E

X H I B I T I O N

With only muscle

strength as driving
force, Man soon became
aware of his limitations
when attempting to
transport any object of
considerable weight.

INDEX

About the exhibiton .......................................................................................... 4

Aquilino Raimundo: Ingenuity and art ............................................................ 5
Contents:
Introduction:

Simple Machines ............................................................ 6

Block content 1:

Touching the sky at the Stone Age. Diorama ............... 7

Block content 2:

Force Machine ................................................................ 8

Block content 3:

Showing the power at the Roman Era. Diorama .......... 9

Block content 4:

Pile-driver machines .................................................... 10

Block content 5:

Excavating machines ................................................... 11

Block content 6:

Lifting machines ........................................................... 11

Block content 7:

Technology and skill. Diorama .................................... 12

Block content 8:

Showing the power of Imperial Russia. Diorama ....... 13

Block content 9:

Learning how to move great stones ........................... 14

Block content 10: Ropes and knots: humble companions...................... 15

Basic data ........................................................................................................ 16
Contact info ..................................................................................................... 17

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

MECHANE Men, Machines and Great

Stones reveals to us the ingeniousness
and cunning used by Man since the
Neolithic to the pre-industrial era, to
overcome the challenges posed by the
transportation and assembly of large
stones used in his constructions.
In an environment dominated by gravity and by
friction, having available only materials possessing
limited resistance, fascinated by the idea of erecting
constructions whose greatness could awake the respect
of their peers and the benevolence of the gods, strangely
excited before the challenge of transporting and
displaying Great Stones, Man has found in technique, itself
synonymous of cunning and ingeniousness, the answer to
the problems that he was facing.
The exhibition unveils the simple principles hidden behind
the transport and erection of the Great Stones used on the
construction of buildings or to impress other communities.
The use of force-multiplying mechanical devices that
were able to assist Man in carrying out his tasks revealed
to the world the use of the machine, first in its simplest
forms of inclined plane and lever, and then in an increase
of complexity resulting from the combination of these two
basic forms.
The greek techn, the roman ars, or later the ingenia
- the arts and techniques emerged as expressions of

Mans will at different times, to surpass the limits of his

own strength, through his ingeniousness.

a pyramid, which once was an important element of the

Egyptian solar cult.

The Great Stones were thus collected from the landscape

or extracted from quarries, trimmed into the intended
shape, transported to the chosen places, erected there
and finally appreciated by successive generations of
people, who often disbelieved how it could have been
possible to perform such feats.

Devoid of armies of string pullers, the Greeks would

have driven the creation of mechanical devices of force
multiplication, with the use of winches attributed to them.

Some Assyrian and Egyptian representations that survived

to this day show the transportation of colossal statues,
mounted on sledges dragged over wooden rollers or
directly on the ground, the driving force being provided by
the muscular strength of veritable armies of string pullers,
helped only by simple equipment, such as levers, folders,
lubricants, rollers, ramps, ropes and sleds.
The dolmens, the menhirs, the cromlechs and other
megalithic constructions attributed to Neolithic societies
scattered all over the planet are also a good example of
the human ability to perform this type of transportation.
The Egyptian obelisks were one of the Great Stones,
perhaps the most famous of them all, that since the first
time they were extracted from quarries about 4500 years
ago in Ancient Egypt, never ceased to be transported from
one place to another by different societies in different
times, crossing seas and oceans, with some of them
still being displayed in the center of famous squares in
Rome, Paris or other cities, such is the symbolic value
of this stone column vertically arranged and topped by

To the Romans, inheritors of the Greek world and

possessors of a practical spirit, is attributed the
widespread use of cranes equipped with driving wheels,
pulleys and differentials, among others.
After the Roman Empires fall and until the 13th century,
we witnessed a slowdown of the rhythm of mechanical
creations applied to the construction tasks. From the 16th
century onwards, it is possible to identify an arsenal of
mechanical equipment, including more complex cranes
which were harbingers of the true mechanical revolution
that would change the world.
In any of these cases, it is evident that the
accomplishment of such gigantic achievements
presupposes a social organization capable of managing
hundreds or even thousands of men, keeping them
disciplined in the execution of different tasks.
In most cases, once the Great Stones had been
transported to the places that Man had chosen for them,
the detailed records of the performed tasks and of the
auxiliary equipment used in these tasks were lost. Today, it
is up to us to imagine how those men did it at the time.

