Doubt if packing stones would stabilize the structure Mr j. I’m no engineer, but I’d imagine you’d have to pack stones to something like a quarter of the height of the standing stone (or sink it to an equivalent depth) to achieve that. The packing stones in question might have helped to position it correctly though.

The stones in the Nanakado Stone ‘Sundial’ in Towada, Akita Prefecture, Japan that we highlighted last year might be showing something similar.