Ancient Scan
non invasive documentation project for archaeology focusing on volumetric measurement archaeoacoustic recording and astronomy for the purpose of reverse engineering the lost technologies of the past
Scott Beibin
Cairo, Egypt
20250117
AncientScan is a citizen-science archaeology and reverse engineering project founded by inventor, Scott Beibin. Since it’s inception in 2019, the project has traveled the planet documenting sites and artifacts in order to examine and provide demystified explanations regarding the knowledge of the ancient world by utilizing non-invasive advanced measurement techniques including hi-resolution 3D scanning, various types of spectrometry, acoustic analysis and other data gathering methods in order to promote a better understanding of the science, mathematics and engineering utilized by ancient civilizations.
AncientScan examines and reveals traces of the lost technologies of past cultures by seeking out anomalous evidence of precision tooling, machining and similar craft found on artifacts around the world. The project also explores archaeoacoustic and archaeoastronomical features discovered in ancient sites as well as piezoelectric properties, while looking at the similarities in engineering techniques found around the world that utilize precision cut extremely heavy “megalithic” stones quarried and transported over very long distances and constructed into profound feats of architecture – possibly hinting at as-yet undocumented intercultural exchange and innovation between cultures of the distant past separated by oceans and great geographic divides.
AncientScan attempts to present the practical and fundamental mathematics, astronomy and engineering lessons that were incorporated into ancient artifacts long ago, many intended to serve as timeless teaching tools for future generations. We are left with questions as to how the ancient world understood its place in the universe and how many civilizations were to great lengths in order to preserve and communicate their scientific knowledge through the aeons. Civilizations rise and fall between wars, famine and environmental and societal collapse. Written and spoken languages morph and disappear. However, many of the engineered megaliths have remained intact over the ages with their engineered angles, ratios, inscriptions and placement on the landscape, intentionally designed to reflect a knowledge of geometry as well as the patterns of seasons and the rotation of the planets and stars – meant to teach future generations lessons learned and to remind us of the preciousness of knowledge gathered over generations through reason and observation.
Additionally, what can understanding the engineering of past civilizations, accomplished before the use of machines powered by fossil fuel combustion, tell us about living in the present and future in a more environmentally sustainable way?
The AncientScan project produces educational tools in Virtual Reality and Mixed Reality. It encourages citizen science participation through various activities including workshops, gamified quests and hackathons in order to gather data, physically replicate, virtually simulate and test scientific knowledge, mathematics and engineering of the ancient world. The project encourages the use of free and libre open source lab hardware, sensors and software tools, as well as tools used for decentralized coordination and communications.
Inventor, artist, self-taught engineer and activist, Scott Beibin studied Anthropology and Archaeology as an undergraduate. He continues his passion for DIY and citizen science in these fields of study. He also develops open source liberation eco-technologies and produces events and projects designed to promote the intersection of the arts and sciences. In his recent scientific trips Scott used LiDAR at several sites in Egypt, modeling the internals of solid stone structures with acoustic resonance and impulse response. Upcoming research expeditions will include sites in Peru, Bolivia and Mexico where Scott and his team will be expanding the available data set of the project and the field of archaeoacoustics.
Scott Beibin is currently utilizing the archaeoacoustic and volumetric data he gathers in order to recreate sites and artifacts within a metaverse environment. He also incorporates the data gathered into his Ptelepathetique music project and his various science-art presentations including The Groucho Fractal Show.
“It’s always best to gravitate to those who teach you HOW to think critically and rationally, while being deeply skeptical and suspicious of those who tell you WHAT to think. Always question but avoid taking a position until you’ve deeply studied a topic, and even then, be critical of what you think you already know. In this time it is paramount to contribute to our collective knowledge as humans; to thoughtfully and patiently re-examine and test what we think we already know about the past, aided by the scientific method with the aid of modern instrumentation. It is also crucially important to recognize when misinformation, disinformation and sensationalism are weaved into a narrative of political propaganda and manufactured conspiracies designed to undermine the integrity of scientific study – while sowing confusion and fomenting cultural and political divide, weaponized as a way for disingenuous power hungry populist politicians to consolidate their control over society, and for irrelevant irrationalists to attempt to bully their way back into a cultural relevance that has been permanently lost. Onward! To the Future!”
– Scott Beibin
