比古希臘起重機更早的起重證據(jù)

Fundamentally, the cranes that dot city skylines today aren't hugely different from the ones that the Greeks invented sometime around the late sixth century BCE – a remarkable effort of engineering. But new research argues that the Greeks may have used a clever lifting mechanism more than a century before they even invented cranes.

從根本上說，如今遍布城市天際線的起重機，與希臘人在公元前6世紀末發(fā)明的起重機沒有太大的不同——這是一項非凡的工程。但新的研究表明，希臘人可能在發(fā)明起重機之前一個多世紀，就已經(jīng)使用了一種聰明的起重機制。

There's some debate over how the Greeks constructed their huge stone buildings before the crane arrived on the scene, and when lifting mechanisms might have started to overtake the traditional use of ramps to get huge stones in place.

關于希臘人是如何在起重機出現(xiàn)之前，建造他們巨大的石頭建筑的，以及起重機制何時開始替代傳統(tǒng)的坡道放置巨大石頭的問題，存在著一些爭論。

Architectural historian Alessandro Pierattini, from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana has now presented a new analysis of stone from the earliest Greek temples. He claims that blocks were being lifted and dropped into position around 150 years before the crane.

來自印第安納州圣母大學的建筑歷史學家亞歷山德羅·皮耶拉蒂尼(alessandro pierattini)，對最早的希臘神廟中的石頭進行了新的分析。他聲稱，大約在起重機出現(xiàn)150年前，石塊就已經(jīng)被提升并下落到位了。

Some of the stone blocks studied. (Pierattini, Annual of the British School at Athens, 2019)

"The foremost discovery of the Greeks in building technology is the crane," says Pierattini. "No previous civilisations are known to have used it, and it has remained central to building construction without remarkable changes for nearly 25 centuries – because it was perfect."

“希臘人在建筑技術上最重要的發(fā)現(xiàn)是起重機。”皮耶拉蒂尼說。“在此之前，沒有任何文明使用過它。近25個世紀以來，它一直是建筑的核心，沒有發(fā)生顯著的變化——因為它是完美的。”

Central to Pierattini's study are the rope grooves found in blocks from the period, used in temples including those at Isthmia and Corinth. There's been some debate over whether ropes were used to lift blocks into their final resting place, or to pull them out of the quarry – and Pierattini says the former is most likely.

皮耶拉蒂尼研究的中心，是從那個時期開始的石塊中發(fā)現(xiàn)的繩槽，這些繩槽被用于包括伊斯特米亞(Isthmia)和科林斯(Corinth)在內(nèi)的寺廟。關于繩子是用來把石塊抬到它們最后的安身之處，還是用來把它們拉出采石場，一直存在一些爭論。皮耶拉蒂尼說，繩子最有可能是用來把石塊拉出采石場的。

By analysing the grooves on ancient stones and running experiments with ropes made as they would've been made at this point in history, Pierattini put forward a new hypothesis on the logistics of construction, coming to the conclusion that a rope lifting system would be enough to raise these 200-400 kilogram (441-882 pound) blocks.

皮耶拉蒂尼通過分析古代石頭上的凹槽，并在歷史上的這一點上進行了繩索的運行試驗，提出了一個關于建筑物流的新假設，得出這樣一個結論：一個繩索提升系統(tǒng)足以提升200-400公斤(441-882磅)的滑輪。

Pierattini also found evidence of blocks moved from a quarry site without any grooves having been added, further backing up the hypothesis that the grooves weren't needed until it was time to put the stones in place.

皮耶拉蒂尼還發(fā)現(xiàn)了從采石場移走的石塊沒有任何凹槽的證據(jù)，進一步支持了這樣一種假設，即在將石塊放置到位之前，不需要這些凹槽。

On top of that, the researcher noted other cuttings and grooves in several stone blocks that suggested the blocks were rolled into place after being lifted, using a clever combination of levers and rollers that laid the basis for more sophisticated techniques.

除此之外，研究人員還注意到一些石塊中的其他巖屑和凹槽，這些巖屑和凹槽表明石塊在提升后被滾壓到位，使用了巧妙的杠桿和滾軸組合，為更復雜的技術奠定了基礎。

How the lifting might have worked. (Alessandro Pierattini)

 

"While examining the blocks, I found evidence that after being lifted, the blocks were manoeuvred into place with a method anticipating the Classical period's sophisticated lever technique," says Pierattini.

皮耶拉蒂尼說：“在檢查這些石塊時，我發(fā)現(xiàn)有證據(jù)表明，在被拉起后，石塊被一種可預料的、傳統(tǒng)的、復雜杠桿技術的方法移動到位。”

"The placement involved a combination of levers and ropes that allowed for lowering each block tight up against its neighbour already in place in the wall. This is the earliest documented use of the lever in Greek construction in historical times."

“布置包括杠桿和繩索的組合，可以將每個石塊緊緊地放在墻上已經(jīng)就位的相鄰石塊上。這是歷史時期希臘建筑中最早使用杠桿的記錄。”

Pierattini suggests this pushes back the use of lifting machines earlier than was previously thought, by about a century and a half. The use of proper cranes however – with winches and hoists – didn't come until later, as previous research has already indicated.

皮耶拉蒂尼認為，這將提升機的使用時間提前了大約一個半世紀。然而，正如先前的研究所表明的那樣，使用適當?shù)钠鹬貦C——包括絞車和起重機——直到后來才出現(xiàn)。

It's a fascinating piece of research that suggests Ancient Greek construction methods were even more innovative than we suspected. Their structures may have been constructed thousands of years ago, but it's fun to think that with a bit of detective work, we can trace back the techniques that were used.

這是一項引人入勝的研究，表明古希臘的建筑方法比我們想象的更具創(chuàng)新性。它們的結構可能是幾千年前建造的，但是想到通過一些偵探工作，我們可以追溯到使用的技術是很有趣的。

"Study of groove depth, maximum block weight and rope strength shows that the original thesis that the grooves were used in lifting is technically plausible," concludes Pierattini in his published paper.

皮耶拉蒂尼在他發(fā)表的論文中總結道:“對溝槽深度、最大滑車重量和繩索強度的研究表明，最初關于溝槽用于提升的理論在技術上是可信的。”

"Moreover, this thesis seems more compelling in explaining the grooves' peculiar dispositions than the alternative theory that they were used in quarrying."

“此外，這一理論在解釋凹槽的特殊構造方面，似乎比用于采石的理論更有說服力。”

The research has been published in the Annual of the British School at Athens.

這項研究已經(jīng)發(fā)表在雅典英國學校的年報上。