Obscure or unique History Questions you would like answered by the Brains of Urban

[Aladdin]

Post a History question...a burning question and wait for the History buffs of Urban to answer or offer a theory and reply.
Questions can be about anything in History...the big questions and the tint ones.

Here's 2 questions to get things going.

1.Why are there so many souterrains in neolithic Europe?

2.And how do you think they lifted and transported those heavy stones up on Dolmens and in stone circles etc.


(Possibly not that obscure)

 

[blairsh]

2.And how do you think they lifted and transported those heavy stones up on Dolmens and in stone circles etc.

They had whips...massive massive whips /DaveLister

 

[iona]

2.And how do you think they lifted and transported those heavy stones up on Dolmens and in stone circles etc.

Seaweed

 

[A380]

…

2.And how do you think they lifted and transported those heavy stones up on Dolmens and in stone circles etc.


(Possibly not that obscure)

Aliens obvs.

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

1.Why are there so many souterrains in neolithic Europe?

Ŗ̷͈̩͖͍̱̪͔̣͙͗̉͋̿ͅͅį̵̪͎̬̒̓̒͋̌́͛͘ẗ̸̨̨̢̜͍̫̜̖́͆́̏̓͜u̶̪̣̫̤̺̥͊̽̀͊̂̚̕̕a̶͚̼̞̰͔̻̦̬͉̳͔͐͋̐̌̐̎̉͆͐̚ḻ̸̡̠̻̉͛̋͑ ̴̢̱̘͕̤̺͕̹̭̫͎͍̝̰̓̽̈́̀́̑́̚͘ͅP̵̲̲̩̅̋̈́̊̐͗̐́̊͘u̵͉̘̰͂́̑̌̋́̀͆͂̾̽̌͝͝r̸̨̭̬̤̗̬̳͇͇͓̦͇̎͋̉̊̒̀̽̓̕̚p̴̛͕̰̰̗̯͕̈́̓̓͂̀̑o̵̰͚̊̑̀ş̶̛̛̹̬͇̝̱̜̳̝̠̩̙̳̽̾̌̍̉̈̕ḙ̷̛̙̮̘̤̦̥̳̫̏̈̈́̈́̾̓͋̊͊̈́͘̚͜͝͠s̴̨̨̧̬̰̲̦͇͉̥͙̺̱̓͗̆͝ͅ

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

As for dolems as they were originally part of burial mounds (from what i know) I guess parts of the mounds would have been used as ramps?

The uprights may have needed A frames

 

[PTK]

How did people know where the enemy army was, so that they could engage in battle?

 

[Puddy_Tat]

How did people know where the enemy army was, so that they could engage in battle?

they followed them on social media, obviously



seriously, urban may not be the best of places to ask about military matters. i'm by no means expert on things military, but the concept is reconnaissance / scouting and information from spies - presume the intention is to observe discreetly and report back without the scout/s getting captured / shot

and without being fed a carefully prepared load of bullshit so you'd put your forces in the wrong place to defend against an invasion.

 

[Spandex]

they followed them on social media, obviously



seriously, urban may not be the best of places to ask about military matters. i'm by no means expert on things military, but the concept is reconnaissance / scouting and information from spies - presume the intention is to observe discreetly and report back without the scout/s getting captured / shot

and without being fed a carefully prepared load of bullshit so you'd put your forces in the wrong place to defend against an invasion.

As well as using scouts to look for the other army, knowledge of the terrain was important too. There's only so many routes a whole army can use to get from A to B, so figuring out which of the limited routes the army is using makes the scouts job easier. Unless an army takes an unexpected route, like Napoleon did in 1800 using the St Bernard Pass to cross the Alps and take the Austrian army in Genoa by surprise.

 

[SpookyFrank]

How did people know where the enemy army was, so that they could engage in battle?

They used dragons for aerial recon.

 

[Artaxerxes]

Post a History question...a burning question and wait for the History buffs of Urban to answer or offer a theory and reply.
Questions can be about anything in History...the big questions and the tint ones.

Here's 2 questions to get things going.

1.Why are there so many souterrains in neolithic Europe?

2.And how do you think they lifted and transported those heavy stones up on Dolmens and in stone circles etc.


(Possibly not that obscure)

Because storing crops means you don’t die

How did people know where the enemy army was, so that they could engage in battle?

They frequently didn’t and stumbled on each other by mistake

Often it was a long drawn process of both armies doing a “let’s fight” “oh no I can’t” today shuffle as both sides attempted to stack odds in favour. Hannibal and Fabius are a good example of this - Fabius kept his army ready to fight but refused to take the bait for absolutely months and it prevented Hannibal doing much and they just hung around next to each other . When Fabius got withdrawn by people who did want to fight the army got fucking wrecked and Rome nearly destroyed

Otherwise it was playground rules and they met in the yard by the bins at break time

 

[DotCommunist]

it was a long drawn process of both armies doing a “let’s fight” “oh no I can’t” today shuffle as both sides attempted to stack odds in favour.

war of manoeuvre as opposed to war of attrition. Like monty v rommel.

My question is about evidence of large scale conflict pre neolithic, where is it if, as we are told, humans are so natchrully warlike and given to violence over co operation.

 

[Santino]

I often wonder what real battles looked like. I expect very few soldiers were as enthusiastic at fighting as extras in films usually are.

