Surprising Megalithic Find At Mitla In Oaxaca Mexico: Ancient Advanced Technology

[@mapsofbeing5937]

I went through many states of Mexico, including Oaxaca, and visited a couple ruins but never saw such obvious megalitic remnants. Thank you for sharing!

[@32ent70]

they always say its very fine work.but if u look at it abit better its actually very poor work and very uneven

[@32ent70]

alots just rocks piled together and then rendered over making it look like a super tight clean cut fitting. just caveman playing with rocks nothing special

[@andreasolsen3962]

Search for dreams of paradise - bock saga on youtube

[@mapsofbeing5937]

@@32ent70 then you build one if it's so easy

[@lawrencetrujillo7365]

@@32ent70 your very wrong and very indoctrinated. Bet you love meat too huh.

[@anderslunnerhag6031]

Thank you for your hard and tireless work trying to open the eyes of the academia's

[@enriqueestebanantoniosuare6414]

What amazes me is wear of the basalt...

[@raymondparsley7442]

The past speaks to the present, saying "lest you get too big for your britches look at this, look at me and my time". Amazing stonework... Much appreciated, thank you.

[@occamsrazor9183]

Most appreciated you let us walk with you, Brien...

[@humbertoarzatecastillo96]

Saludo amigaso México siempre con las puertas abierta para todos

[@adamheidecke9923]

Thanks for all the efforts and content!

[@ramses4530]

Oh wow Brien, thanks!!

[@billbradley2480]

Better quality construction at the bottom proves to me that humanity is devolving not Evolving.

[@genehasenbuhler2594]

We have been devolving from day ONE! Each time we are given a chance to become ONE with nature but we are a war society! From the first moment we attack fellow human's we are once again lost and our knowledge is diminished! The price we must pay!

[@Kingwoodish]

Reuse and Recycle. Olden people set a good example for modern peoples. It's good to see these ancient structures kept in good restoration and venerated. Thank you for filming this and pointing out the megalithic aspects.

[@daveyjoweaver6282]

It’s always amazing Brien. The tight fitting huge blocks of hard stone is mystical art and technology. Kind Thanks for bringing this to us! It is so much Appreciated! Love, Light, Peace and Joy of Being! DaveyJO in Pennsylvania

[@Ciskokid1970]

I Surf down in Oaxaca every Spring/Summer and never knew there were Mexica ruins in the State.. I will definitely check them out in August.. Thanks for sharing this great video

[@cantodelbosque11]

I have been to Mitla 4 times since 1986 and each time I go there I feel such a unique and strong energy, specially in the interior of the main palace! I just came back from beautiful Oaxaca last May and never forget to visit this magnificent archeological site, thank you for the explanations!

[@adamheidecke9923]

Awesome!

[@shayneelliott1625]

Every time this stuff makes my brain flip.

[@diamondsutra837]

GREAT CONTENT !!! Loving the concise clear voiceover !!! Thank you thank you thank you !!!!

[@an0n1m0us5]

Excellent video Brien. Sharp contrast between the megalithic stones and the rough work.

[@melissasueferrin3409]

Have you spoken to any archeologists? Here's a crazy thought--the mesoamerican cultures put really fine work around the outside, that was left exposed, then the rough work was covered with a type of plaster, and murals were painted on that--the rough work is required to hold the plaster. There is evidence of these murals both in Central Mexican sites like Teotihuacan and in Maya construction in the Yucatan.

[@StalinLovsMsmZioglowfagz]

They all said the megalithic sites, and their culture and science et al, were given to them “by the white gods”. It’s way older than them.

[@briangindling1266]

thanks for some reason amongst the madness

[@magnusdareus]

This. It looks rough because it'e literally in ruins, the smooth layer of brightly colored stucco that used to cover it is gone. So ignorant of this guy to assume it always looked like this and call it "crude work".

[@flowerdoyle3749]

@@magnusdareus Even so, why the different building styles....why didn't the continue with the finer blocking?

