Stonehenge 181
Stonehenge

Foamhenge

Hi Peter, stone rowing is the only method that just as easy uphill (I've tested it on inclines as steep as one in eight and believe I could have gone steeper) as it is on the flat or downhill.

Compared to dragging it is massively more energy efficient and manpower efficient, so much so that I believe the lintals could have been transported by two teams of around 20 men working shifts, half hour on and half hour off, all day long. The uprights would have needed bigger teams of course, but only proportionally.

I believe the best method Neolithic man had for transporting the stones would have been to row the stone to the top of the nearest hill enroute, lay rollers down the other side and beyound and let gravity lend a hand for as long as it wished before setting out for the next hilltop.

If I can get it organized that will be my next experiment.

BTW I can't receive Histroy Channel so don't know exactly what was broadcast. Did they show the footage from the Isle of Sumba or the stuff about the Neolithic boat and the experiments at Crich in Derbyshire?

Thanks Gordon - most interesting and I wish you well in the next experiment. Can't tell you about the television coverage as I only caught about 10 minutes.

> (I've tested it on inclines as steep as one in eight and believe I could have gone steeper)

I wanna go! ;o)

G x

Yep, all of those were in. :^)

And (mercifully) relatively little of the 'dressing up party'.... Sorry, reconstruction of the ritual.

love

Moth