Dolerite vs Granite | Could Ancient Egyptians carve obelisks?

What does it take to work granite with a stone hammer? Let’s experiment! We have tried working granite with dolerite hammers, just like those used by the Ancient Egyptians – watch the video to see the result!

Want us to do more experimental archaeology?

Experiment location and date: outer Moscow, 5 October 2019
Team:
- Nikolay Vasiutin
- @Senmuth
- Pavel Selivanov
- Alexander Sokolov
- Valeriy Mikhailov

Specific weight of granites – around 2,700 kg/m3
Specific weight of basalts, dolerites, gabbro-dolerites - around 3000 kg/m3
Small dolerite hammer efficiency working granite:
600 g/hr =222 cm3/hr
Dolerite rambling from small hammer:
249 g/hr =83 cm3/hr
Large dolerite hammer efficiency working granite:
840 g/hr = 311 cm3/hr
Dolerite rambling from large hammer:
229 g/hr = 73 cm3/hr

Filmed by Aleksander Zakharchenko
Edited by Kseniya Ablez
English voiceover: Dmitry Oliferovich
English translation: Maria Protopopova
Music by Spring Thaw - Asher Fulero, Belief - Silent Partner
We would like to thank Valeriy Mikhailov for his hospitality

Sources and extras:
Oleg Krugliakov’s article on the experiment:
Oleg Krugliakov’s article ‘Crushing Dolerite’
"Digging Up at the Bottom of the Nile" documentary
Crushing granite with granite (experiment):
Our visit to the Aswan quarries:

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Skype: ya-kudzo

[thechurchofdave]

It should be noted that the dust coming off there has a high % of silica in it. That can cause lung scarring and permanent lung damage. A couple times probably won't do much to you but prolonged exposure can significantly alter your life in negative ways. A dust mask or similar safety equipment is advised when cutting stone or glass.

[sharonjuniorchess]

I wonder how many Egyptian workers died of Silicosis: an interstitial lung disease caused by breathing in tiny bits of silica, a common mineral found in many types of rock and soil? Over time, exposure to silica particles causes permanent lung scarring, called pulmonary fibrosis.

[chriskelly]

How were the tests pits in the quarry dug out? Doesn’t seem likely by this method.

[_masssk_]

You guys gonna face new bunch of people who don't believe in science, but now in English! :D Wish you good luck. You deserve to be world-wide myth busters.

[russellmillar]

This test seemingly answered the question: " can you cut and shape a rock with another rock? ". The answer is clearly ...yes. Further it showed that fine grain granite can be used on course grain, but with inferior results to dolerite. Cutting and shaping granite was/is a multi step process that the Egyptians were well acquainted with. Most of the detail work is finished with abrasive sand, and is polished to the luster one sees on museum pieces.
Claiming that this solid demonstration doesn't answer every question raised about the construction of the majestic megalithic structures in the Nile valley is a valid observation. But, seeing this demo, the idea that " The Egyptians couldn't have cut and shaped those granite artifacts with the tools they had ", is just wrong. Thanks SAM

[OnBelayAndOK]

This is a monumental video. You have pretty much proven that this technique efficiently removes granite material (even better on limestone?) and it also creates the characteristic scooping patterns you see in Aswan and other places in Egypt. Well done!

[jonpaul]

My man just lift a 70 kilos stone. A rare sighting of a strong scientist😂

[AdvancedLiving]

You guys are amazing! I’ll take this over “alternative theories” and day. And NO, I do not expect you to make me a 100 ton granite box, the work you do speaks volumes. Thanks!

[Neodymigo]

Cutting stones were hung by rope from tripods and gin poles and swung. This greatly reduces the effort required to manually lift and strike the cutting stone onto the surface being abraded, not to mention increases the impact power. That’s why there are those scoop marks everywhere. The diorite stones often found are the pounder stone tip of wooden battering rams that were hung from A-frames. You need to put about 20, 000 psi onto a stone before it disintegrates at the impact point, and a rock in your hands doesn’t cut it.

[johndobbie]

I am convinced that granite was heated locally with carefully controlled fire. The rock will maintain its form when even at a very high temperature, but the moment it is doused with water, thermal shock can shatter or render the surface crumbly so that copper tools might be the used to shape.
There is a case I think in a Berlin museum where Egyptian statues in granite and black basalt remained intact even when the building was on fire with intense heat, but it was not until the firemen started squirting water on the flames that the statues then started to shatter.

[lonl]

Awesome Vid...chasing those Aliens away, One video at a time!

[Ancient.Egyptian.Prototyping]

Thankyou for your work on this, very interesting to see the tooling difference between these two stones.
I hope you are all safe and well. God Bless and Kind Regards, Lance.

[ScientistsAgainstMyths]

Want us to do more experimental archaeology?

[andrewbrass]

Really interesting stuff. It proves the maxim that "like cuts like" if nothing else. I wonder though, marks in the walls around the unfinished oblisk look a lot like the witness marks of a ball drill to me. I went there 30 years ago on holiday and had been using a ball drill a few weeks earlier. The parallel sides of the cuts and very similar depression widths at the bottom would look like that if done with a ball drill. Just to be clear - I have a degree in Physics+Geology so I don't for one second go for all this alien technology/laser/neutron cutting garbage but I think the Egyptians may have been a bit more sophisticated than many archaeologist give them credit for. The dolerite balls could actually be the balls used on the drilling tip in fact. There is also a shaft nearby that is maybe just under 1m wide, roughly square and about 10m deep. That could be drilled, but not pounded, there is no room in it to swing a pounder. It is only just wide enough to stand up in. I also saw zero evidence of any fire being used, no blackening of the walls anywhere for what its worth.


My 2 cents anyway.

[MrAchile]

Do you have any plans of a granite fire setting experiment? Keep up the good work!

[bennyfredriksen]

This did not convince me. And the scoop marks under the unfinished obelisk is not explained

[daveharden]

Such patience! I'm glad no fingertips were bashed.... lol! BTW, I love your demonstration videos. So, here's the latest from an Egyptian archaeologist. Apparently ancient Egyptians used a fire pretreatment. It speeds the process considerably. You should do a video demonstrating fire to SHAPE a granite megalith block and then do a cutting one again with fire but then throwing water and then VINEGAR on the hot stone. Fun Fact- in order to pass tight spots for elephants through the Alps, the Carthagenians cracked the stone with fire and vinegars! True story!

[SacredGeometryDecoded]

Excellent. Been waiting on this one in English. Saw your original on the other channel but good to hear those smaller details.
I don’t have any dolerite here in Sydney either. I played around with a black flint pebble on granodiorite. One of the black flint pebbles is broken at the end, little flakes break off as I pound and it seems to work faster. I wonder if by adding some small flakes of granite etc would increase productivity? As they act like tiny little chisels.

[enduroko_]

While I agree with science, and agree with the results, please carve one completely square replica of any given box or block found in granite there. And measure it to the same precision as in Egypt. Using the same tools. All you have proven here is that a dense rock outlasts a coarse rock within the same class of rocks. Please make us a granite box more precise than the table it was built upon. Keep up the good work. I love to see experimentation on this subject.

[Ollaniusperrson]

Losing half a pound of tool for ever pound of material removed it's so inefficient it's laughable