Who Made the BARABAR CAVES?

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For regular videos on ancient cultures and forgotten civilizations, please subscribe. The Barabar caves, located in Bihar, Northeastern India, have been a source of a large number of surprising claims on the internet, which often link the caves to a supposed universal, hi-tech, ancient society in prehistoric times. Today, I am going to examine suppositions made about the caves in a film that many people consider to contain the most convincing evidence that the caves were constructed more than 10 thousand years ago, or at least that the conclusions of historians and archaeologists about its age are poorly supported. The film I am talking about is BAM: Builders of the Ancient Mysteries, first made in French and then later dubbed in English. Perhaps you’ve heard of it. Let’s look at the evidence presented in this film and see what kind of case is made. I will also use this opportunity to discuss in general the Barabar caves, their purpose, who built them, and the techniques used in their construction. Welcome to the Myths of Ancient History series, which looks at popular misinformation on YouTube and the internet about ancient history, not to put down the people who make these unusual claims, but to address their questions and propositions directly, to explain why historians and archaeologists have come to the conclusions that they have, and to help you to see and avoid common pitfalls in historical inquiry. On BAM’s website, the authors write, “The powers that be rather than discuss our findings they disparage it and oppose anything new that may come from advanced scientific research. The question is why? May it be because if we are right, they will need to rewrite all history books?“ As you can see, some approach these issues somewhat aggressively. But BAM has invited discussion of their findings, so that is exactly what I am going to do regarding their findings on the Barabar Caves. But I will say this: if you ever run across someone, anyone, who feels assured that their own findings are going to rewrite all the history books or revolutionize our understanding of the world, take such claims with a grain of salt. True pioneers do not overestimate their own importance, because they know progress in knowledge is incremental and achieved through collaboration. - We find seven caves entirely excavated from massive granite blocks spread across two main sites, four at Barabar, and three at Nagarjuni. Amongst them, two remain unfinished. - A little background information: historians are of the opinion these caves were made in the period of the Maurya Empire. The four rulers we need to know about when discussing the Barabar caves are Chandragupta Maurya, Bindusara, Ashoka, and Ashoka’s grandson Dasharatha. Unlike Chandragupta and his son Bindusara, Ashoka (whose coronation is dated to 269 BCE, though he succeeded to the Imperial Throne of Magadha three years earlier) and his grandson Dasharatha were big fans of carving things into rock. Ashoka has numerous rock and pillar edicts attributed to him (42 have been found so far), which lay out his idea of proper moral conduct for subjects under the Maurya empire. While hollowing out a cave may seem like an exorbitantly time-consuming undertaking, (and it likely was) it probably would have taken less time than constructing a freestanding stone temple. And these caves are small compared to temples. In this period, they were used as viharas (living quarters) for ascetics, that is, people who deny themselves pleasures and indulgences to achieve greater spirituality. The development of rock-hewn architecture was a perfect compromise between keeping ancient ascetic traditions while not yielding to the comfortable environment of a freestanding monastery. Caves also had the advantage of being less prone to vandalism, destruction from wars, and earthquake damage, they were easy to maintain and could provide shelter from heat, wild animals, and rain. And they couldn’t be burnt down. All of these factors probably contributed to their popularity. - They are considered to be the oldest caves in India, and they may have been built around 2,300 years ago under the reign of King Ashoka, according to the inscriptions carved at the entrances of certain caves. - The main way we date some of the Barabar caves to the reign of Ashoka is through their inscriptions. These inscriptions, just as with Ashoka’s inscriptions on stone pillars, bear his name (Devanampriya Priyadarshin, “the beloved of the Gods who glances graciously upon all”. Only the Gujarra and Maski versions of minor rock edict refer to him by his name Ashoka. Ashoka states in his edicts (ex. Delhi-Topra Pillar edict VII from 242 BCE) that these dharma pillars were erected by him. These inscriptions are mainly in the Pali language, a form of Prakrit, and written in the Brahmi script (at least for the pillars in the greater part of his empire). The pillars are carved in sandstone but bear the same Maurya polish as in the caves, and the writing style of the inscriptions is the same. The Sudama cave, dated to 257 BCE, has an inscription which reads, “When King Priyadarsin had been anointed twelve years, this Nigoha Cave [Banyan tree cave] was given to the Ajivika.” In metric measurement, the barrel-vaulted cave measures approximately 10 meters long, 6 meters wide, and 3.5 meters high, and also contains a circular cell that is about 6 meters in diameter. Visvakarma cave also is dated to 257 BCE and has an inscription which reads, “When King Priyadarsin had been anointed twelve years, this cave in the Khalatika Mountain was given to the Ajivika.” Visvakarma cave has a flat ceiling, with socket holes in the entrance floor, likely for a wooden screen wall or door. Note that the Sudama and Visvakarma caves were donations to a heterodox sect of Indian philosophy known as the Ajivikas. Despite converting to Buddhism, Ashoka never forced conversion of his subjects to Buddhism, and nowhere in his edicts does he record any desire for his people to convert to Buddhism. This is important because his name is associated with many non-Buddhist temple donations, including these two caves. Ashoka’s generous donations to other sects, despite his conversion to Buddhism, demonstrates his acceptance of all religions. The Karan Chopar cave is dated to 250 BCE, and has an inscription that reads, “When King