[@magnusdareus]

​@@flowerdoyle3749 Because of the extremely basic principle that different materials, techniques and styles serve different aesthetic, economic and functional purposes within the same building. Here the larger and more finely carved blocks were used in places where (a) more structural strength was needed and (b) the naked stone would be visible in the finished building. The rest of the walls are made of smaller rough stones because they would be completely covered in smooth plaster so no need to carve and polish each stone, lol. It's like looking at a modern building made of steel, concrete and glass and asking whit it's not ALL made of steel.

[@polygonalmasonary]

What does main stream academia say about the ‘obvious’ architectural differences? The two styles are like comparing an iPhone with a 1900’s wired telephone and it is highly unlikely that the same civilisation did both even with a few hundred years between each other. 😮😮😮

[@mariojager43]

Main stream academia don't like to stir the slit, they have relied upon a narrative that they don't want challenged.

[@kricketflyd111]

I was more interested in the different geometry at his location. I respect how Brien is excellent at discerning architectural difference between restorations but wish he would document the geometry difference as well. 😁

[@jomi9858]

There's no such narrow time gap between these two very different styles. It should be thousands of years in between. I assume all of you, experts in construction, architects, archeologists on your own, and more qualified voices... Are not exactly the kind of curious enough person to consider anything that goes beyond the limits. There's too much similarities in the architecture of ancient world. The olmécas are the people recognized as the mother culture in the Cem Anâhuac. According to some scholars, that people came from Africa, they were brought by Enki and they were the builders of Teotihuacán, that back then, was not known as Teotihuacán, this name was given to the place by the Mexicas(Me-shí-kas). They believed that the site was a sort of enlightenment temple complex, that's the reason of the meaning of the name; The place where men become gods". Now, nobody ask why there's remaining of a very highly advanced building technology in these ruin's and at the same time asking, where are the stones that shaped originally these sites? With all the records of destroyed and or damaged ancient sites, one should consider the such known; wars of the God's. Enki and Enlil and their clans wrapped in a technically advanced and destructive global war that left traces in much of the planet.

[@AgathaVelvet]

Great work Bryan.

[@forgotten_world]

Great video, amazing to see those details. Thank you.

[@CapricaSoul]

Its possible that the rough lower part has a core that stems from the megalithic period. But it is plastered over with rough stones and concrete.

[@schaerffenberg]

Really outstanding videographic coverage of one of Mesoamerica's most physically attractive sites! Have you considered using the lichen patches on a few of the pillars and especially on a large lintel to help arrive at a more precise date for construction, occupation or, more likely, abandonment? Also, is it conceivable that the finely-done masonry at the bottom contrasted by the rougher stonework above may not necessarily represent a cultural gap between earlier megalith-builders and later Zapotecs, but simply the original process or "style" of construction: sophisticated bases topped by rubble by the same building engineers?

[@stephenphillips4984]

Good question, but easily answered. Why would you ever bother to extract and finely cut to exact shape heavy blocks of stone as the base for walls, etc if you could just pile up odd blocks of different sizes and shapes? Earthquakes would topple loose piles of rocks and why would it matter to keep the remnants of walls intact by making their bases more resistant to earth tremours?

[@Charles-Darwin]

@@stephenphillips4984 Well that question could be answered with a date of the current state of the installation - there have been some major events and time since then - some x-thousands of years ago. The walls could have been adorned with a long-lost facade of guano plaster for all we know.

[@HanoiHustler]

Reminds me of times of war and siege warfare. And then growth

[@peterhernandez3790]

wow, I never knew this till today. Thanks for showing us.

[@fiending]

are those agave plants? 4:29

[@johnrhansonsr]

With basalt being one of the hardest stones on earth this finished work is absolutely amazing!

[@johnrhansonsr]

Thanks!

[@brienfoerster]

Thanks

[@brooklyn9398]

Fantastic 💪❤️

[@patriciapalmer1377]

Over 50 years ago, travelled the country from one end to the other. At Chichen Itza slept in a hammock, nowhere to stay.

[@wordzfailmebro]

Awesome thank you sir.👽👍

[@stewartbrands]

Very nice video.

[@iseverynametakenwtf1]

So where did all the blocks go that they replaced? Shouldn't they be around? They were massive and not likely just carried away. They weren't used in rebuilding anything in the area? The smaller stones used were not just chunks of the old stones.

