[Capitalist]

Found this video quite a while ago which demonstrates the theory that the limestone blocks used in the construction of the pyramid at Giza were made artificially and not carved from solid blocks of limestone with copper tools.

[youtube]znQk_yBHre4[/youtube]

To me this seems a more plausible theory as it would produce blocks at a greater rate and be less labour intensive than carving the blocks, although solid blocks would probably have greater strength than artificial blocks.

[Suska]

interesting theory

[GreyICE]

Actually they were able to reconstruct basic pyramid making techniques using similar tools to what the egyptians had on hand:
http://www.mazalien.com/nova-this-old-pyramid.html

The results were quite successful. They did use steel rather than copper tools, but they noted that copper worked fine but blunted very quickly, and they'd have needed roughly 20 extra people to sharpen the copper tools.

They were also short of the precision of the Egyptian stone blocks, but again the team was inexperienced with carving pyramid blocks, and longer practice would have resulted in higher quality carving.

Apologies for the long quotes, but I think this highlights some of the 'mysteries' and how they're solved by labor and basic construction techniques.

MARK LEHNER: He says it's more than seventeen tons, but I want to know how they got this joint between two fifteen-ton stones so—how they did it so well. I can't put the blade of my Swiss Army knife—And this is often said. It would be hard to get a razor blade in that seam.
NARRATOR: As Roger tries to emulate the ancients' precise joints, he is once again stymied by the soft surface on which he is building.
ROGER HOPKINS: What's that Mark?
MARK LEHNER: Is that as good as you're going to get it?
ROGER HOPKINS: Well, that's pretty close.
MARK LEHNER: They're doing this by jamming stones in under this side.
ROGER HOPKINS: The problem we've got here, Mark, is that we're not doing our bottom casement stones on. . .
MARK LEHNER: You're not on a stone surface.
ROGER HOPKINS: We're not on stone surface.
MARK LEHNER: So they're jamming these pieces in.
ROGER HOPKINS: Right. So, we can't really get a very tight joint like what they did up on the big pyramids. You know, with a little practice, we could get those fine joints, too.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcript ... ramid.html

NARRATOR: Roger's ramp is similar in construction to one that Mark has noticed leaning against a tomb. It was probably built about the same time as the great pyramid that stands behind it.
MARK LEHNER: They must have been using it for the construction in some way. And all these books are written about pyramid building, and they say they made mud brick ramps. Other people say they didn't use any ramps. They say there are no ancient ramps. And we're standing on a ramp that's probably from the time of the building of this mastaba, whether they used it for debris or for these stones, and it's about 5,000 years old.
ROGER HOPKINS: Well, you can see the debris down here where it's very similar to the way that we're laying our stone and tufla in.
MARK LEHNER: And this isn't the only ramp that still exists out here at Giza. I mean, there are others for hauling stones from the quarries up to the cemeteries. There are construction embankments. This has got to be how they constructed the pyramid ramps. It has to be this material.
NARRATOR: With the ramp appearing to resolve the question of how to raise blocks, the other major challenge facing the ancient builders was controlling the shape of the pyramid. That's the next problem facing Roger and Mark.

MARK LEHNER: Well, this may be actually a really good point. You don't think there is any one rule by which they controlled the slope of the outer casing. You think they might have done it one way for one or two or three pyramids, and another way for a different pyramid? I think that's a pretty good statement and a good possibility, because I don't think there was a manual for pyramid building.
ROGER HOPKINS: No. You know, all they had to word with, from generation to generation, are just standard masonry practices which are the same today as they were 6,000 years ago.
NARRATOR: The mathematics used by the ancient masons was probably very simple. Through trial and error, the builders of the Great Pyramid learned that the proportions of eleven and fourteen would give them about a fifty-two degree angle, if these were incorporated into every casing stone before being put in place. By using these proportions, and by periodically sighting at the corners to check if the slope is true, Roger expects to end up with a perfectly-shaped pyramid, despite his disagreement with Mark.
MARK LEHNER: So, you're using basically common sense, practical experience, and a hands-on approach.
ROGER HOPKINS: Right. Exactly.

Roger Hopkins, a professional stonemason, was able to solve many of these 'mysteries' simply because archaeologists are not trained stoneworkers, and what is a very 'complex relationship' to them is simple facts to someone who is used to working with and constructing stone day in and day out.

It's really a very good program, and I enjoyed the hell out of it, but it's just good ol' human ingenuity, a lot of labor, and some reasonably clever stoneworkers with a lot of experience.