Today, everyone likes to think of themselves as the "crown of progress" and consider people in the past to be like savages who rode horses and shied away from any hint of technology, considering them witchcraft. In fact, many of the technologies that modern people think simply could not have existed in the past are not as modern as everyone thinks. Although they may seem primitive, they were quite effective and performed their function without requiring any electronics, and indeed without using electricity at all.
1. "Baghdad battery" found in the ruins of ancient Iraq
The "Baghdad Battery" was found in the ruins of what was once Ancient Iraq and is today one of the favorite subjects of controversy in the world of archeology. The find was a ceramic vessel with a copper tube and an iron bar. Despite the experiments of independent experts (the same "Mythbusters"), who proved that if an electrolytic solution is poured into a vessel, it will become a real battery, some archaeologists still persistently claim that scrolls were probably kept in this vessel.
If it really was a battery, the main question is what it was used for. It has been suggested that it was used to electroplate other metals with gold, but experts say this is not the case. Due to the total lack of any evidence of what the "battery" could have been used for, it has been suggested that it was intended for something like electrotherapy or other medical purposes.
2. Conditioners
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One of the greatest technological advances in recent decades is air conditioning. It is considered a modern invention, and harmful to the environment. Today, many do not even imagine how one can live without air conditioners and think with horror of those times when people had to “survive” without them. The truth is that many past cultures had their own conditioning methods that worked pretty well.
For example, the ancient Romans passed water from the famous aqueduct system through pipes in their homes and enjoyed the coolness at home all year round. Many structures in the hottest places in the Middle East have long been built in the shape of a spiral to capture the wind cooling them, while other cultures took advantage of the natural coolness of the underground and created houses or even entire cities that were partially underground. They also invented other tricks that hardly anyone would have thought of today. It may seem strange that people in the desert wrap themselves up in robes like cabbage, but there is every reason for this. It has been proven that such baggy clothing scientifically creates a cooling effect, since it completely covers the entire body (and, moreover, does not fit tightly to it) and does not let hot air through from the outside.
3. Balloons were used for messaging in ancient China
Today balloons still have their fans who love to soar across the sky "like birds", and not in steel aircraft boxes, but "feeling the wind on their faces." Sure, this is pretty scary, but if you have the proper preparation, experience and understanding of the weather conditions, such a walk can be safe and fun. Plus, balloon accidents are rare.
Long ago in ancient China, people used small balloons that were not meant to carry people or goods, but to send messages. By sending mini-balloons into the sky, a kind of burning "sky lanterns", it was possible to signal others that they needed help, or to issue military orders. As in the case of the invention of gunpowder, balloons were at first just a curiosity, but then they came up with a completely utilitarian purpose.
4. The ancestors of "refrigerators"
Refrigerators and the accompanying freezer are considered by most to be one of the most modern inventions, but people never wanted their food to spoil, so many different tricks have been invented over thousands of years. While we use a lot of electricity today, typically using substances like coal, and still need chemicals like freon, which are very harmful to the environment, the methods used to be much simpler. The Romans created underground freezers by bringing snow from the mountains, placing it in a cellar, and then putting an extra layer of earth on top. In such an underground chamber, they could safely store food.
Those who did not have access to such sophisticated methods (i.e. most people) simply exploited the fact that cold air is much denser than hot air. Or, as the saying goes, "hot air rises and cold air descends." This means that the deeper you are underground and the better you insulate the area, the colder it will be. Naturally, most people were unable to maintain a constant temperature as in a freezer, but most of them were at least able to maintain a temperature close to a constant temperature in a refrigerator.
5. The first firearms
Firearms are considered the most deadly today - they are used to constantly commit mass killings, and there is also a constant debate about whether the possession of weapons should be banned and an end to the constant military build-up around the world. Most people think that firearms have evolved over the last couple of hundred years or so, but in fact, they've just been actively used since then, and existed before.
The first firearms appeared much earlier than most people think.
