比古希臘起重機(jī)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(shuō)，如今遍布城市天際線的起重機(jī)，與希臘人在公元前6世紀(jì)末發(fā)明的起重機(jī)沒(méi)有太大的不同——這是一項(xiàng)非凡的工程。但新的研究表明，希臘人可能在發(fā)明起重機(jī)之前一個(gè)多世紀(jì)，就已經(jīng)使用了一種聰明的起重機(jī)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(guān)于希臘人是如何在起重機(jī)出現(xiàn)之前，建造他們巨大的石頭建筑的，以及起重機(jī)制何時(shí)開始替代傳統(tǒng)的坡道放置巨大石頭的問(wèn)題，存在著一些爭(zhēng)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(lái)自印第安納州圣母大學(xué)的建筑歷史學(xué)家亞歷山德羅·皮耶拉蒂尼(alessandro pierattini)，對(duì)最早的希臘神廟中的石頭進(jìn)行了新的分析。他聲稱，大約在起重機(jī)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(shù)上最重要的發(fā)現(xiàn)是起重機(jī)。”皮耶拉蒂尼說(shuō)。“在此之前，沒(méi)有任何文明使用過(guò)它。近25個(gè)世紀(jì)以來(lái)，它一直是建筑的核心，沒(méi)有發(fā)生顯著的變化——因?yàn)樗峭昝赖摹?rdquo;

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(gè)時(shí)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(guān)于繩子是用來(lái)把石塊抬到它們最后的安身之處，還是用來(lái)把它們拉出采石場(chǎng)，一直存在一些爭(zhēng)論。皮耶拉蒂尼說(shuō)，繩子最有可能是用來(lái)把石塊拉出采石場(chǎng)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(guò)分析古代石頭上的凹槽，并在歷史上的這一點(diǎn)上進(jìn)行了繩索的運(yùn)行試驗(yàn)，提出了一個(gè)關(guān)于建筑物流的新假設(shè)，得出這樣一個(gè)結(jié)論：一個(gè)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(chǎng)移走的石塊沒(méi)有任何凹槽的證據(jù)，進(jìn)一步支持了這樣一種假設(shè)，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(fù)雜的技術(shù)奠定了基礎(chǔ)。

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(shuō)：“在檢查這些石塊時(shí)，我發(fā)現(xiàn)有證據(jù)表明，在被拉起后，石塊被一種可預(yù)料的、傳統(tǒng)的、復(fù)雜杠桿技術(shù)的方法移動(dòng)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(gè)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(shí)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(rèn)為，這將提升機(jī)的使用時(shí)間提前了大約一個(gè)半世紀(jì)。然而，正如先前的研究所表明的那樣，使用適當(dāng)?shù)钠鹬貦C(jī)——包括絞車和起重機(jī)——直到后來(lái)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(xiàng)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(jié)構(gòu)可能是幾千年前建造的，但是想到通過(guò)一些偵探工作，我們可以追溯到使用的技術(shù)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(jié)道:“對(duì)溝槽深度、最大滑車重量和繩索強(qiáng)度的研究表明，最初關(guān)于溝槽用于提升的理論在技術(shù)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(gòu)造方面，似乎比用于采石的理論更有說(shuō)服力。”

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

這項(xiàng)研究已經(jīng)發(fā)表在雅典英國(guó)學(xué)校的年報(bào)上。