Priyadarsin had been anointed nineteen years, this cave in the very pleasant Khalatika Mountain was given by me for the rainy season” (meaning for shelter). There are also swastikas with daggers connected to the inscription, which, coupled with the lack of mention of Ajivikas, might indicate the cave was donated to a Buddhist sect. No inscriptions exist in the Lomas Rishi cave, probably because it was never finished, but it does have the most intricate carving of all the caves on its exterior. The chamber measures roughly 11 meters wide, 2.4 meters deep, and 3.4 meters high. This cave also became the model for later Buddhist caityagrihas (Prayer Halls) in the Deccan region. So it may have been intended as a Buddhist cave. While exhibiting the characteristics of a Maurya period cave, it may have been constructed after Ashoka’s time, perhaps under the supervision of his grandson Dasharatha. Now let’s consider the Nagarjuni caves, which are found along the old trade route running southwestward from ancient Magadha, then the seat of the Maurya Empire. The Gopika, or milkmaid cave is dated to 214 BCE and has an inscription that reads, “The Gopika Cave, an adobe lasting as the Sun and Moon, was caused to be excavated by Devanampriya Dasaratha on his ascension to the throne as a hermitage for the most devoted Ajivika”. This cave is the largest of the Nagarjuni group, and is about 12.3 meters long and 5.2 meters wide, with a 6.5 meter barrel vaulted ceiling and semicircular wall-ends. The Vadathi and Vapiya caves bear the same inscription as the Gopika cave, with the names of the cave adjusted. The Vapiya cave means “well cave”, and may have referred to a dried up well in its front which no longer exists. The Vapiya cave consists of one rectangular room, measuring at about 5 by 3 meters, with a barrel-vaulted ceiling and straight walls, and it has the classic Maurya polish finish work. The Vadathi Cave has more of a circular vaulted chamber, where the defining line between the wall and the ceiling is less obvious than the other caves. All three of these caves also contain additional inscriptions dated to the fifth century CE, during the period of the Gupta empire. The Vadathi cave’s inscription is rather lengthy. Now some might say, “Doesn’t that prove that inscriptions can be added later? And the Ashoka inscriptions don’t explicitly say that Ashoka’s people excavated the caves. Couldn’t these have been added long after the original construction?” Yes, it’s possible. But the Dasharatha caves are explicit that Dasharatha’s people excavated them, which places the creation of those caves in the Maurya period and shows the workers’ capability to make them. The Ashoka caves are so similar that it is reasonable to conclude that they also come from the Maurya period. - There are many other caves in India, but these are unique, because of their precision. You can observe a recurring theme that the more ancient the structure, the more modern it looks. - It’s interesting that she says, “the more modern it looks,” because on the one hand, BAM is trying to associate the word “modern” with technological progress. In other words, the more modern it is, the higher the technology needed to make it. But on the other hand, their version of “modern” is being associated with the modernist movement in architecture, specifically the style known as brutalism, which became popular in the 1950s. Brutalist architecture is characterized by the showcasing of basic structural elements and the minimization of decorative design. It is a bare bones style, known for monochrome and unpainted concrete or brick, and angular geometric shapes. Now in the case of the caves, we are talking about stone, not concrete or brick, but only someone who has lived in the late 20th century would characterize the style of the Barabar Caves as modern. Nowadays when you look at brutalist buildings, they appear dated. But take a look here at the work done at the Ellora cave temples. These were made centuries after the ones at Barabar. Yes, this work does look less “modern” than Barabar, in the sense that it lacks the simple brutalism of Barabar. But you tell me: Which took more time and skill and which less? Which are more basic and which more complex? Which more primitive and which more advanced? I think it is obvious that the Ellora cave temples are superior in design, complexity, and refinement, and took greater artisanal prowess to produce. - They were dug into granite rocks, a material harder than hardened steel. - By saying that granite is harder than hardened steel, BAM is trying to convince you that only something harder than hardened steel could carve it, but this is not the case. First of all, it is not hardness that determines whether a stone can be carved. Hardness refers to how easy it is to scratch it. Toughness refers to how resistant it is to fracturing. Toughness is a material’s ability to absorb shocks without breaking, like from the blow of a hammer or a pick. Hardness and toughness have an inverse relationship. The harder a material is, the less tough it is, and the more tough it is, the less hard it is. Hardened steel, for example, is more brittle than regular steel. It has lower toughness. So whenever you hear people talking about how hard granite is as a way to cast doubt on whether it can be chipped away, keep this in mind. A sharp iron pickaxe can break away granite with relative ease, as can be seen from the unfinished ceiling in the Lomas Rishi Cave. You can see the pickaxe marks on it, so you know that a pickaxe can do the job. The sites for these rock hewn caves were chosen by masons, who used iron pickaxes and chisels to cut into the stone from front to back/top to bottom. This method allowed the workers to avoid any rockfall from above while working. Excavation of granite caves continued unabated from this time for many centuries. There is absolutely no doubt that granite carving was a tried and true industry in ancient and medieval South Asia. - Here the surfaces appear to be cement, but that’s an optical illusion, due to the extreme transparency of the granite crystal when polished to the extreme. In reality, they are like this everywhere. We asked the late Jean-Louis Boistel, an experienced stone cutter, who has been working with granite for over 40 years without any modern tools. - I am happy to see that they asked someone who is experienced in working by hand. Usually we get