“A strong cradle of 12-inch square baulks of timber was bolted round the stone, with packing and felt, to prevent any marking of the stone. To the cradle were fixed two 1-inch steel eyebolts to receive the blocks for two six-folds of 6-inch ropes. These were secured and wound on to two strong winches fifty feet away, with four men at each winch. When the ropes were thoroughly tight, the first excavation was made as the stone was raised on its west side.” [Illustration: FIG. 17.--The cradle and supports, looking west.] The method employed by Professor Gowland in the excavation should be a model for all future work of the kind. Above each space to be excavated was placed a frame of wood, bearing on its long sides the letters A to H, and on its short sides the letters R M L, each letter being on a line one foot distant from the next. By this means the area to be excavated was divided into squares each having the dimension of a square foot. A long rod divided into 6-inch spaces, numbered from 1 to 16, was also provided for indicating the depth from the datum line of anything found. In this way a letter on the long sides of the frame, together with one on the short sides, and a number on the vertical rod, indicated the position of any object found in any part of the excavation. Excavations were necessary because to secure the stone for the future the whole of the adjacent soil had to be removed down to the rock level, so that it could be replaced by concrete. [Illustration: FIG. 18.--The frame used to locate the finds.] All results were registered by Professor Gowland in relation to a datum line 337·4 feet above sea level. The material was removed in buckets, and carefully sifted through a series of sieves 1-inch, ¹⁄₂-inch, ¹⁄₄-inch, and ¹⁄₈-inch mesh, in order that the smallest object might not be overlooked. From the exhaustive account of his work given by Professor Gowland to the Society of Antiquaries (_Archaeologia_, lviii.), I gather three results of the highest importance from the point of view I am considering. These were, first, the finding of an enormous number of implements; secondly, the disposition and relative quantities of the chippings of the sarsen and blue stones; and thirdly, the discovery of the method by which the stones were originally erected. I will take the implements first. This, in a condensed form, is what Professor Gowland says about them:-- More than a hundred flint implements were found, and the greater number occurred in the stratum of chalk rubble which either directly overlaid or was on a level with the bed rock. They may all be arranged generally in the following classes:-- _Class I._--Axes roughly chipped and of rude forms, but having well-defined, more or less sharp cutting edges.