 

[SpookyFrank]

war of manoeuvre as opposed to war of attrition. Like monty v rommel.

My question is about evidence of large scale conflict pre neolithic, where is it if, as we are told, humans are so natchrully warlike and given to violence over co operation.

There just weren't enough people about to have large scale anything.

And with small tribes/communities, the wastefulness of sending most of the able-bodied young adults off to get themselves killed instead of finding food and gathering firewood would be even more obvious to everyone.

 

[dessiato]

When the Romans were building straight roads, how did they know the exact place to start? If your target was too far away to be visible, you, surely, couldn't build a straight road without a lot of bends to adjust the direction.

 

[Spandex]

When the Romans were building straight roads, how did they know the exact place to start? If your target was too far away to be visible, you, surely, couldn't build a straight road without a lot of bends to adjust the direction.

By using a groma:

 

[dessiato]

By using a groma:

That's how they make it straight. But if I'm in Lincoln and going to London I need an accurate direction in which to point the first.

 

[Spandex]

That's how they make it straight. But if I'm in Lincoln and going to London I need an accurate direction in which to point the first.

If you're a Roman surveyor in Lincoln you'll know roughly which direction London is - it's not like people haven't travelled between them before. Set off as best you can, light your beacons on the high ground, and sort out the wibbles with a groma once you make it to London. If you're a good surveyor it won't take too much correction, if you're a shit surveyor a Centurion might cut off your head and get a better one

 

[Spandex]

Anyway, the Roman road from Lindum to Londinium didn't turn out the straightest road they ever built:

 

[belboid]

When the Romans were building straight roads, how did they know the exact place to start? If your target was too far away to be visible, you, surely, couldn't build a straight road without a lot of bends to adjust the direction.

they did it by building on the straight road that already existed. The Romans didnt create them (or at least, a lot of them they didn't) but they did massively strengthen them and made them last.

 

[JimW]

I often wonder what real battles looked like. I expect very few soldiers were as enthusiastic at fighting as extras in films usually are.

Apparently a lot of the battles in early China really were decided by the general and his companions despite the often vast numbers involved. They would charge and break the line and the peasant conscripts would melt away.
Explains why legionary discipline worked so well for Rome too I suppose, even outnumbered if they were all willing and able that swung the odds in their favour.
On the cost benefit of early societies sending young able bodied men to war, you do get the tradition of head hunting raiding that survived into modern times in Taiwan and Papua, presumably all the work women were doing was sufficient regardless of a few casualties on raids.

 

[PTK]

they did it by building on the straight road that already existed. The Romans didnt create them (or at least, a lot of them they didn't) but they did massively strengthen them and made them last.

Then how did the old roads come to be?
How would someone know that there was another town miles away, and how would they know how to get there? I imagine it was a lot of trial and error.

 

[JimW]

Then how did the old roads come to be?
How would someone know that there was another town miles away, and how would they know how to get there? I imagine it was a lot of trial and error.

They built the roads first then the towns grew up around the motels and transport cafes.

 

[belboid]

Then how did the old roads come to be?
How would someone know that there was another town miles away, and how would they know how to get there? I imagine it was a lot of trial and error.

Desire lines over a long period of time. People worked out where the places worth visiting were and walked there. Over time these became paths and then roads. Broadway is actually an example of this and the Romans never made its over there.

 

[petee]

By using a groma:

that's very good.

 

[Santino]

Apparently a lot of the battles in early China really were decided by the general and his companions despite the often vast numbers involved.

This is what always happens in The Three Kingdoms anyway.

 

[RiderOnTheStorm]

IIRC - dolmens are built by placing upright stones in ground (these are med sized and this is fairly straight forward) , then you fill in all around them with earth and make a ramp on the low side, then drag / pull the capstone into place (there may have been log rollers or sled beneath and maybe 'sleepers' in the earth to spread the weight). When the capstone was in place, remove the logs / sled / earth mound and the stone 'sits' onto the uprights. So the capstone is never lifted. Lots of muscle, very little engineering, often went wrong I imagine. All done before the wheel was invented .... impressive to say the least!

 

[Artaxerxes]

I often wonder what real battles looked like. I expect very few soldiers were as enthusiastic at fighting as extras in films usually are.

Messy, and much more of a block of people shoving and pushing and imagine a rugby scrum with swords.

 

[Santino]

Messy, and much more of a block of people shoving and pushing and imagine a rugby scrum with swords.



View attachment 459344

But also presumably people being very careful not to get killed. So not charging headlong at a row of enemies with very sharp spears.

I also wonder how many non-professional combatants would have been unwilling or unable to actually kill someone else.

 

[Artaxerxes]

But also presumably people being very careful not to get killed. So not charging headlong at a row of enemies with very sharp spears.

I also wonder how many non-professional combatants would have been unwilling or unable to actually kill someone else.

It would have varied heavily because so many people have fought for different reasons. Many were peasants but far less than people think. Then there were the real killers of the lot, the ones out to prove themselves. All of them would have been a lot more used to the sight of blood and death than most of us, simply from exposure to farm life and illness

But generally fights lasted hours not a few minutes, two groups of people walking up and shoving at each other. Some don’t get up others crawl away. Break apart panting, gasping for water, hold a few metres away staring at each other, repeat again and again.

When the one side breaks is when the real casualties kick in, backs hacked at, people run down, the wounded dispatched.