>>>>>...For instance, the explanations of how the gigantic pyramids were built with only slave labor are, IMHO, not very credible.
>>>>
>>>>Cecil B deMille! The great monuments of Egypt were built not by slaves but by oridinary folk in their spare time, or having been pressed into the job. And in a lot less time than one would think likely. They got paid, fed, watered, bedded and generally looked after. Because of the richness of the Nile valley they had more than one harvest a year and, during the summertime/growing phase (when de livin is easy) there was a vast levy of people to do the work.
>>>>
>>>>I've even been to the workers' village, near the Valley of the Kings, that supplied the artisans, craftsmen and labour that dug/built/decorated all the vast underground tombs.
>>>
>>>Even with modern technology, it is quite a feat to move blocks of about 5 tons each. And we are not talking about one or two, but many thousands of such blocks.
>>
>>It never ceases to amaze me the ingenuity and patience of historic Man. They reckon they built huge ramps that went around and up the developing pyramids, thus enlarging still more the construction area. Seems unlikely till you consider what just a Roman army would do to win a battle. They built 2 concentric ditch and earthworks encirclements of Versingettorix's stronghold, covering miles of land, to defeat the Gauls. They couldn't storm the Jewish cliff-top fort of Massala, so they built a huge, gently sloping earthworks ramp up to the summit. Before it was finished the Zealots saw the game was up and committed mass suicide.
>
>When I went to the Caribbean, my grandmother hired 50 men to move a refrigeration unit for the chicken eggs. I watched their preparations a bit. Then I sent a 12 year old boy to get a steel pole. Two men lifted one end of the unit and the boy pushed the pole under. 3 men pushed the unit and were able to move it.
>
>Just because you can't think of a way beyond getting 50 men to do the job, doesn't mean it can't be done easily.

Aye, I saw a prog. re: the building of those Inca temples - huge blocks. In a demo, a few men, with greased tree branch rollers, once they got over the initial inertia, were able to move the blocks quickly, efficiently with ease