Ancestral Stones | National Geographic

Stonehenge is the only stone circle in
the world where the stones are shaped
and jointed it’s grueling work the
sarsen is one of the toughest rocks on
the planet
pays wooden formers to check the shape
and dimensions flour milling techniques
to grind the surface of the stones to a
marble smooth finish
one of the really extraordinary things
about that henge is not only are they
carved and smooth but they’ve carved
into them what we see to be carpentry
joints the upright megaliths have on the
top of each one a tenon that slots into
a hole on the underside of the sarsens
the lintels have tongue and grooves that
slot together at the ends
this gives the whole structure an
enormous strength but it imposes on the
Masons from the people who made it a
huge work not only of these people
experts stone workers they are also
exceptional engineers
they prepare to pull the stone into a
pit to hold it upright the sarsens vary
greatly in length so the depth must be
dug with great accuracy to keep the top
line of the lintels exactly level
ropes running over wooden a frames
increased leverage
Wow
and all the stone up on earth ramp
toward a pivot point made of tree trunks
now they can poll a stone vertical
each of these stones brings these
ancient Britons closer to fulfilling
their ambition of building a city for
the ancestors but Stonehenge also brings
power and prestige to the leaders of
this society
Stonehenge was for the ancestors it was
also for the living in the sense that it
gave power to some over the many we have
shadowy figures who were almost the
puppeteers of their society saying we
can do the most extraordinary feats of
moving and lifting it’s a monument of
brute force it’s really naked power at
its rawest