Invention of the wheel, well the axle.
Discussion
Dr Jekyll said:
Good article, thanks, I like that. 
Ancient monoliths were not transported using tree trunk rollers. This is a theory perpetuated by people who have never actually tried it over real terrain and by Hollywood film makers (also by Stonehenge visitor centre, you'd think they'd know better).
It's about organisation and control. Imagine a team of people picking up tree trunks all day long and carrying them from the back of a Stonehenge size rock to the front. Imagine a slope, just a slight slope. Imagine the rock being uneven, the ground pock marked with rabbit burrows or muddy. How about a marsh, forest or river or a hill. Now you need twice as many people with ropes and levers just to stop the stone veering off course. If it does veer off course it will kill the guy bending down to put the next roller in place. Probably the next two guys as well. If it doesn't veer off course or get stuck it will take three men to lift a roller and step over or under all the restraining ropes every two feet. Repeat all the way from Wales to Salisbury.
Sledges and barges are how it was done. Yes, it is harder to drag than roll but all those control teams can be drastically cut back and put to work pulling. There are Egyptian tomb paintings showing massive statues being moved using sledges so we know this is a real method, not just speculation. As an aside I once asked some old farmers how they transported heavy stuff around hilly fields before tractors. They immediately pointed to a very rotten wooden frame in the long grass at the side of the field we were in and said "The sledge".
There is some evidence that in ancient Britain you'd have a much more extensive river network than today as well. Push the date for Stonehenge back a bit and the ancient shoreline is not far away from the site. There is a guy who claimed that the "Totem posts" near Stonehenge were actually mooring posts but he had a lot of slightly nutty theories about other things so though he might actually be right he's largely ignored.
It's about organisation and control. Imagine a team of people picking up tree trunks all day long and carrying them from the back of a Stonehenge size rock to the front. Imagine a slope, just a slight slope. Imagine the rock being uneven, the ground pock marked with rabbit burrows or muddy. How about a marsh, forest or river or a hill. Now you need twice as many people with ropes and levers just to stop the stone veering off course. If it does veer off course it will kill the guy bending down to put the next roller in place. Probably the next two guys as well. If it doesn't veer off course or get stuck it will take three men to lift a roller and step over or under all the restraining ropes every two feet. Repeat all the way from Wales to Salisbury.
Sledges and barges are how it was done. Yes, it is harder to drag than roll but all those control teams can be drastically cut back and put to work pulling. There are Egyptian tomb paintings showing massive statues being moved using sledges so we know this is a real method, not just speculation. As an aside I once asked some old farmers how they transported heavy stuff around hilly fields before tractors. They immediately pointed to a very rotten wooden frame in the long grass at the side of the field we were in and said "The sledge".
There is some evidence that in ancient Britain you'd have a much more extensive river network than today as well. Push the date for Stonehenge back a bit and the ancient shoreline is not far away from the site. There is a guy who claimed that the "Totem posts" near Stonehenge were actually mooring posts but he had a lot of slightly nutty theories about other things so though he might actually be right he's largely ignored.
Gassing Station | Science! | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff