The pyramids at Giza werre built from limestone concrete, using a soft limestone quarried at the south face of the plateau. The limestone is permeated with kaolinitic clay which disperses when soaked in water, changing the stone to a mud of limestone particles. When mixed with a strongly basic solution, the kaolinite converts to a silica-based binder which slowly cures. The mixture of the limestone particles and the activated binder forms limestone concrete which has the same macroscopic properties as native limestone, which has led generations of scholars to believe that the stones are hewed native limestone.
Assuming hewed native limestone has misled scholars into fantastic scenarios of tens of thousands of slaves forced into building the Khufu, the great pyramid, in 23 years. That scenario, widely publicized, does not withstand close inspection. The alternative, outlined above, leads to a construction process requiring only a few thousand workers with a credible work schedule. Recent excavations south of the Giza plateau disclose a city of about 20,000 well fed and housed workers who constituted the workforce, including many support workers beyond the few thousand who actually did the digging, carrying, pouring, etc. More details can be found at www.margaretmorrisbooks.com. The first of two volumes of her book "The Pyramid Mystery is Solved" is in print. The second volume is in preparation, which contains a chapter by yours truly on a hypothetical construction process that fits known facts and answers previous objections to the concrete hypothesis. Research by a Distinguished Professor in material science has shown that samples of rock from the Giza plateau are indeed synthetic. His paper is being submitted to a senior scientific publication. Mike Carrell