[@sidstovell2177]

I live here. Ventures to areas around broken down, ignored ruins, we've seen farmers' houses built using old stones.

[@iseverynametakenwtf1]

@@sidstovell2177 wont account for the massive missing amount of stone

[@anguswilliam2141]

If Aliens are real, imagine if they recorded or have records of what actually happened here. I'd be enthralled with that.

[@stevefisher2553]

YES

[@ckotty]

Great video and analysis. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 👍🏽😘

[@GeigerCheck]

And they want us to believe that the culture who did the rough construction conquered the civilization of the fine construction.

[@scottbreseke716]

The culture who did the rough construction conquered the civilization that inherited the megalithic structures from an older civilization that were no longer around.

[@donnadieckman3201]

Brian, How about doing a segment in Greece on the megalithic stones in Agamemnon's tomb. Everyone would be amazed at the 122 ton lintel there.

[@mitzylynn7958]

Thank you, Brien 😎 I see , now, the advantage of traveling with you. I didn't see that on my visit , 30 years ago .

[@32ent70]

people say these are advanced people>>but do advanced ppl still play with rocks and dirt??

[@mitzylynn7958]

@@32ent70 my husband works construction, he and his crew play in mud and dirt and clay , all day , everyday 👍🏼

[@WillN2Go1]

Really interesting video. Thanks for sharing it. To corble you need leverage, so the two stacks would be towards the center of a beam, then applying weight on one side (maybe some lifting on the other side) tilts it on one stack raising it above the other stack -- you slide in a stick or a stone.... If you've ever corbled something like those beams you'll know that diagonal beam at 5:50 is probably a beam the group was trying to move by corbling, or balance walking (see the recent thinking on the Rapanui 'walking' moa, or Wally Wallington 'Wally-henge' a BBC video) and got it in a position they weren't able to fix. I think it's stuck, in a position that they couldn't get the leverage to lift it, shift it, or get anything underneath it to slide it. It may indicate the weight limit of the lifting timbers available to the re-users. What it also might suggest is that the later 're-users' of the Zapotec beams didn't or couldn't cut the beams to length. Anyone who works with stone probably knows how to propagate a crack - but then getting a clean edge may be beyond their ability or willingness to put in the work. This in turn would suggest that all repurposed beams with clean sides are original. I've often wondered if advanced 3D scans might be computer fitted to reveal the original structure.

[@marschlosser4540]

Our very ancient New World. niio, walk in beauty

[@darlahenri8095]

Why is information so suppressed? Appreciate all that brings information to us even without answers.

[@stevefisher2553]

Religion....

[@OGPatriot03]

@@stevefisher2553 Who's Religion?

[@stevefisher2553]

@@OGPatriot03 ALL

[@robertevans8126]

sharing

[@madeinusa5395]

I'm curious if there was a Starbucks nearby. It seems to be a pattern that wherever you find megalithic structures there won't be a Starbucks in the vicinity. This negative correlation might be used to locate previously unknown sites in the future.

[@halweilbrenner9926]

What a strange comment

[@alibie1262]

Your a funny personen. I need new under pens. Mainstream big firma somthing that looks like Coffee nearby a alternatief Information site. That will be the day.

[@joelsbowlsarejoelsgoals9636]

10:03 could they have built around the megalithic structures? I wonder if you were to chip away at the crude work and find a megalithic block under it. that could be a way for them to add to it but not have to lift a heavy block onto their lesser work. like slapping a layer of clay over what has already been built.

[@iverdugo80]

Interesting point, I think the so called "crude work" was actually done in purpose as an antisismic structure for walls and some under floor as well. Remember Oaxaca is a highly sismic zone, as well as Teotihuacan north of Mexico City. There are of course other kind of crude work notably done by other less advanced culture in engineering knowledge. Cheers!

[@bobbenoit8470]

The 2 columns at the very beginning of the video look like they have been poured. The pit marks look like the representation of air pockets trapped, just like what happens when you pour concrete in a form and don't use vibration to get all the air out. you remove the form afterwards and you see the small voids... just what it looks like to me

[@michaelharrison1093]

They definitely look like basalt on close inspection - they definitely catch your attention based on how smooth the surface is. I can't imagine how they could have got the shape and surface of these so perfect without some kind of specially designed machinery

[@sidewinder814u]

Thanks for the honesty of what is ACTUALLY our past, or was it another race of highly intelligent BEING'S.