However, the fact is that firearms were used in combat long before the battlefields were overrun with musket shooters. There are European medieval paintings of soldiers with guns (although it is known that Europeans did not use them often). On the other hand, the Japanese during the Middle Ages, from the mid-1500s to the 1600s, created many guns, actively used them in battles and took them into account when developing military strategies. Guns today are certainly much more powerful than they used to be, but the firearm has been in use for centuries.
6. Devices Similar to the Antikythera Mechanism
People today like to think that they have vastly surpassed ancient man in mathematics, but in reality they have not gone very far from their predecessors. The device, called the Antikythera Mechanism, was found in a shipwreck off the coast of the Greek island of Antikythera in the early 1900s. It literally changed the way scientists view the ancient world. The device is made of 37 different mesh and metal gears, and its principle of operation is insanely complex.
Antikythera mechanism and the like.
Essentially, the Antikythera Mechanism was designed as an analog computer that could predict the motions of stars, irregular phases of the moon, and other astronomical calculations for decades to come with incredible accuracy. The historians who studied it believe that the device was probably developed by a team of ancient Greek scientists, somewhere in the year 100-200. BC. Although today some people may find this device rather primitive compared to modern ones, remember that it does not use electricity, does not have a screen to display results, and in addition, it can perfectly calculate the movement of stars, requiring complex mathematical calculations and analysis.
7. Telegraph - the Internet of olden days
The Telegraph recently completely ceased to exist, and many people were saddened by the end of the old era of communication. Nevertheless, although the telegraph was abandoned in favor of other technologies, it was hardly primitive and provided the communication opportunities that most people tend to consider modern. The telegraph was cheap, easy to use, and allowed people to send messages quickly without the need for a phone call. Basically, it was a combination of the messenger and sms of today, and people used it all over the place.
Before the internet came along.
The telegraph had its own version of the chat, which was very similar to ours today, and people even each shared some kind of relevant memes via telegrams. Although the telegraph slowly declined in popularity as other technologies emerged in the following years, it was able to connect people in a way that the Internet does today.
8. Ancient cultures had amazingly sophisticated GPS equipment
Today, everyone takes for granted the GPS technology, for the use of which you do not need to "dance with a tambourine", but simply say to your smartphone where you want to get. Of course, the ancient cultures had nothing like this, but they had surprisingly sophisticated navigation devices.
Ancient GPS equipment.
Naturally, before there were no satellites to rely on, and people had to be guided by the location of the stars. However, just knowing all the stars and their locations, understanding ocean currents and everything else was not enough. Sometimes instruments were needed, such as the sextant invented by John Headley (there is reason to believe that Headley was influenced by the later writings of Isaac Newton). This device helped measure the angle between the horizon and the stars, and anyone with adequate astronomical knowledge could use it for extremely efficient navigation.
Therefore, centuries before the invention of computers and satellites, people could navigate well in space.
9. Condoms and 1000-year-old pregnancy tests
Birth control, accurate pregnancy tests … it seems that these are the conveniences of modern people, invented only recently. Few people know that people in the distant past also had access to these technologies. It is known that virtually every culture has used different methods of detecting pregnancy, including some form of urine analysis to determine if it is different from the urine of a woman who is pregnant.
With regard to condoms, in the Middle Ages in Europe, condoms were used that completely cover male dignity, which were made from animal intestines. Head-only condoms were used in China and Japan, and they were actually quite popular among the elite who could afford them.
10. Kevlar: everything new is well forgotten old
Usually everyone thinks that people in ancient times used leather and metal armor, until they realized that it was not particularly effective. After all, humans invented Kevlar, which provides much more protection. The truth, however, is that Kevlar is not at all any particular technological advance. It's just a lot of fibers, stitched together in very dense layers, which provides great resistance to any bullets or shrapnel.
Kevlar: everything new is well forgotten old.
The ancient Greeks used a similar technology, finding that it provided better protection from arrows than many other methods. Historians have tried to reproduce a special type of cloth armor (linothorax) worn by Alexander the Great and his warriors. It was made by compressing many layers of fabric, like Kevlar. They found almost no difference with modern technology.