3D reconstruction of Pumapunku temple

I really enjoyed this article.

It does my heart good to see others take interest in this place. The amount of work that went into this project is impressive.
Virtual Reconctruction of Ancient Temple

Unfortunately, the ruins of Tiwanaku, and the Pumapunku temple in particular, have been ransacked repeatedly over the past half-millenium. Archaeologists have virtually no idea what the structure actually looked like. None of the blocks that once comprised the original structure are currently located in their original place, and many of them are badly damaged or decayed. What’s more, most of the stones at the site are too big to move, making further observations difficult. And field notes left behind by archaeologists over the years are considered too opaque to conceptualize.

What makes this effort unique is the use of 3D printed models. They basically made Legos and tried to make everything fit. Granted, it's at best an educated guess. The results look pretty cool, however.

Satisfied with their Lego-like configurations, the researchers keyed their creations into an architectural modeling program, culminating in a single hypothetical model of the temple complex. This wasn’t terribly difficult, as the construction methods used by the Tiwanaku people, and how they formed their incredibly geometric stones, are well documented, explained Vranich. But the exercise yielded some new findings. “What we found out is that it appears they were making prototypes for each type of stone type, and then would have copied one after the other. It’s almost like it was a pre-Columbian version of Ikea.”

The other piece of this effort seems to be crowdsourcing. They are making the 3D models available to the public. That way, if some budding young mind with 'visual/spacial' gifts feels frisky, it might get better.

“The blocks will also be made available online,” said Vranich. “My hope is that other people will print them out and through the wisdom of crowds, we can find additional matches and continue to reconstruct the form of [another Tiwanaku] building known as ‘the temple of the Andes.’”

a reply to: LedermanStudio

They need to render this in a 3D plug in for browsers. I would like to see it in 3D and see really what it looked like.

a reply to: LedermanStudio

That's pretty cool! Great find.

Neato, looks like a minecraft auto-farm.

How old is this temple again?

Seems like a weird way to build something like that. What were in all the little niches? Candles? Skulls?

a reply to: LedermanStudio

What’s more, most of the stones at the site are too big to move, 

How the hell did the builders move them then?

originally posted by: Archivalist
Neato, looks like a minecraft auto-farm.

How old is this temple again?

Dates to around 500 AD.

Harte

originally posted by: Harte

originally posted by: Archivalist
Neato, looks like a minecraft auto-farm.

How old is this temple again?

Dates to around 500 AD.

Harte

Yes. And 1000 years after a nuclear war in 2020 almost wiped out humanity, archaeologists carbon-date a bacon sandwich dropped by a visitor at Stonehenge in 2019 and concluded that the stones were 1000 years old. Very reliable.....

originally posted by: micpsi

originally posted by: Harte

originally posted by: Archivalist
Neato, looks like a minecraft auto-farm.

How old is this temple again?

Dates to around 500 AD.

Harte

Yes. And 1000 years after a nuclear war in 2020 almost wiped out humanity, archaeologists carbon-date a bacon sandwich dropped by a visitor at Stonehenge in 2019 and concluded that the stones were 1000 years old. Very reliable.....

So, they find a thousand year old bacon sandwich, date it to a thousand years old, and that's somehow "unreliable?"

That's some argument you got there.

Harte

a reply to: Harte

i thought they were not sure the date of Pumapunku, that there was not much to carbon date. Tiwanaku, on the other hand, had signs of habitation.

Or did Iread that wrong?

originally posted by: thedigirati
a reply to: Harte

i thought they were not sure the date of Pumapunku, that there was not much to carbon date. Tiwanaku, on the other hand, had signs of habitation.

Or did Iread that wrong?

PumaPunku is part of the Tiwanaku complex. Along with other parts of the site, Pumapunku was dated by extracting organic material from underneath stones. In ththe case of Pumapunku, the samples that tested the oldest were from organics taken from the lowest level of mound fill to be found on the site.

Nobody is trying to "date stone" as Hancock famously said 40 years ago or whenever. The dates are legit and match well with the dates found all over the Tiwanaku complex.

Also, Tiwanku doesn't just show signs of habitation. It's a huge town surrounded by amazing agricultural fields and beyond that a LOT of other signs of habitation near the town.