stone cutters who only work with power tools telling us that it can be done only with power tools. So this is better. - We didn’t even have the time to tell him that these images have been taken with a highly sensitive camera that allows us to film in the dark as if in full light. In fact, with a normal camera, this is what we got. Boistel: “Here they are extremely accurate, extremely precise. It means they had powerful lights, because to work in this type of area, you would need more than just torches. Also, with torches you would suffocate. - I am not sure how much experience Boistel has had working in caves, but his point about proper lighting being needed is valid. He doesn’t seem to know anything about ancient lighting, however. Yes, ancient artisans would have lit the caves so that they could see well enough to do quality work. They had lighting. Torches or oil lamps. If you can use a torch or a single lamp to read, you can use them to see the work you are performing. No, torches would not suffocate the workers if you have ventilation. They used to do mining, for heaven’s sake. To ask us to believe they didn’t know how to ventilate tunnels and caves is a big ask. - To get people to work in such an environment, they would need to be able to breathe. The dust coming from the stone itself is considerable in an environment like this one, especially when you work with picks.” Gonthier: “The granite produces sand shards. This is a problem of granulometry, but more importantly, it produces a lot of dust silica that leads to silicosis. I would have liked to know how they ventilated the work site to achieve something as perfect as this.” Boistel: “The production of dust, already on the outside, covers us entirely. We inhale it if we do not wear a mask, and we drink a lot, and we are outside. So on the inside, if you add up the smoke from the torches, it becomes quickly unbreathable and unworkable.” - They seem to think that these points about lighting and dust are gotchas. The implication is that an advanced society of prehistoric times would have had special industrial lights and air filters of some kind, and that is the only way it could have been done. But to think that the ancient Indians of this time were too ignorant to be able to work in a cave with proper light and airflow shows a low opinion of the people of this time and a lack of knowledge of the culture they’re talking about. Do they really assume that the workers wouldn’t even have thought of wearing masks or drinking water? Gonthier: “The feeling to that is it is made of glass. It is rather surprising. It is absolutely incredible. It seems to be laser-made. - Do they polish rock with lasers? - I mean, no, it is not laser-made. It is hand-made. But you would need thousands and thousands of hours to obtain a polish like this one.” - Since Gonthier is not a stone polishing expert, I don’t think we need to take his off-the-cuff calculation too seriously. Boistel: “A perfect gloss obtained by a sanding of the surface, very hard to get with a classical sanding with a stone and water that we can get with an abrasive, very fine sand. There is a shine equivalent to that obtained by modern technique.” - Unlike Gontier, Boistel does know about stone polishing. His point, that the workers would have used a fine sand as an abrasive, is worth noting. This is all we get of Boistel on the caves. I would like to have heard what he had to say about the actual process of cutting stone by hand. But the only thing the editors wanted to use extensively was his comments about lighting and dust. - Yet these caves are at least 2,300 years old. This dating relies on the inscriptions carved at the entrance of three of them. However, when looking at these inscriptions in detail, we can see the work is far from being as clean as inside the cave. - Let’s say you were at an art museum looking at a famous painting, and the painting was signed by the artist. One of your friends, who is with you, turns to you and says, “I don’t think that artist could have painted such a great painting. I think it was painted by someone else, and then he added his signature to it. I mean, look, the signature is so much messier than the rest of the painting. It can’t be original.” Would that alone be enough to convince you? - I don’t think it would. Instead, you would examine all of the works attributed to the artist to get a comprehensive idea of what the artist was like. You would look also at the works you know were created by the person whose signature was on there to see if there was a difference. Studying artifacts in isolation will not give you an accurate picture. This is one of the most important standards of archaeology. And in the case of the inscriptions on these caves, there is another factor to consider: the caves were produced by a group of workers and not a single artist. Each of these workers had different abilities and skills. The ones who created the inscriptions are hardly likely to have been the same ones who carved out the caves, and these in turn may have been different from the ones who polished the caves. So to point to a difference in quality between various parts of these structures and to claim that they indicate different time periods doesn’t take into consideration the existence of many specialists and workers of varying abilities and experience, and it assumes quality is connected to technology rather than to skill. While BAM is encouraging you to study these caves in isolation, it is extremely important that we consider their context, because we don’t want to miss the forest for the trees. So let me give you some of that context. The Maurya dynasty’s expansionist policy and vast empire brought India into close contact with Greeks, Persians, the Near East, and North Africa. Both Indian and Greek historians (like Megasthenes) document this cultural and artistic exchange between India and its western counterparts. We can see evidence of this cultural diffusion or intermingling in Ashoka’s use of Aramaic and Greek on his edicts. King Darius of Persia and King Ashoka both use the words dipi and lipi in inscriptions to refer to writing, letters, documents, tablets etc. Both rulers open their inscriptions using the third person and then move to the first person. Similarities between Mauryan and Persian art include use of similar animal motifs (stiffly posed lions and depictions of the lotus flower). They both