The shorter upright was next set on end. A shallower excavation had to
suffice in this case, but the base of the stone, as has been already
intimated, was wider, and to secure greater stability blocks of Sarsen
were provided for the stone to rest on, other blocks being packed in
carefully as it was raised, and curiously enough among the firm
packing were several large stone mauls, fitted in to make the whole
mass solid and compact. There is no direct evidence as to the actual
method of placing the imposts upon the uprights. It has been
suggested, and with every show of reason, that one extremity of the
imposts would be raised and packed with timber. The opposite end
would then be similarly treated. In this way, by alternately raising
and wedging first one side and then the other, the impost could have
been brought, in time, level with the summit of its upright, and
levered over on to the tenons.
Such a method is employed by primitive races to-day.
RAISING THE FOREIGN STONES
The five Sarsen Trilithons already mentioned were raised into position
from the inside of the circle. Investigation has shown this to be a
fact. It therefore stands to reason that the Foreign Stones were
erected last, and not first as has so often been supposed.
This is a hard saying, for it at once negatives the picturesque legend
that the Foreign Stones were a stone circle brought from Ireland, and
erected by a colonial tribe, who afterwards gave dignity to their
primitive temple by the erection of stately Trilithons. Furthermore,
the _debris_ of the ancient mason reveals chippings of Sarsen and
Foreign Stone intermingled so thoroughly as to preclude any idea of
two separate periods of building. Stonehenge, therefore, was erected
at one date and continuously. It is a question, as yet, if the outer
Sarsen Trilithons were erected from the outside or the inside of the
circle.
It has not been possible, in the foregoing brief description, to
enter into minute detail, but it is hoped that sufficient has been
said to show the stages by which the work of building was approached.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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