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Julian Cope presents Head Heritage

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Stone shifting 5
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GordonP
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Re: Archaeologist
Sep 18, 2003, 12:06
Quote, Julian Richards & Mark Whitby.

"The constraints of experimentation within a filming schedule inevitably meant that many avenues of research were identified but not followed. Alternative vehicles and tracks for stone transport may be suggusted and studies of lubricants should examine the properties of a wide range of substances available in prehistory. Experiments in rope making should continue and should involve the use of other types of fibre. Other methods of raising the uprights may be suggested, while those approriate for raising the lintel continue to to provoke debate amongst the authors. While one (Richards) still favours the crib method, the other feels that a variation of the method described by Hogg (1981) may be quicker and more efficient. Hogg suggests rocking stones about a central pivot placed between the paired uprights, a method which in priciple is described as being used in the construction of pyramids (Fitchen 1986).
The methods of construction employed at Stonehenge will no doubt continue to exercise the imagination of both archaeologists and engineers. It would be preferable if their practical skills could also be exercised. After the completion of the experiment the trilithon was dismantled (by crane) and its components were donated to English Heritage. They are currently (1996) in store on the Salisbury Plain Trianing Area. Their fate is undecided but it has been assumed that they will eventually be re-erected at an appropriate venue. Far from being a static monument to a single experiment, the authors would prefer to see the replica stones used i9n a dynamic way, available for further experimentation to anyone with an idea to test and the resources to carry it through in safety. The stones are unlikely to be replicated again in a manner suitable for robust use and once permanently raised both they and the ideas that they generated will end up set in concrete. An annual Stonehenge trilithon raising (preferably timed for completion on 21st June) could also be a considerable visitor attraction."
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