[quotient]

You're being overly dismissive. There's quite clearly a substantial amount of research here, and in a cursory reading I detected no explicitly bombastic claims, which are usually indicative of crankwork.

Sure, it's not peer-reviewed, and his other articles might look quite loony, but he does highlight some anthropological discrepancies in this piece. Not everyone can have their articles peer-reviewed.

[kjs3]

If the substantive bulk of someones work is loonery, I don't have to accord them any serious consideration because they got some minor detail right. That's exactly the approach all woo-peddlers use...find some triviality to establish credibility for a pack of bunk.

[notahacker]

Absolutely. It's fair to describe his writings as interesting, and for all his cynicism about conventional theories he never actually comes out and says obviously it was the Giant Atlanteans that built it shortly after they'd finished with Ancient Egypt.

But there's also some rather sympathetic treatment given to theories that the world was built by giants during 365 days of darkness, and short shrift given to pretty conventional views that it's pretty normal for a single engineering project to use big rocks for foundations and fortification walls, smaller blocks for fiddly little details like eaves for roofs, and rubble for unimportant or needs-to-be-finished in a hurry structures.

If you actually visit some of the sites in question and consider them as a whole there's a pretty smooth quality gradient between the tightly packed massive stone blocks, the impressively-precisely cut small ashlar blocks and the relatively loose blockwork. Which reminds me that I need to go back to Peru some time...

[arethuza]

When I was 7 or 8 I read one of Erich von Däniken's books and got terribly excited - a couple of years later I realised that it was, of course, complete nonsense. I remember being quite indignant that someone could write a book like that. Quite a useful learning experience actually...

This reads remarkably like something from von Däniken but with any mention of ancient aliens removed... Sacsayhuaman, Cuzco, incredible stonework, tunnel networks, lost civilizations....

[sinkasapa]

I think that it is a sign of crankwork to imply that the Inca sites were produced by ancient Greeks using stone softening.

[protonfish]

The author doesn't claim ancient greeks did it (though one of his sources does.) Stone softening is an interesting idea and a heck of a lot less crazy than "aliens did it."

[sebkomianos]

I am from Greece. Unfortunately, I can't find anything in english but I have read quite a few "theories" about ancient Greeks traveling to America.

[thevardanian]

Where does he claim that?

[RogerL]

Plants that make rocks soft? Rocks "carved as if they were clay".

Lacking extraordinary evidence, those are absurd claims.

[calroc]

If I had another life I would go search for this plant. It seems plausible to me and would definitely be awesome to find it if it exists.