No – he’s talking about the spring-loaded trap that got Forrestal (and, later, Doctor Octopus). Indy warned “Stay out of the light”, and when he waved his hand in the light, the trap sprung (what pulled it back after it got Forrestal?)
Obviously a primitive photoelectric trap.
:smack: I totally forgot about that one.
My theory is that there were some of those blowgun-wielding locals working all that stuff from the other side of the wall, as their day job. You had to “stay out of the light” so that they wouldn’t see you through their peep-holes and push the spikey thing through the wall. 
If they got surly teenage Jovitos on their summers off, that would explain why they didn’t just charge Indy, instead of shoving bamboo sticks at him, firing blowguns (did they have Primitibve Air Compressors? Naah, musta been more temp help behind the walls), and finally bringing down the entire temple (“OK, you kids! DON’T TOUCH THIS SWITCH unless you absolutely have to! It took us two years last time to put the temple back together! So, if you push this, there better be a squashed archaeologist under the giant rolling ball, or you’re losing your wages”).
“Charge him? For minimum wage? Screw that! He’s got a gun!”
thank you!
Yes. Indy stops Satipo and says to him, “Stay outta the light.” Then he ducks under the brilliant light beam, and puts his hand in it. WHAM! A daggered gate (or something) flies out of the wall with an old skeleton attached to it (indicating the trap had somehow reset itself :rolleyes: ).
ETA: Ooop. I see Cal et al cleared that up.
Exactly. It’s the only theory that makes sense.
The Last Crusade traps are at least somewhat possible, because of the knight.
He could have been keeping the traps in working condition. If he needed to find some part, or some vegitation for rope, he’d have to leave the temple, which would explain his advanced age.
That may be the single stupidest thing I’ve ever read here on the SDMB.
Huh? What’s that scratching noise at my cubicle?
Aieeeee! Extra-large Ferrets!
-Cem
Except, that last feat (the Leap of Faith) that Indy had to perform make no sense to people with two eyes. Which is just about everybody, and you probably wouldn’t be an adventurer if you only had one eye.
It wowed everyone in the theater, except me. I was indignant and incredulous because of it. A trap or feat that depends on having no depth of field when everyone is born with two eyes?
Still a good movie, though.
I have seen mousetraps, designed to catch the critters alive, which self-reset. In fact, it’s extremely simple: just a pivoting plate where the weight is distributed such that it’s almost balanced and the plate remains level until a mouse walks over it, at which point the plate flips over and drops the victim into the container below. As soon as the animal’s weight is no longer on the plate, it flips back to its rest position, ready for the next victim.
I see no reason why this concept would not work on humans as well, if properly camouflaged. As long as the container is large enough, you can catch any number of nosy archaeologists that way. The energy to trigger the trap is provided by the victim’s weight, the movement by which it resets is caused by gravity.
Such a system would be relatively easy to build, even with prehistoric levels of engineering knowledge. Because the mechanism is so uncomplicated, it could probably collect quite a bit of crud before it would no longer move under the weight of an adult human. Not thousands of years of course, but under the right circumstances I could see a well-built trap remaining in working order for a couple of years, perhaps even decades. Maybe smear some nasty poisonous substance onto the moving parts of the mechanism, in order to discourage vegetation from clogging up the works.
For the record, I’m not claiming that any of this exists. Just that if I ever have to design a man-trap using prehistoric technology, this is how I would do it.
This is fun.
You might devise some sort of one-way door that opens into some sort of closed off antechamber. Weave the fingers of both your hands together. Each finger would represent a weighted stone that pivots where the first knuckle is. You can get trough to the antechamber by pushing with force with enough determination, but to get back out, you’d have to move apart more the 6 or 7 of these. If each one was weighted for 60 or 70 lbs. of lateral force, you’d have a hell of a time getting out if you were alone. Unless, that is, you had enough forethought to prop or wedge them open before you went in.
I hope this doesn’t break any board rules about devising ways of illegally trapping intrepid archeologists unto their doom!
But wouldn’t even those fill with sediment and water and parrots and whatever else in in the jungle, eventually rendering them useless?
As for the other traps, I always thought that the natives just did the upkeep on the place, not that the traps were self resetting. I mean that temple was important to someone, and someone was polishing that idol to keep it all shiny right?
Give it proper drainage and it would last longer. Or you could locate your temple on top of a natural formation. The cave talked about in this article acts much like a trap, with a small opening obscured by vegitation, with a 50 foot drop to the cave floor. It’s been in an “operational” state for millenia.
Ou-bli-ette…
Ou-bli-deee…
<SINGS> Fa-lal-la-la Life goes on!</SINGS>
Thanks
I considered whether or not to have large or small predators, small rodents seemed to make more sense as they could forage on scraps until a tomb raider comes near and then go a bit mad.
not for very long in an oubliette it doesnt go on…
It has to be done…
[ob Booby trap joke]
Trapping Boobies is all very well for a bit of fun, but you really want to get a Shag
[/ob Booby trap joke]
Si
Or a nice pair of tits.