used the method of swelling wood when quarrying stone (a method used in many parts of the ancient world). The stone pillars of Ashoka show a progression in their refinement throughout the period of their creation. The earliest pillar, the Vaishali pillar is short, heavy, and static with a square abacus (an abacus is a flat slab forming the uppermost member or division of the capital of a column) that is incongruous and does not harmonize or smoothly integrate into the round shaft that it is connected to. However, the latest pillar dated to Ashoka’s reign, the Sarnath pillar, is tall, with a self-rotating circular abacus that shows no sign of incongruity. These columns also bear a striking resemblance to the Persian columns at Persepolis, and the royal tombs of Artaxerxes and Darius. The tongues of the lions that protrude from Ashoka’s pillars also closely resemble the open mouth and large canine teeth found in Persian depictions of lions. There seems to have been a major advancement in sculpting and finishing techniques around this time. The Achaemenid stone finishing process was also highly technical, involving five different phases of stonework, from shaping and trimming with a rough punch, then a toothed chisel, down to smoothing and polishing with finer and finer toothed chisels and rasps. The Indians, however, did not use a toothed chisel. The Persians had been using different polishing techniques, first using gypsum, and later using a combination of phosphorus and calcium fluorapatite. But knowing this helps explain a lot about the Maurya polishing technique and what influenced it. Ultimately, the Barabar caves seem to blend the architectural practices of India’s past together with the artistic renaissance occurring under the Maurya empire and the explosion in architectural techniques from the Near East to suit the specific needs of India’s various local ascetic groups. - In the most complex cave, the granite has literally become flaky in some parts, suggesting these caves may be older than we think. - Let’s think about that for a second. If granite is flaky in some parts and not in other parts of the same cave, which was built at a specific time, this means that granite flakes at different rates depending on factors other than time. It therefore cannot be used to indicate age, as the vast majority of geologists will tell you. But you might say, “Yeah, but if it has flaked, it can’t be very recent.” It can, in fact. You can find granite flaking even in modern installations. Flaking or spalling is usually caused by effloresence or sub-florescence, a condition in which mineral salts are carried into the stone by moisture and accumulate beneath the stone's surface, creating stress within the pores of the stone. - In this massive stone hill, two caves have been carved on one side. The one one the left is fully completed inside, and the first one, according to archaeologists. The one on the right displays a curved porch, Buddhist style, coinciding with the era of Ashoka, but the inside is unfinished. The floor is polished, but the ceiling and the ground is still raw. We don’t understand why the completed cave is not the one with the porch, obviously special, as it is the only cave to have one. - I am having a hard time following the logic. They do not understand why the cave with the fancy porch is incomplete, because the porch indicates it is special, and I suppose maybe it does a little. But specialness does not guarantee completion, because whether the workers finish a job is not dependent on how special it is. It is dependent on money and resources and whether the people who gave the original orders are still around. Special constructions sometimes are never finished. And in this case we have fractures inside, which almost certainly would have prevented the work from continuing. By the way, this grand chaitya-arch became the defining characteristic of all Buddhist chaityagrihas in the subsequent Deccan caves. It is the first known one of its kind. - But why was it not completed? When looking at the porch more closely, we can see the work is easy on the eyes, so to speak, but as useful as it may look, it cannot be compared to the work accomplished inside the walls of the cave. Gonthier: “You stand slightly to the side, you can see the holes and deformations here. There are no sharp edges. It is completely damaged. This is second class work. Here the relief goes back up, and then it goes down again, downward, and there are no finished edges. Everything is round inside. So here we are facing a much later work. We cannot associate this work with what has been done previously inside the sound rooms.” - By acknowledging that this granite doorway was carved in the historic period, Gonthier seems to know that granite carving was possible then. It was not too hard for the people of the time to work with. On that point we all can agree. What he is trying to do here is suggest that the work on the outside is not as good as the work on the inside. Therefore the work on the outside was done not only by different workers, but in an entirely different time period by an entirely different civilization. “He didn’t actually say that,” some might object. Not here. But that is what this BAM movie is about. To me, it seems unreasonable from an aesthetic point of view for them to have carved such an intricate facade after the interior had been abandoned in a ruinous condition with noticeable large cracks. It seems more reasonable that the entrance was being worked on at the same time as the interior and was finished before the interior was done. - This porch is off center, not vertical. It is nothing compared to the precision and the construction of the caves. - Take a look at this doorway. This is on one of the caves, and it doesn’t have the elaborate facade. Does it look straight to you? How about this one? The fact is that slanted doorways are characteristic of the Barabar caves, and they are an intentional part of the design. - According to some archaeologists, this uncompleted cave could explain in detail how the other caves could have been constructed. - That’s a reasonable conclusion. We can see the work in its earlier stages. The walls of its antechamber were polished shiny, while the outer wall of the circular chamber was smoothened but not polished, and the remaining surfaces in the circular chamber and the floor and ceiling of the antechamber were