[Sca-cooks] Circles

[Bill Fisher]

On Sun, 28 Nov 2004 03:13:25 -0600, Stefan li Rous
<stefanlirous at austin.rr.com> wrote:
> Why not carve them to shape where you first dig them up? Then you have
> less weight to haul. This is what the Egyptians did for their pyramids.
> The quarries still exist and I believe there are may be pictures of the
> stones being hauled.
> 
> It's easier to carve the stone while it is on the ground then after it
> has been tilted vertically.
> 
> If you place the rough stone in the hole, lever it into a vertical
> position and then carve it to its final shape, would you really dig a
> hole around it again so you can get to it to finish the part below the
> ground? If not, then it should be easy to determine whether the stones
> were shaped in position or before. Simply check the rock below the
> ground and compare it to the portion of the megalith above the ground.
> 
> 
> 
> Stefan

The bluestone that the henges at Stonehenge are made from is
not available  at the site of construction,  Marlborough Downs which 
is 18 miles away from the site is the closest site where that same
stone is available and I think scientists have nailed it down chemically
as the self-same rock.

The structure is attributed to the Grooved Ware people, part of a series
of groups of people that occupied that area during Neolithic times (they
are named for the criss-cross grooves on the pottery they created and
left behind).  NewGrange,Carnac, Brodnarr, and Skara Brae are all 
attributed to them as well.  Some of the sites have capstones up to
400 tons.

They seem to have been a fairly advanced people with a division of 
labor for tasks and at least a basic form of writing, and since 
many of their sites have very precise astronomical alignments,
astronomy.  They even seem to have a standard unit of measure.
Houses in Skara Brae seem to have been built with drains and working
plumbing.

(OFC)
Now, for the division of labor to develop, there needs to be an agrarian
society involved with food production.  Pottery is a good way to trade 
grains and other agrarian goods. There is direct evidence that the neolithic
peoples grew grain (I don't know what kinds, tho I bet Bear knows) but also 
gathered and hunted. There was also animal husbandry involved.

Bone analysis indicates diet varied from person to person but that 
plant materials were a large part of their diet.

There is a cool book entitled _Uriel's Machine_  that while  it is a 
bit apocalyptic at times, is a good read when you consider our 
own technologies sophisticated or superior.  Some fanaticism 
filters may need applied while reading the book as well.


Cadoc
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