Pavel Pavel (born March 11, 1957, in
Strakonice) is a
Czech engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...
and
experimental archaeologist best known for investigating how ancient civilizations transported heavy weights.
Pavel Pavel studied electrical engineering at the
university in Plzeň and later worked as a design engineer in Agrostav Strakonice. Solving how the ancient people could move megalithic statues and stone blocks became his hobby for which he became known. He began this line of inquiry as a child, when he became worried he may inadvertently be transported back in time and charged with moving heavy objects.
After the
Velvet revolution (1989), Pavel became involved in local politics as a member of the
Civic Democratic Party. He ran in two elections for the
Czech Senate (in 2002 and again in 2003) finishing second. Since 1990 Pavel has worked in the field of heavy transportation, founding his company ''PAVEL PAVEL s.r.o.'' in 2000.
Experimental archaeology
Inspired by
Thor Heyerdahl's ''
Kon-Tiki'', Pavel Pavel set out to demonstrate how the monolithic
Moai
Moai or moʻai ( ; ; ) are monolithic human figures carved by the Rapa Nui people on Easter Island, Rapa Nui (Easter Island) in eastern Polynesia between the years 1250 and 1500. Nearly half are still at Rano Raraku, the main moai quarry, but h ...
of
Easter Island might have been moved into place by a small number of people using only rudimentary technologies. He conducted a practice experiment in 1982 in south
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
using a
concrete
Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...
model (4.5 m, 12 tonnes). In 1986, he was invited by Heyerdahl to Easter Island to test his experiment in its actual setting, where he successfully replicated the experiment. Only 16 people with one leader were needed for relatively fast statue transportation.
He then performed some further experiments. He and five assistants using only wooden sledges erected and moved a 30-ton
rocking stone at the village of
Kadov (in
Strakonice District) to its original location, from where it had been removed in the 19th century by unknown vandals. He estimated that only 160 people with similar simple technology would have been necessary for transportation of the 800 ton stones in
Baalbek
Baalbek (; ; ) is a city located east of the Litani River in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley, about northeast of Beirut. It is the capital of Baalbek-Hermel Governorate. In 1998, the city had a population of 82,608. Most of the population consists of S ...
.
One of next experiments, realised 1991, was building of one segment of
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric Megalith, megalithic structure on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, to ...
model 1:1. Ten people transported during one day a five-ton concrete stone to the top of other two stones, using only ropes and wooden sledges. This model is erected in Strakonice.
Books
* Pavel Pavel:
Rapa Nui', České Budějovice, 1989.
* Jaroslav Malina, Pavel Pavel: ''Jak vznikly největší monumenty dávnověku'' (''How the largest ancient monuments had been built''), Prague 1994, .
* Rapa Nui, The Man Who Made the Moai Walk, first edition, Rapanui Press 2014, Chili. . www.rapanuipress.com
Notes
External links
Article on Pavel's visit to Easter Island
(in Czech)
(archived link)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pavel, Pavel
1957 births
Living people
People from Strakonice
Czech engineers
Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic) politicians
University of West Bohemia alumni