left rough. - It’s hard, when looking at this work, to imagine it might look like this. Gonthier: “The work is really very badly initiated. It could not result in anything, looking at the state it is in at this stage.” - So here again he is pointing out shoddy work and suggesting it was not done by the original builders. To him this is not merely an unfinished job, it’s also a bad job. I really would have liked to have gotten an actual experienced stonecarver’s opinion, one who regularly works by hand. - Even more impossible, as some cuts on the ceiling go too deep. Gonthier: “When you have a perfectly polished plane, as is the case here, it is out of the question to exceed this surface and to produce dents lower than the surface, or they would have to do it all again. - Okay, so he is claiming that the grooves go deeper into the rock than the surface of the polished wall. Therefore it is a mistake. But do they really go too deep into the wall? I’m not so sure. Take a look at the polished wall. What do you see here? Yes, you can see remnants of grooves. The grooves from the picks clearly went all the way down the wall, and the grooves were made before the wall was flattened and polished. - But when resuming the work here, there is splinter, which broke, a big splinter that is gone, leaving a hole. Irrecoverable.” - When that piece was broken off, no one knows. It could have been a mistake early on. Or it could have been damaged by anyone in the centuries since. - This cave seems to show a failed attempt, maybe done on a cave that was discovered unfinished. - So Gonthier is suggesting that the original builders left the ceiling unfinished, and then later workers came in to try to finish it, made these grooves, and then stopped. It seems like more people and more steps are being added to the assumed process than is necessary. - A king would not take over a cave already completed but would more likely finish a cave with some modifications, which would explain the difference of the levels on the ground. And maybe his men did not succeed. - I don’t know how they could say a king would not take over a cave already completed. These caves were used continuously through the reigns of many kings, most of whom made no modifications whatsoever. If a cave was perfectly serviceable, why spend extra money? The cave in its current condition is incomplete, and yet it probably was used. - Of course, this is pure speculation. The contrast between the polished wall and the rough ceiling seems to confirm the idea of a reuse. - The remains of the grooves on the polished wall seem to confirm the use of picks in this fashion were part of the original design. - We measured the surfaces with a roughness measuring device. Gonthier: “The device analyzes the micro flaws, but otherwise, to the touch and the naked eye, it is perfectly flat.” - This device measures roughness, not flatness. There is a difference. You can have a smooth surface that isn’t flat. In fact, it could be round or have waves or be any shape without corners. If they want to make a claim about smoothness based on the measurements of this device, that’s one thing. But they can’t use it to demonstrate that the walls are perfectly flat. It’s not that kind of tool. - There is an average difference of a few microns. These surfaces are almost as smooth as glass. The precision tolerance varies between 2 to 5 millimeters. - Note here she says that the precision tolerance varies between 2 and 5 millimeters, which is how much the smoothness deviates from the ideal standard. She also says that the average difference is of a few microns. The average difference between what? I don’t understand how those two claims fit together. Do you? Maybe I am missing something. But if the tolerance varies between 2 and 5 millimeters, that is only moderately precise. It certainly isn’t a precision so astounding that it couldn’t have been done without advanced technology. In a truly scientific study, they would take comprehensive measurements and provide us with a table of all the data. But they do not do that. It’s possible that they have all the data, and it confirms their assertions, but there is no way for anyone to check it. It’s also possible that they didn’t take comprehensive measurements, or that they don’t want us to see all the data, and just want to show us only what supports their own claims. - The taking of measurements with a range finder is difficult, because the walls are slightly tilted. What tools were used to accomplish such an exact work? - Because the range finder, which uses a laser, is straight, they are wondering what tools were used to measure curved surfaces. Maybe some of you construction folks can let us know how curved surfaces can be measured without advanced tools in the comments. - Some defects in the polishing do confirm that these caves were hand made, which makes the need for accuracy even more pronounced. - Okay, so here they acknowledge that there are defects, and these defects indicate that the caves were handmade. That seems like a reasonable conclusion to me, and yet it contradicts their earlier claims of amazing precision. - Handmade could mean the use of power tools guided by hand, instead of chisels and hammers. - Sure, the same lack of precision could be achieved with power tools, I suppose. But it also could be achieved without power tools. - But why such precision? What’s the point? - As I am sure any architect or contractor or anyone in construction would tell you, accuracy is important, because inexact measurements can negatively affect the entire process. Precise work saves huge amounts of time, labor and money. - A gap of a few centimeters would be difficult to see with the naked eye and in full light. - Would it? I think a gap of a few centimeters would be very easy to see. What do you think? - We decided to go back, this time with a 3D scanner, a sound level meter for acoustic studies, and a laser level to measure the cave’s preciseness. - There are all kinds of tools and gauges that could have been used for measuring precision. I am curious why they brought only a laser level. - The images you are about to see are the results of the 3D scans done by our laser with a rotating beam over all the surfaces. They are the equivalent of an MRI scan. The lasers determine millions of points, allowing us to display the exact shapes recorded with a precision close to a millimeter. We collected