REPORTS 1

Rebuilding Dutch Megalith burial tombs

The sight of Dutch 1. How did they move the to easily so we started using a Megalith burial tombs stones from the place net like construction depict- or Dolmen in the north where they found them to ed in picture B. When the eastern part of Holland is the building site? net was properly constructed just fascinating. But the 2. How did they get the it was easy to use for the dif- big question is: How did stones to the required ferent stones and because of our Neolithic ancestors height? the larger contact area with moved these ten thousand 3. How did they place the the stone the net made pull- kilo stones and how did stones with such accurate ing and directing the stone a they raise them on top of precision? lot easier. each other? Q Picture A Dolmen at Bron- Archaeologists have come up neger (source: wikipedia) with multiple solutions for Lifting the stones Q Maarten Eysink SMEETS these questions. Again the Th e most common theory to (NL) major goal of this experience raise capstones to the required was to see which of these solu- height is the use of a slope. Th e Numerous archaeological tions was the most effi cient. already placed stones are sub- experiments have been car- merged in small man made ried out to answer this ques- sand hill. Th e slope of the hill tion, especially around Stone- Moving the stones is used to pull the capstone henge. Most experiments Th e stones that the Neolithic’s over the standing stones. Th e have tried to show the Neo- used were remains of the last major problem with this the- Q Picture B Pulling the stone lithics could have built these ice-age. Plenty of these rocks ory is the angle of the slope. over the rails with a net robe megalithic monuments. Be- are found in Drenthe so the A slope with a large angle is construction cause of this focus we are left distance to the building site easier to build because it uses with diff erent theories which would never have been far. much less sand but the steeper are all very plausible but for During the experiment we the slope the more diffi cult it us the most important ques- tried diff erent approaches to becomes to pull the stone up tion was: Which of these the- moving the stones. Th e most the hill. A slope with a small ories is the most effi cient and common theory is using small angle makes it a lot easier to therefore the most likely to wooden trunks rolling under pull the stone over but re- have been used during the the stone like a set of wheels. quires loads of sand and man- Neolithic era. We tried this but it din’t work power to create. becouse of the soft ground. Q Picture C Lifting the stone On the weekend of 13 and 14 Th e trunks would just sink Further more there are two with levers to put wooden logs September 2008 a group of in the ground. Aft er that we more problems that need con- under it Archeon co-workers and en- placed a rail made from 4 me- sideration. A newly built sand thusiasts put these theories ter long split wooden trunks. slope is not strong enough to the test in an attempt to re- We tried to use the rolling to support the weight of the build a Dolmen with the most logs on the rails, but when we stone. Th erefore you have effi cient theory possible. An started pulling both the stone to reinforce the slope with abstract of our fi ndings will be and the logs moved togeth- wooden poles or you have to discussed here. er. In the end we found that wait until the ground has been the easiest way of moving the compacted. Th is takes time stone was the use of just rails. and even in the neolitic peri- The experiment Th e use of the rails solves the od, time is money and food. In this experiment the aim problem of the soft ground Secondly there is the prob- was to recreate a Dolmen but the pulling force to over- lem of getting the stone to Q Picture D Greasing the rails such as is found in the North come the initial friction need- move over the slope. Where before final placement Eastern part of Holland ed to be slightly bigger. We do you put the men that pull called Drenthe. In this small found that the initial friction the stone? How many people area 52 Dolmen have been was easily overcome with an do you need to pull the stone? found the heaviest stone average of 10 people and when Considering that moving the weighing over 23.000 kg. the rock was moving it would stone horizontally requires a These dolmens all consist slide with great ease. (see pic- lot of manpower pulling the of two or three upstanding ture B). stone up over a slope makes it stones and one capstone (As even harder. seen on picture A). Th e major problem we en- countered was not pulling the So we think raising the stones Q Picture E Pulling the cap- To rebuild a Dolmen there are weight of the stones but at- asked for a diff erent ap- stone over the standing stones three major questions to be taching the rope around the proached. We think they knew with the use of levers and answered; stones. A single rope slips off how to use levers and we know rope

