If you are lucky and find yourself alone in front of the Mayan pyramid of Kukulkan in Chichen Itza, then an acoustic miracle is available to you. Clap your hands in front of the steps of the pyramid, and she will answer you with the cries of the sacred bird of the Quetzali Indians. And if you listen to the steps of the people rising, you will clearly hear the sound of falling raindrops. The same sounds are emitted by the pyramid of the moon in ancient Teotihuacan, El Castillo in Chichen Itza and the ruins of the pyramid in Tulun. How could the ancient Mayans do this, and most importantly, why?
Where does the sound come from
The people who could not invent wheels built pyramids - giant resonators that produce strange and exciting echoes. Acoustic scientists who have studied this phenomenon have found that the sounds of the pyramids do not depend on their designs: for structures with 364 even steps (Kukulkan) and where the steps alternate with rather wide platforms (the pyramid of the Moon), the sounds are the same.
This means that the matter is not in the internal structure of the pyramids. Most likely, the sounds of "raindrops" are created due to the interference and diffraction of sound waves arising from steps on the corrugated surface of steps. And the sounds are best heard at the foot of the pyramid. And the cavities inside the pyramid transform ordinary pops into the chirping of the sacred bird of Mesoamerica.
One can only imagine the thrill of the people gathered at the foot of the pyramids when, during the rituals, the priest climbed the stairs, accompanied by the sounds of falling drops and the cries of Quetzal himself.
Promotional video:
On the solstice days (twice a year), these sounds are an accompaniment to the light effect - a winged serpent sliding from the top to the foot. At about 17:00 Mexican time, the sun's rays fall on the steps and edges of the pyramid so that they form a shadow in the form of a huge snake. And this snake is moving! In 3.5 hours, she slides down the steps of the temple to the foot.
Such effects could be calculated and created by people who deeply studied acoustics, astronomy and mathematics. But where did the Maya get this knowledge? There was no documentary evidence of the calculations and implementation of plans to build amazing "chirping" pyramids.
How are these tasks being solved at present? Certainly not analytically, but only by modeling. Before the development of modern computer technology, layouts of the proposed structures were built and experiments were carried out on them. Making step-by-step changes to the design, by trial and error, we achieved the desired result.
But even in this case, there was some kind of prototype that was based on. This is how, for example, large concert halls were created.
Computers with large random access memory and high-speed performance make it possible to solve problems in acoustics by the method of numerical simulation. To compile a program in this case requires the work of a large number of specialists for a long time.
It remains a mystery how the ancient Maya could do such work.