tri-dimensional images, which we will show you in the raw format, no touch-ups. Let’s start with the two unfinished caves. - Hold it. Look at that. You can actually see the defects. - Then on to the complicated caves. We can see the logical evolution of the shapes. The first one is a trapeze-shaped cave with a curved ceiling, with an entryway at the end. - There again, notice the clear lack of precision. - The second one is trapeze-shaped with a curved ceiling and an entryway at the side. Again, note the imperfections. Surely they must have noticed this. - The third one is entirely curved. The entryway at the end and the back wall is also curved. - A lack of precision there again. - The fourth one is trapeze-shaped with a curved ceiling, entryway at the side, and curved at each of its extremities. - Imperfections. - The fifth one is more complex. Trapeze-shaped with a curved ceiling, a conical dome, cuffed at one end. - More imperfections. - Using a material harder than reinforced steel, complex shapes were built with a degree of precision ranging from 2 to 8 millimeters over a length exceeding 13 meters. This is more than good enough for the eye kind of work. These caves are almost vertically symmetrical, a real accomplishment, considering the tools at the time. - Yes, it was a real accomplishment. An accuracy ranging between 2 and 8 millimeters is excellent for having done it by hand, but it is terrible if you are using advanced precision measuring tools. - Let’s put to one side the questions about the tools that constructed the cave, and let’s discuss about the geometry of the shapes. - This might be a good spot to stop and give you some background information on the state of knowledge of geometry in the Mauryan period. We can get an idea from the Shulba sutras, which are part of the Vedangas. Their language is late Vedic Sanskrit, so they come from around the 1st millennium BCE, which also is the time of the Mauryan Empire. They are concerned with sacrificial altars, but geometry comes into play. We can tell from the texts that the mathematicians of the time divided circles by drawing its diameters, divided rectangles by its diagonals into four parts equal in all respects, and divided isosceles triangles into two equal halves by a straight line that joins the middle point of the opposite side with the vertex. The Shulba sutras also deal with parallelograms and the area of a square inscribed within a circle and touching the circumference. They provide rules that enable a person to construct a straight line perpendicular to another straight line, to draw a square with a given side or a rectangle with given sides, to construct a parallelogram and rectangle on the same base and within the same parallels having the same area, to draw the diagonals of a rhombus bisecting each other at right angles, to construct a quadrilateral formed by the lines joining the middle points of the sides of a rectangle, which also is a rhombus whose area is half of that of the rectangle, and to construct a square equal to the sum of two different squares. These sutras have knowledge of what we call the Pythagorean theorem. They show how to “square a circle,” that is to construct a square, using only a ruler and compass, whose area is that of a given circle. They also show how to circle a square. Even today, this cannot be done exactly, but it can be done approximately. They had the concept of pi, which they approximated to 3.0885. Algebraic ideas emerge from the knowledge expressed here too. Keep in mind that this is not a geometry textbook. It just uses geometry for a specific purpose. But it is lucid and accurate. Is it so far fetched then that the people of this time could design these caves? - In the rooms with trapezoidal sections, the ceilings are shaped into roughly half cylinders, whose central axis height varies from one cave to the other. In Vapiyaka the axis is located roughly 13 centimeters above the floor. In Karan Chopar it’s approximately 1 meter 20 cm above the floor. In Sudama, the axis is located approximately 1 meter 13 cm above the floor. But in Gopika, it is more complicated, since the axis is located approximately 47 centimeters under the floor. Building an arc whose axis is located under the floor greatly complicates the taking of measurements during its construction, a requirement to verify correct curvature. Meaning you wouldn’t choose to make a ceiling like this unless someone specifically asked you to. - No workers do anything unless someone specifically asks them to. It seems to me that calculating the arc from a supposed point below the floor wouldn’t be difficult for anyone who knows basic geometry, and we know the people of the Maurya period did. And keep in mind that all of the measurements would have been determined beforehand and recorded in diagrams, so it wouldn’t be necessary to take a measurement inside the cave that would extend below the floor. The measurements from the floor would be right there in the specs. - And everything has been made with a glass finish. It is certainly glossy. But a glass finish? In some parts and in certain lighting you can see a hazy outline of yourself. This apparently is something the guides like to show the tourists. This claim about a glass or mirror finish is discussed in detail in a video over on the Sacred Geometry Decoded channel. Check it out when you get a chance. But here are some pertinent excerpts. SGD: "Here are some common images on the left. This is the most common image, and on the right we see the same thing. Notice anything similar in those two? Well, okay, let's look a bit further. So here are a couple of others. Well, okay, let's examine these. Okay, perfect flatness: that must be it. It must be advanced machining technology. Precision. Precision machining technique. You cannot do this by hand. Well, skeptical pipe deployed. If it's so flat, why are there such obvious distortions in the reflection? Now focus on the one on the left. Now notice on the floor how the light comes in through the door. Light comes in through the door. It seems to be a straight line. But the reflection is very warped, very distorted. If it's so flat and perfect, these caves, and obvious machining technology, why are photos always taken from the same location? If it's so flat, why are there such obvious distortions in the reflection? Because it is not flat. I do not need precision advanced modern machining