Stonehenge 181
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Stonehenge

Stone Shifting

GordonP G
GordonP Aug 19, 2003 11:40:06
Replying to nigelswift

Hi Nigel

For a 10 ton stone I had in mind something like this, 20ft long, 3ft 6ins wide and 2ft deep. Something like that would make a spectacular erection (no laughing ladies) in concrete. At 157lbs per cubic foot that makes just over 10 tons. Apparantly concrete weighs about the same per cubic foot as the sarsen stone according to the archaeologists and has been used before in archaeological experiments. However if we use natural stone and all we could get was a big 10 ton boulder we could use a sort of timber raft to rest the stone on and lever the raft along.

Larch levers, I used larch on advice from the timber merchant, maybe he had plenty available, but any of those you mentioned would probably work. I'm a bit dubious about ash though , it may be to flexible. Oak would be good but might be heavy. We should test some different timber before deciding. I chose 20ft as the length because I thought that was about as long as one man could handle, after doing the experiment I now think that might be a bit long. We should test different lengths also. Whatever we use should,I think, be green.

Regarding the head height business. After each lift the lever needs to be lifted clear of the fulcrum log to reposition for the next lift, this means that the end of the lever nearest the stone actually rests on the groud during repositioning. When this is done the lever moves along the track at the same rate as the stone without the need to stop the rowing action.

Fibreglass? I do hope your joking, people already think I'm mad.

Regards Gordon

N nigelswift
nigelswift Aug 19, 2003 13:38:49
Replying to GordonP

Yes, I was wondering whether you’d looked at rafts and cradles etc. I believe they did that at Easter Island, but could you make one that was strong enough? I would have thought the ancient people would have had something of that nature because so many megaliths are such awkward shapes.

Maybe the most robust and lightest arrangement would be to lash the sarsen to a couple of longitudinal logs that would be lifted along underneath the stone, so the shape of the stone became irrelevant? (You’d need a raised “track” comprising occasional transverse logs, so there was room to put the levers underneath.) Something like that would be good because you’d have lengthened the whole contraption so there’d be room for more rowers and the weight would be evenly distributed – no-one would have a heavy bit compared with the others, and everyone would be doing the same rowing action at the same height. Also, distributing the weight along a greater length would improve the steering and enable you to tip the front up more easily when you needed to.

PS have just tried it in the garden with an almost round rock, and it seems to work small-scale…. I’m glad people think you’re mad. My neighbours now KNOW I am!

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