[@kdeuler]

Interesting. Anything at the quarries that suggest how stones were cut and moved?

[@barney992]

domed mortice and tenons to join the lintels to the uprights were found . amazing that ancient skills found way to today . levers and inclined planes with rope knots could been used.

[@danbiss87]

Suggesting its too different civilizations is an insult. You think they weren't smart enough to know that they needed a firm footing to build on? They weren't stupid, its the same construction practice used today. older homes in europe and in new england often used stone for the footing and brick/wood on top.

[@68Mie]

The pillar room is seen in a dig in south eastern spain too. Is there a conection?

[@YouTuber-ep5xx]

What technique was used to shape the basalt blocks? What tools were required? What were the tools made of? Stone? Are any tool remnants found at these sites?

[@myview1875]

@4:30 Cacti corner. 🌵. 😀.

[@anguswilliam2141]

If you had to raise one of those huge blocks, one way would to be put long logs underneath then then hammer them with sledgehammers from lower to lift the block. Clumsy but possible. (repairing the lentils)

[@FaheemKhan-cx6kb]

great sir.💚🧡❤️💛💜🇵🇰🇵🇰🇵🇰 from Karachi Pakistan

[@Pakshya]

maybe the zapotec's just filled the rubble below the giant beams when the pillars below were half broken, rather than lifting the beams themselves

[@BR-hi6yt]

Great video - loved shots of those older lower layers. 12 000 BC? Or is that too long ago?

[@oldogre5999]

Those Massive blocks? Oh hell those are much further back than the Younger Dryas! I suspect up to a Million years further back and I'd not blink if it were more! One has to remember Science has no way to date actual stone itself! They always use "organic" material found around the stones!

[@BR-hi6yt]

@@oldogre5999 Thx for the info - probably those people with the big brains who laid them.

[@paulmanuse2353]

I was watching someone talking about the reverse side of the fitted joints, he said the other side is rougher and needs filler, is there any truth in that?

[@ave383]

Are these new findings?

[@tmastersat]

Yes you can raise heavy object by raising each side we used to do that with manhole covers when we were kids

[@heamorhoid]

I am so exhausted from all videos of megalithic stone work and human kind still have no clue what is our history. I´m starting worry that we never figure out how ancient civilizations done it. There must be some solid proof somewhere.

[@KKing55]

LOOK at the Floor ~! Are those Long Megalithic Blocks~?

[@jaybayer3670]

5:00 this one beam right here is really interesting. Seems really odd they would decide to carve one single stone like that and put it in such a random spot.

[@389293912]

How were the Zapotec able to know that their mortared stone walls could support those huge lintels. Looks risky.

[@chrisretired5379]

TLAZOCAMAHTI ! 💝💝

[@carlthornton3076]

Very Good!... #55 ✝ {6-30-2022}

[@ainsleystevenson9198]

We are certainly looking at a worldwide ‘loss of ability’!

[@benjigirl1971]

BRIEN, I appreciate your work very much. Some feedback- you don’t need to repeat the same description for every new shot. The ‘fine fitted stone on the bottom, relative rubble on top’ type of comment. We see and understand from the first description or two what to see. We are smart enough to apply that to each new picture. It drives me a bit mad. Often you say the same thing dozens of times.

[@chandnikumarov4459]

He can say whatever he wants to say . He is doing the work of visiting the sites.Are you doing the work?

[@chandnikumarov4459]

@@cashgrab3139 can you put huge stones like that on top of each other and can you tell me how it was done? And I am talking about all those huge stones all over the world.

[@chandnikumarov4459]

@@Eyes_Open yes...but no one knows what advantage was used and how.

[@chandnikumarov4459]

@@Eyes_Open I would like to see you do it.

[@chandnikumarov4459]

@@Eyes_Open don't tell me what I would believe or what I would not believe...you don't decide for me...I believe FACTS...I would like to see you use levers, pulleys,ramps, ropes and earth and put huge slabs of stones in specific places...please do it. Please!!!

