we cannot imagine life, has been inherited from our distant predecessors. However, not all ancient knowledge has survived to this day. We are talking about 3 lost technologies of antiquity, the secret of which has not yet been revealed.
Greek fire
One of the most famous lost technologies of antiquity is a weapon called "Greek fire" used by the Byzantines. This weapon was, in fact, a primitive form of napalm and was a combustible mixture that was erupted from special devices - siphons. Moreover, this mixture had rather specific properties - for example, it was difficult to extinguish it.
When it hit the surface of the water, it continued to burn, which led the enemy troops to real horror. For this reason, and also because the Greek fire had a low range, and it posed a serious danger only for the slow and clumsy ships of that time, it was used mainly in naval battles.
He did his job admirably: if on land the Byzantine troops usually suffered defeat from the Arabs, then at sea, thanks to Greek fire, they had a serious advantage. However, some historians believe that Greek fire was more of a psychological weapon: the flame erupting with great noise and smoke, which could not be extinguished by anything, forced the enemies to stay away from the Byzantine ships.
In fact, Greek fire technology is of little interest to the modern military: after all, something similar has been used for many years. And yet, the exact recipe for the very mixture that was used in ancient battles is still unknown.
It probably contained oil and quicklime in varying proportions, but the rest of its components are questionable. It is believed that it could also include sulfur, saltpeter, powder mixtures and vegetable resins.
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Inca polygonal masonry
The ancient civilization of the Incas, which did not know writing, wheels and iron, meanwhile left a rich historical and cultural heritage. One of the most important achievements of the Incas was the perfection of the art of polygonal masonry. The Incas created somewhat crude and poorly decorated structures, but they were monumental and at the same time so neatly and delicately laid that it is still surprising.
The fact is that the ancient master masons adjusted massive stone blocks so evenly that after joining between them it was impossible to squeeze even a needle or a leaf from a tree. Some blocks were hewn into dozens of corners, and other blocks were perfectly fitted to them. And the Incas did not use any bonding materials: the stones were held together only by their own weight. The structures in the famous ancient city of Machu Picchu were built using this particular technology.
The creation of such masonry was a necessity for the Andean civilizations. Living in conditions of high seismic activity, they had to make their buildings as stable as possible. There is nothing surprising in the art of polygonal masonry itself: it was actively used until the beginning of the Middle Ages, until more advanced building structures were invented.
However, it is still not really clear how the Incas managed to process stones with such jewelry, what kind of tools they used and how, in fact, they moved huge stone blocks.
Antikythera mechanism
The mysterious bronze mechanism was raised from the bottom of the Aegean Sea in 1900, studied in detail since 1951, and guessed until the approximate date of invention - 190-85. BC - but only in 2016 did they understand what it was for. The ancient Greeks created a device that was ahead of thought by several millennia.
The Antikythera Mechanism is the first analogue computer in history: 37 bronze gears and several dials showed the time in different cycles, predicted solar and lunar eclipses and marked the phases of cosmic bodies. With its help, the Greeks marked the time of sowing and harvesting, the Mysteries and the Olympic Games, and tracked the dates with the utmost precision for their time. Mankind did not create anything more complicated until the 18th century.
However, scientists still have not been able to understand why, in addition to astronomy, the ancients could use this device. Obviously, his functions were not limited only to this industry - it is too complex. And it is still not clear whether the ancient computer was a single copy, made to order, or whether similar calculators with a calendar were available to many.