Harte

The age is assumed. It has not been verified. All it takes is a passer by that drops a chicken bone 1500 years ago. We find that bone now, does it mean the site is that old? Or does it mean that's how old that object that was found is?? Remember when we were told there was no proof of a catastrophic impact around 13000 years ago. Now we have the Hiawatha impact crater and a second even larger crater that hit 78,000 years ago. Both of which that could have triggered massive earthquakes world wide.

I think it's exciting to think that this site could be in rubble due to that event. It would explain why it's thrown about like a bomb went off. " The archeologist's words not mine"

Time will tell. Just as our radar scans over Greenland just have and continue to do so. I'm sure more information will come to fruition here as well.

originally posted by: Triton1128
The age is assumed. It has not been verified. All it takes is a passer by that drops a chicken bone 1500 years ago. We find that bone now, does it mean the site is that old? Or does it mean that's how old that object that was found is??

Remember when we were told there was no proof of a catastrophic impact around 13000 years ago. Now we have the Hiawatha impact crater and a second even larger crater that hit 78,000 years ago. Both of which that could have triggered massive earthquakes world wide.

I think it's exciting to think that this site could be in rubble due to that event. It would explain why it's thrown about like a bomb went off. " The archeologist's words not mine"

Time will tell. Just as our radar scans over Greenland just have and continue to do so. I'm sure more information will come to fruition here as well.

A typical passer-by will not lift a megalith and toss his chicken bone beneath it. Not to mention scores of passers-by doing something similar. That's how many samples have been taken in Tiwanaku and its environs.

You are playing a mind game with yourself.

Harte

There is no way that ancient people built such temples with such details with just tools and bare hands. Its clear that the ancient civilization probably had some kind of assistance.

originally posted by: AtlasHawk
There is no way that ancient people built such temples with such details with just tools and bare hands. Its clear that the ancient civilization probably had some kind of assistance.

Would you like to give your reasons for the above statements?

Why do you think this structure couldn't have been built by hand?

Harte

a reply to: Triton1128

The age is assumed. It has not been verified. All it takes is a passer by that drops a chicken bone 1500 years ago. We find that bone now, does it mean the site is that old? Or does it mean that's how old that object that was found is??

There’s this magical thing called stratification.

originally posted by: Chadwickus
a reply to: Triton1128

The age is assumed. It has not been verified. All it takes is a passer by that drops a chicken bone 1500 years ago. We find that bone now, does it mean the site is that old? Or does it mean that's how old that object that was found is??

There’s this magical thing called stratification.

Yes it is very magical and invisible in many cases to the 'believers'.

Its fun sometimes to think outside the box. Regardless of plausibility. Stretching the imagination is healthy.

I think what isn't healthy is how some of you choose to belittle others for what? Public recognition from within your forum cliche'?

Hanslune, was your comment necessary? Or were you just fishing for two stars from your two friends above?

Ive been around here long enough to know that Harte's introduction into this field of interest, was by those who he now ridicules.

It doesn't hurt anyone to say nothing. If everyone already knew everything that Harte, you, or more seasoned members already know. Then there would really be no reason for you to be here at all, would there be?

Lighten up and let people enjoy their stay. Its a community forum after all.

originally posted by: Triton1128
Hanslune, was your comment necessary?

Yes absolutely. Were your comments necessary?

originally posted by: Harte

originally posted by: micpsi

originally posted by: Harte

originally posted by: Archivalist
Neato, looks like a minecraft auto-farm.

How old is this temple again?

Dates to around 500 AD.

Harte

Yes. And 1000 years after a nuclear war in 2020 almost wiped out humanity, archaeologists carbon-date a bacon sandwich dropped by a visitor at Stonehenge in 2019 and concluded that the stones were 1000 years old. Very reliable.....

So, they find a thousand year old bacon sandwich, date it to a thousand years old, and that's somehow "unreliable?"

That's some argument you got there.

Harte

You misunderstood (sigh!). Let me repeat the argument that debunks how archaeologists wrongly extrapolate the ages of things. They don't just state their carbon-14 readings and leave it at that. They then go on to claim that the stones themselves were cut and erected at the time their instruments indicate the organic material appeared. This is plain stupid and an unscientific deduction. Stonehenge was built thousands of years before visitors dropped bacon sandwiches nearby.
Get it now? Or do you still want to pretend to misunderstand me because you have no answer to my criticism?