616 TRANSPORTATION OF HEAVY BODIES BY THE ANCIENTS. 



collections of the United States National Museum and in the great 

 libraries of Washington and New York City. 



While several pictorial remains are in existence, showing - how, by 

 the aid of sledges, rollers, and levers, huge images of stone were moved 

 over ground from the quarry to the building under construction, noth- 

 ing has been found to show how these heavy masses were lifted into 

 position. In examining the photographs referred to, it was noted, 

 especially in the pictorial representation of Assyrian and Egyptian 

 remains, that many figures are represented in various attitudes carry- 

 ing something in baskets or bags. It occurred to the writer that this 

 "something" was clay or other kind of earth, and a method of lifting 

 heavy bodies into position suggested itself, in which the sledge, the 

 roller, the level, and the inclined plane, made of earth, were the only 

 mechanical powers necessary to be utilized, no pulleys, cranes or other 

 machinery being employed. 



From the earliest times the erection of embankments of earth has 

 been carried on by savage nations and primitive peoples. The earth- 

 works left by the mound builders in America and Europe are conspicu- 

 ous evidence that the digging and carrying of earth was practiced on a 

 large scale in many localities, far distant from one another, centuries 

 ago. 



Let us see how, by the aid of inclined planes of earth, the huge 

 stones used in the construction of dolmens or cromlechs could be put in 

 position by the use of primitive appliances. The stone posts could be 

 moved to the desired place and erected in a vertical position in the 

 manner indicated by the several accompanying drawings. In the illus- 

 tration (PI. I) figure 1 shows the stone post lying flat and supported 

 upon rollers ; figure 2 shows two piles of earth dug from the pit in 

 which one of the posts is to stand. The stone slab can be rolled up 

 the inclined plane and tilted into position, and, by the use of levers 

 and pry bars, be made to stand upright ; and when the second post was 

 erected by a similar operation, and the space between the posts and 

 around them filled with earth, the top stone or lintel could be placed in 

 position after being elevated to the desired height on another inclined 

 plane, made of earth, as shown in PI. II. These operations being com- 

 pleted, the earth could be returned to the pits from which it was dug 

 and the surface of the ground leveled. 



Since chese lines were written the author has received the following 

 communication from Dr. William H. Dall, of the United States Geo- 

 logical Survey: 



"During a visit to the island of Jersey (Channel Islands) in 1878, 

 while wandering over the hills, I noticed among many dolmens scat- 

 tered about one which seemed to have never been finished. The sides 

 stood erect, and one enormous roofing slab had been laid in place, cov- 

 ering about half the cavity at the inner end. Behind it and against 

 the erect slab, forming the end of the chamber, was an inclined plane 

 of earth, beaten very hard, and extending from the level of the uprights 



