Julian Cope presents Head Heritage | The Modern Antiquarian Forum | Stone shifting

Steve Gray

931 posts

Re: Stone shifting - was it just about effort?

Jan 20, 2004, 23:56

Again, I refer to the Egyptians, mainly because they were working with huge stones as far back as 4,500BCE and there is evidence that they used levers. Their motivation was religious; they were building a tomb for their god on Earth. There was much ritual associated with the planning and building. But the ultimate goal was to build the largest structures that their technology would allow. Surely this is the essence of megalithic building -- size matters.

There was a big incentive to be efficient because it allowed a Pharaoh to build a bigger pyramid that his predessors. It's Parkinson's law really: "Pyramids expand to accommodate the available technology".

OK, I admit that after the Giza pyramids were built, pyramid building declined, but this was for other reasons than lack of technological advancement.

Surely the same motivation would apply to the ancient Britons. The better their technology the bigger and better their megalithic structures could be.

In reply to:
Re: Stone shifting - was it just about effort? (nigelswift)

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Re: Stone shifting - was it just about effort? (fitzcoraldo)

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