Stonehenge 181
Image by Chance
Stonehenge

Stone Shifting

nigelswift N
nigelswift Aug 18, 2003 09:57:00
Replying to GordonP

Gordon, one of the said Neanderthals is enrolled on an archaeology-related Open University course (part of their “open access for all hominid species” scheme, I believe) and he’s offered to point his professor to this thread. You never know, they might be intrigued. Is that OK?

Any thoughts on a preferred location? Where are you based? I suppose almost anywhere in Wales would do the job, and the Clee Hills are littered with perfect stones (OK, I admit it, I can see them out of the window) but I suppose maximum cred would be gained from using sarsens, perhaps in Wilts (though NOT in the Avebury World Heritage boundaries – I don’t want to end up on the wrong side of another argument about that). Does anyone have any likely spots? I don’t mind doing a bit of chatting up of farmers if required, but it would be perfect if someone had a friend or relative with a good site.

G GordonP
GordonP Aug 18, 2003 16:10:29
Replying to nigelswift

Nigel,
Sooner or later we will need someone from the academic world, tell your son OK.
I am in Derby right in the centre of the country, so I can cover a large area, although I will probably have to visit whatever site we use on several occasions before the actual experiment.
Some thoughts on what we will need.
The site.
A stone. ( I think 10 tons would be ideal to start with, preferably of a similar shape to the sarsens)
Levers, these should be recently felled green wood. I used Larch last time and it worked well.
Support logs and fulcrum logs. (anything log shaped)
Like you said, once we have got the hang of moving the stone we can do a demo for the academics and perhaps gain their support for the erection experiment.
Regards Gordon

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