[@mikeshanermusic]

Brien, if you could jump in a time machine and go back to see one thing being built, what would it be?

[@ianwilliams7080]

There is so much we do not know about the history of our world, who was here and what technology they had. Anyone who looks at these structures and say a they know the story is guessing.

[@steveevans946]

I wonder if the massive lintels and beams, at times, had more elegant original support pillars still in place which were shored up with a crude wrapping of small stones.....

[@LawofMoses]

How far down do the big straight stones go?

[@HanoiHustler]

Remind when you find tombstones in the defensive walls of England.

[@seanmiller9304]

So what we see from the past is the stuff that could not be burned or corroded away like motorized ground vehicles flying machines And high tech tools and computers

[@gmo3230]

Maybe there's those round basalt pillars buried in the rubble work?

[@danaj9336]

If those are basalt columns and beams, they are VERY weathered, and must be VERY old. Basalt is very hard and weathers slowly. It would be interesting to get a geologist to look at them and estimate how old they could be.

[@ericmartin8937]

Hmmm... Solid, level foundation; Robust support columns and lintels, and the most economical materials possible everywhere else, with a protective and decorative coating on top. Sounds like smart building practice to me. We still do it that way.

[@philliphanford2792]

LOL, the "Zapo-techs", they were rock-stars. Well our megalithic buddies were certainly in Mitla. I would not call them Kemetian as they do in Egypt because it was a global culture. How about "our Megalithic Buddies"?

[@Brentster1953]

Some of the precise fitted stones give me the impression they were put in place to retain water, if not block water from entering? Public pools, or possible drinking water, from rain seasons? With such intelligence to be that good, at construction, there must be other features of intelligent design\?/

[@danbiss87]

Exactly and the fact that we've been building like this forever (strong footers and headers) and still do. Just go to England or United States and you'll find granite at the foot and bricks everywhere else, and granite blocks (lintels) above windows and doors. They also extended as shown here above the water table, probably to prevent mortar from washing out.

[@jasonmarshall7983]

GEOPOLYMER, its geopolymer, but we think its natural carved stone. When you consider this, the WHOLE game changes !

[@Antique803]

Seems as though we, as a civilization, are close to another turning point via war, food shortages, and political doom. I for one would just as soon they get the show on the road. Prepping like a maniac at 70…wtf?

[@PACstove]

When i call someone a "copper chisel", its meant as an insult. It means you aren't the sharpest tool in history, and the shed.

[@gallerygaal620]

1 HAVE TO THINKING,, 2 LOOKING THE MEGALITHIC STONES,,,4 3 AND TELLING THE ALIENS NICE GUYS WERE OVER THERE,,, 4 AND WORKING TO MUCH ,, 5 AND WAKE UP ,,, THANK YOU ALL NICE VIDEO

[@oldogre5999]

I've asked this Question to several different sources before and get snubbed every time but here goes again; Instead of dating the Organic material AROUND these sites and hope they get uncontaminated material why don't they just go for the best possible source of Organic material in these walls to start with? Find a wall that they know has not been disturbed, one that uses keys to lock the walls together. Use whatever method best to tilt one of those blocks up just enough to expose the Key-way, take a small Hepa Vac and vacuum the hell out of that key-way and perhaps do this to several key-ways and have the testing done on THAT, just seems to me that it would give a far more accurate test of the date of construction right? Besides SOMEONE must have found and tested some of the Keys themselves right?

[@theGoonezone]

same picture : the older ones...huge Stones...fitting perfeckt... Hmm... around the Globe! What happend ? .. What timeline? .. who ? Great work !!!

[@gobl-analienabductedbyhuma5387]

8:35 evidence of geopolymer? Why does the "stone" loose sheets?