AQUILINO RAIMUNDO. INGENUITY AND ART

How did Man erect this construction?

While working as an engineer dedicated to building
processes, Ive been, by imperative of this profession,
obligated to imagine repeatedly, day after day, simple and
economical ways of erecting different constructions.
Imagining and establishing a beginning, middle and end
to put up any construction, having the concern of doing it
by the simplest form, e.g., choosing the shortest path, is
a fascinating task that places todays builders facing the
same basic challenges that others did in the past.
Observing the achievements of ancient times, in particular
those that used Great Stones in their construction, some
exceeding 1000 tons of weight, and trying to answer this
key question - How did Man erect this construction? - I
internalized the fact that the human ability to carry Great
Stones has been revealed from very remote times, the
various examples found in different places on the planet
being testimony of this.
Some Assyrian and Egyptian representations that survived
to this day show the transportation of colossal statues,
mounted on sledges dragged over wooden rollers or
directly on the ground, the driving force being provided by
the muscular strength of veritable armies of string pullers,
helped only by simple equipments, such as levers, folders,
lubricants, rollers, ramps, ropes and sleds.

The dolmens, the menhirs, the cromlechs and other

megalithic constructions attributed to Neolithic societies
scattered all over the planet are also a good example of
the human ability to perform this type of transportation.
The Egyptian obelisks were one of the Great Stones,
perhaps the most famous of them all, that since the first
time they were extracted from quarries about 4500 years
ago in Ancient Egypt, never ceased to be transported from
one place to another by different societies in different
times, crossing seas and oceans, with some of them
still being displayed in the center of famous squares in
Rome, Paris or other cities, such is the symbolic value
of this stone column vertically arranged and topped by
a pyramid, which once was an important element of the
Egyptian solar cult.
Devoid of armies of string pullers, the Greeks would
have driven the creation of mechanical devices of force
multiplication, with the use of winches attributed to them.
To the Romans, inheritors of the Greek world and
possessors of a practical spirit, is attributed the
widespread use of cranes equipped with driving wheels,
pulleys and differentials, among others.
After the Roman Empires fall and until the 13th century,
we witnessed a slowdown of the rhythm of mechanical
creations applied to the construction tasks. From the 16th
century onwards, it is possible to identify an arsenal of

mechanical equipment, including more complex cranes

which were harbingers of the true mechanical revolution
that would change the world.
In any of these cases, it is evident that the
accomplishment of such gigantic achievements
presupposes a social organization capable of managing
hundreds or even thousands of men, keeping them
disciplined in the execution of different tasks.
In most cases, once the Great Stones had been
transported to the places that Man had chosen for them,
the detailed records of the performed tasks and of the
auxiliary equipment used in these tasks were lost. Today, it
is up to us to imagine how those men did it at the time.

INTRODUCTION: SIMPLE MACHINES

The simple machines, called lever

and inclined plane, have been used
by Man since immemorial times as
force multiplying devices assisting
him in moving large loads.
The exhibition presents the basic models of levers,
pulleys, wheel and shaft, inclined plane, wedge and
screw, accompanied by explanations and graphs that
reveal their operation and mechanical advantages that
Man finds when he makes use of them.
These devices act as extensions of the human body,
itself also ruled by the same physical laws.

TOUCHING THE SKY IN THE STONE AGE.

DIORAMA

For any one of us, the idea that it is much more
difficult to carry an object the greater its weight, is
certain.
The current scientific theories allow us to understand
how our ancestors transported and erected the great
menhirs and constructions in the remote antiquity.

