#ancient-engineering

#ancient-engineering

The coin would fall inside and land on a lever. Under the weight of the coin, the lever went down, pulling a string. The string was attached to a plug that opened a valve, allowing the container to dispense holy water. So Hero's invention was not a snack machine - it was designed to prevent people from taking more than their fair share of holy water, which had apparently been a problem in temples up to that point.

Weighing between 12 and 80 tonnes, scientists have long wondered how the island's ancient civilisation could have moved the huge stone statues into place. Using a combination of 3D modelling and real-life experiments, scientists have confirmed that the statues actually 'walked' to their final destinations. After studying nearly 1,000 of the heads - known as moai - anthropologists found that the people of Rapa Nui likely used ropes to rock the statues in a zig-zag pattern.