to tell me that. I can look at that with the eye and see that this is not flat. There you can see on the left hand side: obviously not flat. Like no, no, there is no sane, experienced person who has any basic knowledge in this matter, who would look at this image and declare it to be flat. You do not need a surface roughness indicator, which is not even a measurement of flatness to begin with, to see that you don't need a repeat meter (what is actually used to measure flatness). You do not need these to note that it is not. Same thing on the image n the right. Even the floor is not flat. The walls are not flat. Take this to the bank. On the left hand side, we see a flat steel plate. Oh, is it polished? It might be polished aluminium or polished steel. And on the lower left, we see an example of bad body work. I do not need a precision advanced modern machine measure tool to tell me that that steel metal plate is not flat. Just by looking at the reflections, I can absolutely with 100% certainty tell you it is not flat to a precision level. The light will not lie. The reflections will not lie. - The builders wouldn’t aim for such precision without a reason. It must have been a necessary part of the architectural specifications. - It is necessary for all professional architectural specifications. Isn’t it? - Studying them, we can deduce the incredible skills needed for their construction, which would have required at least one engineer and several highly-skilled laborers. - Absolutely. - With respect to the Ashoka builders, the finished results here appear to be too advanced when compared to the knowledge and technical means available during the period. - That has not yet been demonstrated. What part of it is too advanced? We have seen great work, yes, but with imperfections that indicate a construction that was done by hand. For an argument like this to work, we need to be shown what the Ashoka builders were capable of and then compare that to the work done here. But nowhere in the BAM video is the technology, knowledge or skills of the Maurya period discussed. - Okay, but why construct such peculiar rooms. Something surprising about the caves is the sound, and the way it reverberates due to the slight inclination of the walls. It leads to a suppression of echo in favor of acoustic resonance. This can’t be a coincidence. - Caves with walls this close cannot make an echo. That is why. In order to hear an echo, the time gap between the original sound and the reflected sound must at least be .1 second. If the obstacle is close, the reflection will return quickly, less than .1 second. And your brain will not be able to distinguish between the original sound and the reflected sound. So you won't hear an echo. - But if so, where did they learn to do it? Where is the evidence of the process? Once again, like with the Antikythera Mechanism, it is necessary to experiment to conceive prototypes. Caves of such precision are not created without first becoming an expert. Yet no prototype is found anywhere, other than these two incomplete caves. - Acoustic resonance in these caves would certainly have an aesthetic benefit for those reciting mantras out loud. It would maintain a chant for several seconds, and if a new sound was added before the old one died away, each sound would be added together for a fabulous experience. If the caves were constructed that way intentionally, I am certain experiments could first have been performed in other kinds of buildings. Although we haven’t found much, stone architecture did exist prior to the Maurya dynasty. We have monuments like the Piprahwa Stupa that existed long before the Maurya dynasty. The earliest Buddhist construction in Rajgir India, the ruin of Jivakavanarama, is said to have also contained barrel-vaulted ceilings, such as we see in the Barabar caves. If so, surely this can be seen as a prototype. That being said, prior to the Maurya Empire, most Indian architecture was made from timber. Some early timber buildings can be seen depicted on early Buddhist Stupas (Dome shaped Buddhist shrines). Even wooden buildings allow for acoustic experiments. We have enough information about these wooden buildings that it seems clear these early aniconic caves were faithful replications of contemporary freestanding timber buildings. But while the caves have survived intact, their wooden counterparts have long since perished. - And the work performed in the following centuries in India would never equal or even come close to the level or work here. - It surpassed it. Take a look at these cave temples that were constructed after the ones at Barabar. The Barabar caves are wonderful, but they do not equal or even come close to the level of work you find at these temples. BAM keeps trying to make the Barabar caves seem like an oasis of technology in a desert of mediocrity, but this portrayal does not fit the material record. That being said, there is a series of Deccan caves that came immediately after the Ashoka and Dasharatha caves that appears cruder and stylistically unrelated to the Barabar caves, but their inferior quality is believed to be due to a lack of patronage of Buddhism at that time, which was still new in the area. They were probably paid for by commoners. And a comparison between the Maurya caves and some of the earliest Deccan caves has demonstrated architectural continuity between them. New features and innovations are evident in the Deccan caves. And when Buddhist patronage increased, the quality of caves increased. There are thousands of caves that were carved out in the centuries that followed, many of them in granite. - These spaces behave like resonance chambers. Tests conducted in the Sudama cave show that when you stand in the center of the dome, certain frequencies make precise body parts vibrate. - Cool. This would have added to the spiritual experience. Yes, when the frequency of the applied force is equal to the natural frequency of the body, the body vibrates. This can be done with the voice. - Data analysis using a sonometer gives incredible results for three of the caves. Measurements in the last two are not sufficient at the moment and will need further completion. - Scientific research is not usually published before a full set of data is taken, but pop documentaries have no such standard. They want to be interesting, and they can draw far-reaching conclusions on fragmentary data. Be wary