[@jettison8390]

👍👊💯

[@levitatingoctahedron922]

so tired of people saying things that bored teenage boys could do with enough dedication are proof of ancient technology just roll it on logs

[@oldogre5999]

#Brian_Forester @Brian_Forester Why would they take the time to raise those lintel stones up by each end when they could raise them up all at once? People ASSUME these ancient peoples had no wooden timbers to use because none grew at location but that is not true! While not being able to afford working & hauling huge quantities of timber for building material for vast distances I bet they would have hauled pre-cut dimensional timbers to be used AS TOOLS! Especially tools that could be re-used over for years if not decades. As someone who jacked up and moved entire buildings as a young man I can attest to the value wooden cribbing, beams and levers would be to someone jacking up stone blocks! Especially blocks of that dimension! Why would you lift the entire weight of that massive beam TWICE for each rise in height over and over again when you could lift the entire thing straight up using ***levers, blocks and cribbing and lift it up slightly higher than needed in one shot clean to the top and build your wall and then let it back down a few inches or feet? Guesstimating from looking at those ten ton lintels it would take less than two pickup loads of cribbing to lift one of those about 8-12 feet off the ground with a set of 4 foot by 4 foot cribs underneath it, and if they used 12 inch square cribbing it would be more than stable enough to hold that weight. ***Levers... Speaking of levers: Those tits sticking out of many of those massive blocks all around the globe, seems to me those would make great places to use as lever pivot points to lift those blocks up by! Not that it makes too much difference but do those blocks have those tits jutting out on opposite sides of the blocks or on just one side? Reason I'm asking is that if on both sides they could "jack" those blocks up at a phenomenal rate by having lever crews on all four tits, the two crews on one side lifts the stone up 6 inches or so at a time and shoves blocking under it, the crew on the other side does the same thing on their turn by continually raising the blocking under the lever and the tit the only limit on how high they could lift these stones would be how much cribbing they have, and even that would not be a major issue if they pulled everything every 4 feet or so and built temporary stone or earthen "porches" or ramps and re-set the levers again. They could do the same thing with just two tits per block but it would take much longer... Of course it would take only half the cribbing and manpower too... People forget this method requires no materials or tools other than wooden blocks and poles and man power. No nails hammers, axes or ropes!

[@Travis_Hackney]

NO WAY zapotecs did ANY of that MEGALITHIC work...ALL of the tight-fitting megalithic work was found, and the zapotecs added all that rubble construction on top of it for their own purposes...when looking at all the rubble-work, I couldn't help but think: what load bearing structures are UNDERNEATH all that rubble because RUBBLE COULD NEVER HOLD UP THE MEGALITHIC WORK

[@Travis_Hackney]

@@Eyes_Open the age megalithic work in comparison to the rubble work, the absence of any tools or methods capable of constructing the megalithic work, the fact that the megalithic work was so geographically isolated in comparison to the zapotec cultural footprint, the fact that the zapotecs attribute the megalithic work to gods and legends....what more do you need? just look at it: you can shape transport and lift megalithic materials, but then you backfill them with rubble? seems like the juxtaposition of two different cultures with two different technological capabilities at two different times...maybe I should just let you think for me, huh? show me the quarry, contemporaneous to zapotec times, show me the road from the quarry to the site, engineered by zapotecs and built by zapotecs contemporaneous to their periods of existence AND capable of supporting the weight of these megaliths...NONE of that evidence exists because it is an OPINION that zapotecs built the megalithic components of these structures...there is no supporting PROOF that zapotecs did the megalithic work...

[@cameronpoole174]

These walls very well could be made, as you say, by different cultures, but a change in stone working styles is not necessarily evidence of that. Look at most European medieval castles and you’ll see finely cut foundation and corner stones surrounded by much rougher work. We don’t look at those and just assume they were built at different times. You also shouldn’t do the same with these structures. You need more evidence. Presenting circumstantial stuff like this as fact is why pseudo-scientists get a bad rap.

[@stevehammel2939]

Volcanic concrete

[@brianstaples4057]

How do you align 6 ton blocks so perfectly flat even at long distance on top of simple rubble construction? Something different is happening here that goes across and far as the millennium. Several entities involved here.

[@stevel.2759]

Oaxaca is a seafaring region. Imagine seeing extraterrestrials coming over the water.

[@tonygiles9704]

As an architect, mortar crumbles due to salts at low level, so build without mortar near the ground. It is usual to use rendering over rubble stone above these plinth courses.