In this section, we present two

examples of great monuments of
the Neolithic: The Great Menhir of
Carnac and the Great Dolmen of
Zambujeiro.
The Great Menhir of Carnac (France) is one of the
largest menhirs, erected about 6000 years ago.
Its a huge block of stone about 20 meters tall and
weighing over 300 tons.
The diorama shows us the most plausible hypothesis
about how this stone was moved and raised, but the
discussion is still open and this is a good opportunity
to discuss other theories.
The Great Dolmen of Zambujeiro (Portugal) is the most
important Portuguese megalithic funerary monument
and one of the most important examples of its kind in
the worlds architecture.

The diorama shows the construction of this

monument, considered as the Cathedral of the
Neolithic with its impressive seven stones, each
weighing about 10 tons, forming a covered gallery with
a giant rock with more than 15 tons.
One of the most interesting aspects of these
constructions, which the dioramas show us, is the
coordination, the command, the organization, the
design, the tools ... in short, the impressive social
structure indispensable to ensure the transportation
and construction work of these monuments.

FORCE MACHINES

A small lifting force applied to one

end of the rope can withstand a
much greater force on the other end.
This is the principle by which the
winch or capstan operate.
Men and animals could thus apply all their strength
to the winch levers by rotating the drum, and taking
full advantage of the force multiplying effect that
the winch gave them, without worrying about the
unfolding of the rope on the drum.
The relationship between the forces at the two ends
of the rope varies exponentially with the coefficient
of friction between the rope and the drum and the
number of turns the rope is wound around it, i.e. small
increases in friction as well as small increases in the
number of turns, extremely increase the load that a
man can support on the rope by holding the other end.
This is the reason why old images show the rope
usually wound only four or five times around the drum
of the winch, as a small force is sufficient to prevent
the rope from slipping around the drum.

In this section there are 5 life-sized machines, ranging

from the simplest models to a complex example as the
one used by Brunelleschi in the construction of the
dome of Florence Cathedral.

Winch with horizontal drum

Light winch with horizontal drum
Winch with vertical drum
Winch with vertical drum and support rollers
Domenico Fontanas winch, from 1586
Filippo Brunelleschis light winch

SHOWING POWER IN ROMAN TIMES.

DIORAMAS

A perfectly organized society, like ancient Rome,

made possible the building and maintenance of a vast
empire. No better example than the construction of
large monuments like Trajans Column in Rome or the
walls of the Temple of Jupiter in Baalbek.

The dioramas provide the perfect

way to visualize the technology
used to move and place blocks of
stone with the precision that these
monuments demanded.
Blocks 19 meters long with a weight of 750 tons were
used in the walls of Baalbek, marble pieces were lifted

up to 38 meters as part of trajans Column. These

are examples of how the use of simple machines,
combined with an army of construction workers, made
possible building feats that still today fascinate us.
It is easy to imagine the technical difficulties to overcome
these challenges, but we also like to show the logistics
capacity that would be required to tend to so many
workers in the heavily populated centre of Rome.
Trajans column large scale dlorama includes
description about the construction techniques
available in the 2nd century, along with descriptions of
its symbolism.
Baalbek dlorama depicts the final stage of the
construction platform for the Great Temple of Jupiter
in Heliopolis, in the 3rd century AD.

ABOUT THE PILE-DRIVER MACHINES

The use of wooden stakes driven into

the ground by the action of hitting
the top with a weight is a technique
used by humans since the Neolithic.
Examples of this technique are many Roman
bridges, over which people and vehicles still pass.

More recently, cases such as downtown Lisbon or

Amsterdam, built on an area almost at sea level,

document the extensive use of wooden stakes driven
into the ground to withstand the weight of the constructions.
The weights lifted by pile-drivers equipped with
winches usually weighed between 300 and 500
kilograms, but could reach about 1500 kilograms.
When the weight was lifted without the use of
winches, about 30 men could be needed to lift
weights up to 75 kilograms.

Pile-driver equipped with winch

Pile-driver equipped with clutch
Pile driver with adjustable mast
Skate extractor

EXCAVATING MACHINES

LIFTING. The basic challenge is to lift any construction

loads to the required height. To accomplish this
task, all kinds of machines were devised throughout
history. The ones presented here all have one thing
in common: they were designed to solve a specific
problem, whether it was raising the load to achieve
the required height or to place it in a precise manner
within a particular project. From the simple Vitruvian
machine to the sophisticated ones used, for example,
in the construction of the Pantheon in Paris.

