30 



Recent Excavations at Stonehenge. 



each step, and in this they are guided by the man standing on the 

 stone waving his wand. 



Any of the methods I have described were perfectly possible to 

 the builders of Stonehenge, and it is in the highest degree probable 

 that the same or similar methods were employed by them for the 

 transport of the stones from the places where they were found. 



And in this connection it must not be forgotten that all the 

 stones of Stonehenge occurred in its neighbourhood, within a radius 

 of not many miles, as has already been pointed out, and had not to 

 be brought from a distant locality. 



Shaping and Dressing the Stones. — In this connection it is necessary 

 to remember that the sarsens, of which the outer circle and the 

 trilithons consist, occur naturally in more or less flat tabular blocks ; 

 usually of much greater length than breadth, and generally ranging 

 in thickness from about 2 to 4 feet. On their surfaces they are 

 often soft and friable, whilst in the middle they are dense and hard. 



No single stone is of uniform hardness ; some parts may be so 

 soft that they can be rubbed away with the fingers, others so 

 hard that they resist chipping with a steel chisel. 



Originating as concretions in a bed of sand they had somewhat 

 curved outlines, and usually one face, the under face, retained a 

 more marked convexity than the other. 



From what has just been stated it follows that as a rule but 

 little material would have to be removed from their broad faces to 

 reduce them to the symmetrical forms seen at Stonehenge. 



To break off large pieces from their sides and ends was not a 

 matter of great difficulty. It was probably accomplished by lighting 

 strips of wood along the line where the fracture was desired; 

 pouring cold water on it when sufficiently heated and then 

 pounding the part to be detached with the heavy stone mauls. 

 Pieces of considerable size could also be readily broken off by the 

 use of the mauls alone. I may mention here that the line of holes 

 seen on the upper side of stone No. 95, cut across one of its corners, 

 is not, I think, contemporaneous with the erection of the circles, 

 but of much later date, as the holes show but little signs of 

 weathering although they are in such an exposed position. They 