[@zeiddouak9833]

May our CREATOR Forgives us and Elightens us more and more I find in EL QURAAN that a building in form of doors and gates : the original form "ABWAB" is not just for pleasure or glory. it have a great impact on the Earth. you can find its impact and the impact of another kind of structures if you keep listening and reading the MESSAGE of our GOD CREATOR : THE MOST SERIOUS

[@petergambier]

Fascinating masonry work thanks Brien. The conservation work was pretty shite and I doubt they ever used like for like materials. As a builder and mason I was surprised to see at 2:53 how the lintel barely stretches to the other side when normally a 4 to 6 inch length is required to cover either side of a doorway and this one doesn't, it seems to falls short by 3 to 4 inches, just surprised they haven't thrown in another metal RSJ. In any case it's pretty obvious that the original builders with their beautifully faced, mortar-less stone work and design were far more skilled than the later builders who didn't have the same skillset or clue how to do it properly. At 3:40, here is a thrown together, rubblestone wall with the massive lintel sitting on 2 smaller sized stones, either side of the doorway yet, to the left of that, built on at a later stage, is a rubble stone wall but with huge area's of cement mortar between the stones which makes me think this is a modern repair done by a team of cack-handed bell-ends. Same story at 4:48 but this time it's the top work that's new and this time the rubble stone work has been built in layers and is very different from all the other surrounding work. The massive block at 5:54 looks like 2 stones stuck together because there is a very distinct straight edge line to the left of the thin white post that continues along the upper face, and on the other side is the carved pattern of a top piece as we can see at the top of the wall in 6:07.

[@magnusdareus]

Gotta love these armchair archaelogists figuring it all out just by looking at KZbin videos.

[@petergambier]

@@magnusdareus, nope, it's called being a mason and about 40 years in a trade.

[@magnusdareus]

@@petergambier I apologize for my previous tone and, as someone who has actually been there, looked at the stones up close and talked to archaeologists on site, I'll try and have a more productive exchange: -The block at 5:54 is indeed one single stone. The straight line you see is an indentation carved into the stone, not a joint between two different pieces of rock. -The "rubblestone walls" are not the crude work of unskilled builders as the video's wording implies. They look rough because the thick layer of completely smooth stucco that originally covered them is gone. The huge blocks of masonry were used where more structural strength was needed (foundations, corners, lintels, columns), and they were finely carved and expertly assembled because the naked rock would be visible at those places, in order to show off the mason's skill. The walls themselves were made differently because those stones wouldn't be visible in the finished building: the visual element on display in that case were the brightly colored murals painted all over the stucco (a few small sections of that painted stucco remain). If one day you visit the site, the intricate stone fretwork placed over many of the so-called rubblestone walls (and only briefly glimpsed in this video, never prominently displayed) will dispel any notion that the Zapotecs were unskilled masons and not the original builders of the megalithic elements of the site. -You're right about the spots where the mortar between the stones looks different, those are modern restorations. However, it's not because the restorators were hacks, it was done that way on purpose so archaeologists and visitors could tell which parts of the buildings stand as originally found and which have been re-erected or intervened.

[@petergambier]

@@magnusdareus, thanks for the response as well as the long and comprehensive reply Dario. As you said they had a thick stucko over most of it and thanks for pointing out what you did. All the best from England.

[@FaheemKhan-cx6kb]

how they cut stone in very high finished

[@jalspach9215]

3:18 It's called cribbing. Furthermore, making uneducated assumptions about construction phase progression in ancient monuments is called shotgun science. "Crude work" doesn't necessarily mean it's not contemporary & in situ with the finer ground sill, courses & lintel work.

[@sixfigureskibum]

Soooo. Devils advocate question. If there was fully constructed megalithic structures. Then zapotek found these perfectly cut stones in situ and proceeded to add as you say rubble which better defines as the remains of a structure after a cannon blows it up. But the rough stone and morter construction . With a few found big perfect stones mixed in. WHERE IS THE REST IF THE ORIGINAL STRUCTURE? and Why is the base couse in perfect condition if the top was exploded off? Even prying apart would damage the edges

[@kimberlyperrotis8962]

We geologists (US) pronounce basalt as buh-SALT, accent on the last syllable🙂

[@brienfoerster]

uh huh

[@dougalexander7204]

Basalt is harder than a hickory stick on a hobby horse. How?