Resolved: Ancient Astronaut Theory is Bunk

Good luck to you, my opponent.=======Unfinished Obelisk======= In a quarry above Answan lies an unfinished obelisk. This obelisk is 137 feet long and weighs 1168 tons. The value of this unfinished obelisk is that it gives us a window into the building technique the ancient Egyptians used to build such massive structures. What they did was line workers up and have them dig out trenches using dolerite pounding stones. That is, they dug the shape of the stone into the ground [1].Once they had gone deep enough, they used the same technique to pound out the bottom of the block. When they had nearly met in the middle, they would use large levers to break the stone out of the ground so it could then be cleaned up and transported [2]. =======Moving the Stones=======Carving out large stones and obelisks is one thing, but moving thousands of tons of stone is another all together. The method used by the Egyptians is nothing fancy. They used, plain and simply, wooden sleds. The Egyptians even made hieroglyphics illustrating this [5]. The sleds were pulled with papyrus ropes, many of which were massively thick to handle the thousand+ tons of load they were meant to carry [8]. These stones were then shipped to location via the Nile, limiting how far the stones had to be dragged [7]. =======Cutting Granite=======Much of the pyramids' interior is made of granite [3], which is incredible difficult to cut -- but the Egyptians had a way. Their technique involved using copper saws and sand. They would start sawing away in the same manner we would today while pouring sand into the groove they where sawing out. The friction of the sand allowed the copper saw to cut the granite with relative ease [5]. This technique was proven by modern scientists to work effectively at cutting granite [4]. Evidence of this technique is found in the form of saw marks on several granite stones, especially on the granite sarcophagus in the pyramid of Khufu [5]. Other than that, the other 85% of the pyramid which was not limestone or granite was made of soft sand-stone which was cut on-site [6].=======Construction of the Pyramid=======New research suggests that the stones where dragged up an inner ramp to a lifting location, where the stones were hoisted up a level and dragged on in this fashion until reaching their final location. This internal spiral ramp was first noticed in 1986 when a French survey team did a micro-gravimetric analysis of the structure. They found a strange spiral structure that could not be explained until an architect named Jean-Pierre Houdin made the theory of the internal ramp. Once his theory was made public, the French team came forward with this image, giving Jean's theory validation. The specifics of this theory and the image in question can be found here [12][9][10][11]. << I cannot recommend watching the video (source 12) highly enough. It's about 7 minutes long and is a must-see if you have even the faintest interest in history.It should be noted that this theory is young. So young, in fact, that it is not considered proven yet. However, this theory fits all the facts and there is no counter evidence against the evidence for this theory.=======Conclusion=======In this round, I have shown how the ancient Egyptians were able to first build and cut these large stones, transport them and place them in the needed location, all with simple tools and a low of man-power. As such, no ancient aliens are needed to explain the existence of the pyramids, thereby affirming the resolution.I look forward to my opponent's response.=======Sources======= 1. http://www.pbs.org... 2. http://www.pbs.org... 3. http://www.ehow.com... 4. http://www.pbs.org... 5. http://hbar.phys.msu.ru... 6. Bob Brier, Jean-pierre Houdin. The Secret of the Great Pyramid: How One Man’s Obsession Led to the Solution of Ancient Egypt’s Greatest Mystery. Smithsonian, 2008.7. http://en.wikipedia.org... 8. http://www.osirisnet.net...9. http://en.wikipedia.org...10. http://en.wikipedia.org...11. http://www.freerepublic.com... 12. http://vimeo.com... [video]