11–20 of 20 posts
Bill Bryson on Stonehenge: "Can you imagine trying to talk six hundred people into helping you drag a fifty-ton stone eighteen miles across the countryside and muscle it into an upright position, and then saying, 'Right, lads! Another twenty like that...and then we can party!'" (Yes, I only know that quote from Civ 6)
This is probably a less effective approach than the "fed a gaul some magic potion and got him to throw it 140 miles" theory.
This is probably a less effective approach than the "fed a gaul some magic potion and got him to throw it 140 miles" theory.
About 2/3 down of this page suggests grease has been tried before and was not effective: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theories_about_Stonehenge#Cons...
As someone who's moved a lot of machinery the hard way (i.e. not paying someone else to do it with a fork lift) I like the stone rollers and wood track the best. One dude with a pry bar can roll a >3-ton (per the manufacturer, not just a guess) mill sitting on rollers sitting on 2x4s sitting on rough ground (protip: vary the thickness of the lumber depending on how much you want it to conform to the ground). A 100+ p…
I also think that the people of the time were very adept at working with large tree trunks. Many late stone-age structures used them extensively, eg large round houses, platforms on lakes, etc. Fashioning smooth round rollers would have been relatively straight-forward for them IMO.
Bill Bryson on Stonehenge: "Can you imagine trying to talk six hundred people into helping you drag a fifty-ton stone eighteen miles across the countryside and muscle it into an upright position, and then saying, 'Right, lads! Another twenty like that...and then we can party!'" (Yes, I only know that quote from Civ 6)
If you consider how much time and effort goes into making a lot of movies and music which to all intents and purposes are identical as far as I can tell (but which I'm assuming makes someone a lot of money) then it's not clear why people find it puzzling that a bunch of smart (if missing some modern implements) people moved a few stones around a bit for a laugh.
What naked disdain for the creative labor of others.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you consider how much time and effort goes into making a lot of movies and music which to all intents and purposes are identical as far as I can tell (but which I'm assuming makes someone a lot of money) then it's not clear why people find it puzzling that a bunch of smart (if missing some modern implements) people moved a few stones around a bit for a laugh.
"which to all intents and purposes are identical as far as I can tell" What naked disdain for the creative labor of others.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you consider how much time and effort goes into making a lot of movies and music which to all intents and purposes are identical as far as I can tell (but which I'm assuming makes someone a lot of money) then it's not clear why people find it puzzling that a bunch of smart (if missing some modern implements) people moved a few stones around a bit for a laugh.
"which to all intents and purposes are identical as far as I can tell" What naked disdain for the creative labor of others.
I did some reading around to see how chariot axles were done at the time. This predates the chariot, the wheel and possibly domestication itself. So even my visions of a nice iron age pig farm is as likely to be a reality of hunting wild boar in the forest, on foot.