Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
h is shows not only heavy tree trunks installed as uprights, but also the manner of
their installation in the earth. Trunks approaching 1m in diameter are attested in
early Neolithic sites, and the wonder is how such trees were felled with l int hand
axes. Trunks of consonant length would amount to a burden of well over a ton
and could not be manhandled upright. h ey are thus, probably, the earliest build-
ing units requiring some engineering device to set up. At some “wooden circles”,
e.g. at Arminghall in Norfolk, ca mid 5th millenium (v
infra
, pp. 121, 122) traces
remain recognisable in the soil of this operation. Inevitably the trunks were dragged
base i rst to be slid or eased down inclines into prepared post holes. Auxilliary
appliances used in these operations included ropes for hauling, and probably long
strong poles with a forked end to push up and hold timbers in place.
It is clear that substantial wooden construction of neolithic times required
work at considerable height to i x together the solid timber roof framing. Some
locus standi
was required to carry out this work. h e work was not continuous
like stone or brick masonry, but was localised at intervals of the frames. In this
fashion access was provided by ladders set against uprights (the simplest instance
being notched tree trunks).
Perhaps the prime interest of these installations is their historical signii cance.
Wood can decay very quickly. Accordingly human understanding appears to
have appreciated enduring building material as of a higher order than transient
material, and wherever possible men tended to substitute stone for wood in their
monumental building. h us it is possible to see substantial wooden construction
in Neolithic Euope as the origin of the forms of Megalithic building. In several
instances earlier wood buildings of the same form occur at or near the sites of
Megalithic monuments. Moreover some detailing of Megalithic stone masonry is
clearly proper to wooden construction. h us it is reasonable to suppose that the
know how for Megalithic construction was nurtured in European wooden con-
struction. And this opens up a long subsequent history.
Timber
circles
require
signif-
icant
installa-
tions
5.
Megalithic Building
It is very dii cult to dei ne Megalithic to any useful purpose. h e term is used in a
descriptive sense; but this is only obscurantist in the present connection, since its
principal use in building history is as a technical term. However its use to denote
a technical category in ancient building construction is anything but precise. h e
dii culty is that the term can be thought of as founded both in history and in
form. Unfortunately there is large stone building within the historical ambit of
the dei nition which does not correspond to the formal idea; while on the other
hand, there is building at many places and times which does. Historically Mega-
lithic signii es the type of building in large unhewn/roughly hewn stones current
principally in Western Europe from ca 5000 BC to ca 2000 BC. h e basis of the
Problem
of dei ni-
tion
56, 158
152