6/2009 euroREA 6633 1 REPORTS

ly and so the overall work was the length, about 4 meters, Aft er this fi rst experiment we able to gain speed the higher of the wooden trunks. Th is are thrilled with the results we got. To our amazement it led us to believe that the Ne- and looking forward to use only took one hour to lift the olitics used sleds for moving our experience next year in capstone the 75 cm needed the stones. Th e use of sleds the recreation of a larger Dol- to be level with the standing for moving heavy loads is still men. We hope that this shar- stones. used on the tundra of Siberia ing our experiences we can so we are excited about try- contribute to the discussion ing this in next year’s experi- on how Dolmens were built Q Picture F Capstone hovering Placing the stone over the standing stones just ment. around Europe. We are very before placement Our fi rst challenge of plac- curious about other theories ing the stone was to move Th e use of simple wooden le- and thoughts on improve- the stone from the top of the vers went with ease and great ments of our methods so we pyramid to the capstone’s fi - accuracy. Th e stones we used can combine our knowledge nal place on top of the stand- where the size of smaller Dol- in future experiments. ing stones. To make an easy men found in the Netherlands crossway between the pyra- and weighted about 1000 kg mid and the standing stones – 1500 kg. Th is made pulling Summary we used the logs of the rails for and lift ing of the stones with Reconstitution d’une tombe the fi nal stage of the pyramid levers quite easy. Th e small- à incinération mégalithique (as seen on picture D). Th ese er stones gave us the advan- hollandaise. logs stretched from the top of tage of trying things out and Avec le temps, les expérimentateurs the pyramid over the stand- gaining experience without ont formulé un certain nombre Q Picture G Dolmen building ing stones and we supported too much danger and eff ort. d’hypothèses plausibles sur les team the stretch with wooden logs. With this experience we are modes de construction des tombes When the construction was convinced that we can have mégalithiques au Néolithique. they had a lot wood available. in place pulling the capstone the same result with larger La question est de savoir quelle So instead of using a slope from the pyramid on to the stones as we had with these méthode s’approche le plus de we tried to raise the stone by top of the standing stones was smaller stones, only with the celle qui devait être utilisée. putting wooden logs under- easy (picture E). We experi- use of bigger levers and more Pendant cette expérience de neath by using levers. Tests enced that the combination of man power. So we are looking reconstitution d’un dolmen basée showed that it only took one levers and the slow stripping forward to building a Dolmen sur la découverte de Drenthe aux Pays-Bas, les expérimentateurs man with a 3 meter lever to of wood construction gave us with larger stones next year. ont testé plusieurs méthodes pour lift the 1200 kg stone on one great control over the stone. déplacer un bloc de pierre. Ils side. Because of safety and Th is made it possible to place Finally we are very pleased concluent que la manière la plus practical reasons we decided the capstone with great accu- with the result of the pyramid simple repose sur l’utilisation de to use 3 persons on one lever racy. (picture F). With the fi - lift ing technique. Th is went simples rails de bois. La meilleur and use two levers on one side nal placement of the capstone faster than anybody could méthode pour soulever la pierre of the stone. Our plan was to the Dolmen was completed. have expected. Especially the qui recouvrira le dolmen est le raise the stone step by step by Placing the stone took anoth- fact that teams of people with recours à des leviers de bois. putting pieces of wood under er hour so the amazingly fast one task gained experience the capstone untill it was lev- time and the success of fi nish- quickly and made the process Zum Nachbau von el with the standing stones. To ing the Dolmen lead to great a lot faster. Next year we want Megalithgräbern in den Niederlanden make this work we fi rst lift ed excitement. to try out more with the spe- one side of the stone. When cialist groups like a lever team, Im Laufe der Zeit haben the stone was tilted, we put a Discussion wood placing team, reinforce- Experimentalarchäologen eine piece of wood underneath the ment team, pulling team all Reihe von möglichen Th eorien zur stone. Th en we lift ed the other and conclusion coordinated by one construc- Errichtung von Megalithgräbern durch die Neolithiker entwickelt. side and put another piece of Th e recreation of the Dolmen tion master. Die Frage ist dabei, welche dieser wood under that side so that taught us a lot about how the Methoden die effi zienteste und the stone was level and secure. Neolithics could have built In the end it took us about two die vermutlich genutzte ist. Bei By doing this several times, their Dolmen and the experi- hours to get the 1200 kg stone einem Experiment zum Nachbau gaining 9 cm each time, the ence that we had gave us some from ground level on to the eines nach Befunden aus der stone slowly but steadily rose great new insides. top of the Dolmen. niederländischen Provinz Drenthe up. To make sure the pile of stammenden Dolmens wurden wood was stable and strong We were amazed with the ease Now we have learned and de- mehrere Methoden ausprobiert, enough we used a pyramid like of moving the megaliths over veloped our skills we think we mit denen Findlinge zu bewegen structure (as seen on picture a rail of wooden trunks. Th is can do it in one hour. Further sind. Die Ergebnisse zeigten, dass die einfachste Methode des C). Because of the repetition was fast and easy once the calculations made us estimate Steintransports mit Hilfe von of the work groups of people initial stone/wood friction that, if all stones are already einfachen hölzernen Schienen developed with one task. We was overcome. Th e construc- on site, building a 12 stone zu bewerkstelligen ist. Die had for example a lever team, tion of the net made moving Dolmen out of 1000 - 1500 kg erfolgreichste Methode zum a wood placing team, and a re- the stone a lot easier but the stones would take about 7 Aufb ringen eines Decksteines inforcement team. Th ese teams quickness of the movement days with a team of 10 experi- wurde mit hölzernen Hebeln gained experience very quick- of the stone was held back by enced men. durchgeführt.

6644 euroREA 6/2009