of that when investigating any topic. - Let us start with Karan Chopar. The cave resonates at a frequency of 200 hz, as well as at multiples of this frequency: 400 hz, 800 hz, 1000 hz, and 1200 hz. Gopika resonates at 200 hz, 400 hz, 800 hz, and 1200 hz. And Vadathika resonates at 200 and 1000 hz. - I wish we could see the full results with the exact measurements. Are these round figures? What is the margin of error here? BAM does not provide this information. Also please note: the measurements are taken in hertz, a modern unit of measurement. If the measurements were taken using a different unit of measurement, then you wouldn’t get those nice 00s at the end. - Do you realize what this means? Those who conceived and built these caves made them with specific shapes and dimensions to resonate at different frequencies. Can we call this a coincidence? Precise sound calculations 2,300 years ago. How did they calculate those dimensions? At this point, we have no idea, but we will continue to investigate. - Let’s think for a moment on the reasoning employed here. Measurements were taken of sound frequency. Such measurements can be taken anywhere, of course. So how do we tell whether the frequencies we measure are of intentional design? If it has a pattern, you might say. Possibly, but keep in mind that patterns exist in nature too. And when we are measuring human constructed rooms with specific geometrical shapes, those shapes are likely to cause certain patterns in the soundscape, whether it was planned that way or not. So when judging this set of information I would keep several things in mind: BAM’s measurements are incomplete. BAM has not provided the exact measurements. BAM has provided measurements in hertz, which we cannot assume was the unit used at the time of construction, which makes the neat number pattern an illusion. The frequencies may be an accidental byproduct of the shape of the caves. That being said, I would not rule out the possibility that the specialists of the Maurya period had a sonometer of some kind. They are not difficult to make. - In regards to Sudama, the circular diameter on the ground of the chamber measures 6 meters to the millimeter. - One of the strange assertions made in BAM is that the meter was used as a unit of measurement in the time before the presumed great cataclysm of 12,000 years ago. Yes, the meter. So here they are trying to show that the Barabar caves used the meter as a unit of measurement. If you don’t know already, the meter was invented by the French in the late 1700s, based on an inaccurate measurement of the size of the earth. Unless you think that people more than 12,000 years ago chose the same arbitrary definition and made the same mistake, it is impossible for the meter to have existed back then. In order to determine what units of measurements were used in the construction of a building, what a scientist would do is take comprehensive measurements, compare them all, and see what commonalities these measurements have in order to see what basic units are employed. What BAM does is take measurements until something resembling a meter or a fraction of a meter shows up, highlights it, and disregards the rest. So, for example, here. The diameter of the main Sudama chamber comes out to 6 meters, so this is what is emphasized. I provided measurements for several other of the caves earlier, and they did not come out to even meters or to even divisions of meters. - On this complex shape of a dome, they placed half a sphere about 3 meters in radius with a 5 centimeter difference this time. The center is at 1 meter above the ground, give or take 1 centimeter. - There seems to be some sleight of hand here. They claim the center of the room is here and is exactly one meter from the floor. It doesn’t look quite like the center to me. And then the radius they say is 5 centimeters off from 3 meters. If it is 5 centimeters off, then it isn’t a match. - The length of the room is 6 meters, as is the diameter of the ceiling. We can’t say for sure, but it is starting to look like they used the meter. - This small number of cherry-picked measurements is insufficient to establish a pattern. - Now, it might be wise to ask ourselves why they took the measurement this way. 6 meters in diameter means 18.8496 meters in parameter. Divided by 6, the arc equal pi in meters. - This would work with any measuring system, and as we know, they knew about pi in the Maurya period. - What if I told you these granite caves are also located over a discontinuity point in the earth’s crust? - I had never heard of a discontinuity point, so I looked it up. All I could find that might apply is that in geology, a “discontinuity” is a zone deep within the earth where the velocity of earthquake waves changes radically. But I have not been able to find any scientific study that indicates such a zone lies directly under the Barabar caves. So I don’t know where BAM is getting this from. - It’s up to each of you to conclude what you want when you are looking at these masterpieces. With the help of chisels and goodwill, builders might have accomplished this random miracle. Or maybe we’re looking at an example of a science totally unknown to us. - So after considering the evidence, Do you think BAM has shown that the caves were made with a science unknown to the artisans of the Maurya empire? Do you think that BAM has demonstrated successfully that the specialists of that time would not have been able or for any other reason were not likely to have constructed these caves? Let me know in the comments below. Thank you for watching all the way to the end. If you like what I am doing on this channel, and you want to support it, you can do so for as little as $2 per month at patreon.com/worldofantiquity. You might like my little e-booklet, "Why Ancient History Matters." It's designed to persuade people that the subject is important, even in the modern world. You might also wish to use it to help spread the word, so feel free to share it with someone you know. It's free for anyone who wants it. I've left the link in the description box below the video for you to grab a copy. Catch you later.
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Channel: World of Antiquity
Views: 287,600
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Length: 56min 15sec (3375 seconds)
Published: Fri Nov 04 2022
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