STONEHENGE — STEVENS 467 



THE ERECTION OF THE STONES 



It must first of all be understood that the setting-out of Stonehenge 

 was done with great care. The Outer Sarsen Trilithons were erected 

 in a perfect circle. The uprights are very evenly placed, 4 feet be- 

 tween each, or to put it in another way, the center of each upright is 

 10 feet 2 inches from its neighbor, with the exception of the two up- 

 rights on either side of the axis (stones Nos. 30 and 1), which are 

 1 foot farther apart than all the others. This extra width is adjusted 

 by shortening the distance between stones Nos. 29 and 30 and 1 and 2 



by 6 inches. . , , , j 



To insure this accurate placing of the uprights, holes were dug 

 which afforded room on all sides for the correct placing of the stone 

 which, once in position, was secured by packing blocks; some of these 

 are from Chilmark, about 13 miles distant. An incline led to the hole 

 in all but two cases, down which the stone was slid. The depth of 

 the hole would, of course, depend upon the length of the upright. 

 At the bottom of each hole which has been examined was a row of 

 holes in the ground, sometimes 6 inches in diameter, which seem to 

 indicate that they were used for wooden stakes which were intended 

 to steady the upright while the packing blocks were being built around 

 the three other sides. Or again these holes may have been for posts 

 used as a fulcrum for a lever. Most probably the holes were used for 

 both purposes; and it is a fact that decayed wood has been found in 

 them, which must have been inserted by human agency. And here it 

 may be noted that very many of the uprights which have been uncov- 

 ered in excavation have the appearance of having been brought down 

 at the base to a rude chisel edge, which would make the process of 

 shifting forward or backward, or from side to side, much easier than 

 a blunt end to the stone. 



But granted the ingenuity of the builders, their care and exactitude 

 in setting out, the vast bulk of the stones weighing anything between 

 20 and 50 tons, still presents a staggering problem. It is not so much 

 one of manpower, important as this must have been, as of careful 

 thought and direction, and the utilization of simple mechanical prin- 

 ciples, which, deftly applied, produced this astonishing result. What 

 kind of ropes were used, for example? It is improbable that hemp 

 was grown and manufactured at that date. Were these ropes of 

 plaited hide? The presence of so many antlers used as picks suggests 

 an abundance of such material. 



The Trilithons of the horseshoe, unlike those of the circle, were 

 erected from the inside. This was discovered in 1901, and the impor- 

 tant fact followed that the Prescelly stones were erected after the 

 Trilithons. 



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