I was playing around for a while with the idea of creating a super advanced new world. Here are some ideas I came across and archived:
1. Earlier Steenblik Coils
“A steenblik coil is a spiral mirror that can focus the sun. A good mirror like gold (gold foil is cheap for optics because it can be beaten to a micron thick between calfskin and it reflects very, very, well) would heat an area a few feet across to the melting point of glass or metal very quickly for six to ten hours every day …...” wkwillis
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=24090
"The earliest stone mirrors in Mesoamerica pre-date the rise of the Olmec civilization, with examples being dated as far back as the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. From early in Mesoamerica's history, the use of iron ore mirrors was associated with a hereditary elite class. At Paso de la Amada, a Mokaya site in the Soconusco region of southern Chiapas, iron ore mirrors were excavated that have been dated to between 1400 and 1100 BC ........"
2. THE FIRE PISTON: ANCIENT FIRE MAKING MACHINE
How does it work?
Air gets very hot when it is compressed under high pressure. A classic example would be the heat that is created when one uses a bicycle pump. But when the air is compressed in a firepiston it is done so quickly and efficiently that it can reach a temperature in excess of 800 degrees Fahrenheit. This is hot enough to ignite the tinder that is placed in the end of the piston which has been hollowed out to accept it.
Ancient examples of the tube itself are of hardwood, bamboo, or even horn. It is closed on one end, very smooth inside and accurately bored. Equal care is taken in the creation of the associated piston. A "gasket" of wound thread, fiber, or sometimes leather insures a proper seal for successfully creating the compression. This gasket is "greased" to help with the seal and to allow free travel of the piston. Those pacific natives I told you about earlier believed that the firepiston wouldn't work unless it was greased with dog fat. The natives of the Philippines say to use the grease of a wild pig from the jungle. But if you don't have time for a wild pig hunt, or the money to lipo-suction Fido , shortening has been shown to work. You might also want to try a combination of bacon fat mixed with a little candle wax, which is what outdoorsman John Rowlands used on his firepiston.
An article by Richard Jamison in a 1994 issue of Woodsmoke contains a nice description of how to operate a firepiston:
"...the cylinder is held firmly in the fist of the left hand: a small piece of tinder...is placed in a cavity on the point of the piston, which is just entered into the mouth of the bore; with a sudden stroke of the right hand the piston is forced up the bore, from which it rebounds slightly back with the elasticity of the compressed air, and on being plucked out, which it must be instantly, the tinder is found to be lighted."
As you can probably see, this ancient firemaking machine is utilizing the Diesel principle.
History
By 1865 European explorers had reached the jungles of Indonesia where they found firepiston use well established and widespread. Areas of distribution included Burma, the Malay Peninsula, French Indo-China and Borneo. From some of these areas it made its way to the East Island Archipelagos and the Philippines.
One thing I'd often pondered was the discovery by essentially stone-age people of a technology with such meticulous conditions for successful operation. I finally decided that it could have been an accidental discovery somehow connected to blow gun manufacture. The Woodsmoke article came to the same conclusion adding that perhaps during the process of boring or gauging them, there may have been compression of air that ignited material in the bore or perhaps on the rod. Reference was also made to the fact that oriental blow guns often occur in the same areas where the firepiston is found.
In addition, speculation was made that perhaps when making blow guns of bamboo they would use a rod to pop out the nodes between the sections and that the discovery was accidentally made during this operation. In any event, the discovery was made. The distribution of firepistons was so widespread by the time of those first European explorers that it indicates knowledge of the necessary technology for ages. It continues to be used in some are.
The full article
by W.R. Knapp can be found here:
http://www.onagocag.com/piston.html
Fairly plausible that the American natives invent something similar.
3. Cultivation of Stevia Plant
A less labor intensive, more robust and healthy way to get sugar (Until the Europeans arrive and even then it has the all these advantages mentioned.) The only thing comparable sweetener South America had is honey as far as I am aware of. Stevia is easier to produce and also much sweeter than honey thou.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevia
4. Gun Powder
Already explored in this timeline:
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=11479
5. How to Downsize a Transport Network: The Chinese Wheelbarrow
“For being such a seemingly ordinary vehicle, the wheelbarrow has a surprisingly exciting history. This is especially true in the East, where it became a universal means of transportation for both passengers and goods, even over long distances.
The Chinese wheelbarrow - which was driven by human labour, beasts of burden and wind power - was of a different design than its European counterpart. By placing a large wheel in the middle of the vehicle instead of a smaller wheel in front, one could easily carry three to six times as much weight than if using a European wheelbarrow.
The one-wheeled vehicle appeared around the time the extensive Ancient Chinese road infrastructure began to disintegrate. Instead of holding on to carts, wagons and wide paved roads, the Chinese turned their focus to a much more easily maintainable network of narrow paths designed for wheelbarrows. The Europeans, faced with similar problems at the time, did not adapt and subsequently lost the option of smooth land transportation for almost one thousand years."
http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2011/12/the-chinese-wheelbarrow.html
Very Inca friendly.
Sorry for the jumbled post, but those are just some notes I copied together for my own reference.
