[Sca-cooks] Circles
Martin G. Diehl
mdiehl at nac.net
Sun Nov 28 09:11:57 PST 2004
Stefan li Rous wrote:
Thanks for your response.
> WdG proposed:
> > I have long had a (completely) unsubstantiated theory
> > that the Standing Stones in many Neolithic or
> > pre-historic sites were dragged/leveraged into place,
> > and then shaped/carved over the following decades.
> > Stonehenge *may* be one of the foils for this theory,
> > but, like I said, it's wholly unsubstantiated.
>
> 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.
<slight digression>
The Greeks used quite a different method in their public
works -- the rough stone was moved to the construction
site and finished there.
For a column barrel, the undressed (rough-cut) stone
became a wheel by placing two iron pins set in lead and
attaching a yolk drawn by an ox team.
For a rectangular block, 2 wheels were constructed at
each end of the block ... pins as above.
Sources:
Landels, J. G.; "Engineering in the Ancient World"
Pennsic XXX class ...
"Machines, Technology and Change: Ancient through Medieval"
</slight digression>
Colin Richards discusses this in one of the papers on
"Orkney Archaeological Trust website"
http://www.orkneydigs.org.uk
"Papers and Pictures ..."
http://www.orkneydigs.org.uk/dhl/papers/index.html
In Richards, Colin; "Rethinking the great stone circles of
Northwest Britain";
http://www.orkneydigs.org.uk/dhl/papers/cr/index.html
Scroll down to or text search for "The research project";
around "Figure 1", a discussion of quarries and techniques.
> 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
Vincenzo
--
Martin G. Diehl
http://www.renderosity.com/gallery.ez?ByArtist=Yes&Artist=MGD
Reality: That which remains after you stop thinking about it.
inspired by P. K. Dick
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