Vitruvian Tripod Crane

Filippo Brunelleschis Castello
machine
Tower, or French type, crane
Machine to assembler small obelisks
Rondelets crane

EXCAVATING. To meet the needs of building, for

example, the pillars of a bridge, first stakes were
driven into the ground, close together to get an
enclosure. Then began the task of emptying the water
and land within this precinct. The machine designed

by Bernard Forest de Blidor in the 18th century

covered that need by using the force of one or two

people and could dredge up to nearly seven meters
deep from the surface.

Blidors mechanical shovel

LIFTING MACHINES

TECHNOLOGY AND SKILL. DIORAMA

BUILDING WITH LARGE STONES IN

THE 18TH CENTURY.
The east faade of the Louvre, currently considered
the main masterpiece of French classicist architecture,
included the challenge of transporting and placing
stones on the faade with approximate dimensions of
16 meters long, 2.5 meters thick and weighing about
50 tons.
The diorama accurately shows the complexity of the
machine used to transport the stones for a distance
of 10 kilometers, where you can see the system to
suspend the fragile stones inside the machine.
Transport of the stones for the pedlment of the
east faade of the Louvre

SHOWING THE POWER IN IMPERIAL RUSSIA.

DIORAMA
The transportation of a stone
weighing 1800 tons, the largest rock
ever transported in the history of
mankind, for the construction of the
monument of Tsar Peter I, is without
a doubt a clear demonstration of
power.
The Thunder Stone is the popular name given to
the stone from which the sculptor Falconet carved
the statue of Peter I, under the orders of Empress
Catherine. The challenges they faced in order to
transport it are difficult to imagine, but machinery
designed by Carburi was prepared to carry the stone
in one piece and solved the main problems - the
crossing of wetlands, changes in direction on the path
to the pier, transfer to the barge and its journey by sea
and river to the Senate Square in St. Petersburg.
The Thunder Stone

LEARNING HOW TO
MOVE GREAT STONES

Explaining in a panel how simple machines like the

lever or pulleys definitely help in the task of moving
loads is commonplace in any textbook, but it is not so
common to find an easy way to prove it in practice.
Within the exhibition, there are three machines which
can be manipulated by the public, where you can
test the usefulness of the underlying principles of the
machines exhibited.
These manipulable models are designed for visitors,
without the help of monitors and in an intuitive way,
to experience the power of their muscle strength
when assisted by machines. Establishing the
relationship between what was studied in school
and the monumental achievements showcased in
the exhibition is the ultimate educational goal that
helps to understand that humans were able to erect
monuments that thousands of years later still marvel us.

ROPES AND KNOTS: HUMBLE COMPANIONS

The power of well-used machines is spectacular,
as can be seen in the monuments shown, but in all
cases there is a common element that usually goes
unnoticed: the rope.
Ropes and knots are humble but crucial partners in a
large amount of machines.
In the exhibition, tribute to their importance is paid
through a module in which visitors can not only check
the source of the most frequently used ropes since remote
antiquity, but can also learn to do some basic knots that
present a challenge despite their apparent simplicity.

BASIC DATA
MECHANE MEN, MACHINES AND GREAT STONES
EXHIBITIONS includes 15 state-of-the-art large scale
recreations of machines, reaching up to 2.5 meters, along
with 8 dloramas deplcting work scenes in different
times of history, from the Neolithic to the 18th
century, on verge of the Industrial Revolution.
To help understand the power of all those machines, a set
of 4 interactive stools about the power of ropes, levers
and pulleys are placed along the exhibition, for the visitors
to experience how these simple tools made it possible for
ancient humans to raise those magnificent constructions
we still admire.

BiDi codes provide access to animations, allowing visitors

to explore the machines in movement, giving human scale
size of them all and showing particular mechanisms that
make them fascinating and admirable in the solutions they
provide for the purposes they were used.
Two complementary touch screens show these animations
onsite when Internet access is not guaranteed.
The exhibition, with a flexible organization, occupies an
area up to 500 sq. meters. Solutions for smaller rooms can
be set