The website is now operational at a very basic level with just a single holding page.

http://meglithproject.co.uk
and
http://stonehengineers.co.uk

If it doesn't work for you, just wait a while. It can take some time for domain names to propagate around all the nameservers.

Very nice. You're right, a real pro.
I suppose you could dedicate the whole project to your father, as I guess he'd be pretty amazed to know what you're up to.

I'm watching Prior's "Britain BC" at the moment, on the History Channel.

There was a nice quote on there, which gives a strong argument for the rowing technique, talking about the neolithic farmers:

"They were an intelligent people, working on the principle of least effort".

Sounds just like Gordon's method to me!

I am compiling a list of interested parties. If you feel you have something to contribute to the Stonehengineers project then please email me with details.

[email protected]

My list at present comprises Gordon, Nigel, Wotan, Baza and, of course, me. Others have expressed an interest, but if I don't have your email address then you're not on the list.

Nigel, in all the confusion of a new thread, I forgot to comment on the sterling work you have been doing on the analysis of the holes.

One thing, which seems fairly obvious, is that if the outer sarsens originally formed a complete circle, then either the trilithons were erected before them or at least part of the circle would have had to be dismantled and re-erected in order to get the trilithon stones inside. I don't suppose that this would have been such a big deal for them to do, but it's all extra work and may be a small argument in our favour.

I’ve been chasing up some Neolithic rope. From what I’ve found, most opinion is that in England at the time of the Stonehengineers they would have used rope made from the “bast” fibre under the bark of Lime (Linden) trees. (Perhaps someone could check that I’m right about that).
I had in mind several ideas:
To get just a bit to have on display, or use in a non-crucial bit of the exercise, OR if it was good enough and we could afford it, to get it tested and certified and then try to persuade the authorities to let us use it.
Anyway, I’ve finally found someone who is willing to help us. She is Norway’s only professional ropemaker and she is with a museum that supplies traditional and archaic ropes, mainly for historic sailing ships. http://www.museumsnett.no/hfs/eng/verft/reipslaging.html

I’ll send her long and interesting reply through on the stonehengineers email system.

Perhaps we could decide if we want to take this further, and if so how far. She seems like she’d be very pleased to be involved.

I,m gonna be a bad boy now, so don't take this as a suggestion.

I'm actually on strike at the moment, (a one man strike over a matter of principal) so I'm at this computor pretty well all day. (opened the bar pretty early as well)

Anyway I just thought, instead of trying to show what we think stoneage man may have done, why not show what he should have done?

That is erect the whole bloody trilithon to 90 degrees in one go, lintel included. It is possible.

I wrote this because I found some evidence that seemed to cast doubt on Vertical Tipping from a Tower. But it also casts doubt on the latest “Whole Lift” thoughts. It’s obviously a crucial matter so I’d prefer it if everyone checked it out and ideally we get some expert advice.

First (speculation rather than evidence):
The trilithon uprights and the sarsen circle uprights vary in length by several feet, yet all are buried more or less deeply so that their tops are all very level with each other. I’m wondering if this suggests a rope technique where you could let the stone down and repeat the process after doing fine packing adjustments to get it just right, rather than a one-shot technique off a tower. (The differing lengths would pretty much preclude Whole Lift as well).

Second, more importantly.
Apart from the mention on Steve’s plans, I’ve found 2 more references to a “ramp fill” at Stone 56 here:
http://robin.eng-h.gov.uk/stoneh/listsar.htm
I’m not sure we can reconcile a log tower with that. It suggests a shallow insertion, not a vertical drop. If we can’t get round that then we have to build a ramp (of chalk rubble, they imply).

However, I think that would be nothing but good news for Gordon and the project:
First, we can go uphill steeper than the Beeb. I assume therefore our ramp would be much smaller than whatever sized one they used.
Second, this fits with the repeated question – Where did the ramp material go? In our case, there would be a lot less of it.
Third, it saves us time and trouble. Just as we have a pre-dug hole, so we have a pre-dumped ramp.
Fourth, stone rowing becomes the star of the show – we row up the ramp and then row horizontally onto a (low) collapsible ramp. We could actually “arrive” from Avebury and row the stone straight into position and collapse it into the hole, before pulling it up. In how long, if we were well organized? Pretty impressive TV!
Fifth, in so doing we could still show off Gordon’s collapsible tower method of tipping the stone, which may be superion to the BBC’s counterbalancing stone.
Sixth, we are spared levering up the heavy stone but can still demonstrate it on the lintel.
Seventh, stone rowing could have a second starring role – moving the lintel across off it’s tower.

We could present the whole thing in terms of Stone Rowing being not only the possible solution to Moving the Megaliths but also being the centrepiece to Raising the Megaliths.

As I say though, I’d like an expert to tell us current thinking on whether ramps are really evidence based before we make a final decision.

I've been wondering about how we actually place the lintel on top of the uprights. I can think of three methods:

1. Crib it up parallel to it's final position, but far enough away from the uprights to not impede the levering (20 feet), then lever it over bridging logs to its final resting place.

2. Crib it up at right angles to its final position (plenty of room for levers), lever it across the top of the uprights, rotating it into position as we go.

3. Crib it up in line with it's final position at the side of the trilithon (plenty of room for levers). Row it straight across the top of both uprights into it's final position.

The last method seems like it works the best for our stone-rowing methodology.