36 



Recent Excavations at Stonehenge. 



a blunt tool. The abundance of these chippings in the excavation 

 prove conclusively that the stones were shaped on the spot. 



With the exception of No. 68, none of these monoliths, probably 

 owing to their hardness, are of such regular forms as those of sarsen. 

 So that their sculpture could be accomplished without difficulty 

 by means of the heavy mauls and the smaller quartzite and sarsen 

 hammers, and these were without doubt the tools which were 

 employed. The surfaces of some have been tooled in the same 

 manner as the sarsens, but the pitting is much shallower owing to 

 the tougher nature of the rocks of which they consist. 



The stones represented by the clippings of the soft fissile rock, 

 of which only a single weathered stump exists, and the altar stone, 

 could be shaped and partially dressed with any of the implements. 

 But it is in the highest degree probable that the rude flint axes 

 were the tools which were used in the final dressing operations, as 

 they are more suitable for that work on these soft rocks than the 

 heavier and blunter hammers. 



Erection of the Stones. 



There still remains for our consideration the manner in which 

 the megalithic blocks of this monument of ancient skill were set 

 up and secured in their foundations. 



On these points, as regards the most massive stones in the 

 structure, the recumbent stone, No. 55, and the hitherto leaning 

 stone, No. 56, which formed the piers of the central and the greatest 

 of the trilithons, the excavations have afforded us clear and con- 

 clusive evidence. 



The foundations of these stones when laid bare, as is shown in 

 the foregoing illustration, were seen to be each of an entirely 

 different character, that of the recumbent stone having only a 

 depth of 4 feet, whilst the other extended down to no less than 

 8 feet 3 inches below the surface, The reason for this is at once 

 apparent, if we compare the relative lengths of the stones, one 

 being only 25 feet and the other 29 feet 8 inches in length ; and 

 at the same time take into consideration the obvious intention of 

 the builders respecting them. They were the largest blocks which 



