There are stones found in prehistoric sites that are unusually smooth and flat.
With joins that have very tight fits. And very flat outer surfaces. There are two
possible low-tech methods that I thought could explain the flatness and
smoothness of the stones The first is a method I saw as kid on an NFB short
about Inuit igloo making skills. As the blocks of hardened snow have to be snug
fit and at odd angles due to the dome shape, the Inuit rough cut the hardened
snow blocks with little metal hand saws ( the snow is easy to cut).
They then rough fit them in place and then using the saw they saw up and down
in the joining space between the blocks. Slowly removing any uneven surfaces
on either block. The result is a tight fit at the right angle.
Although rock is a different harder material I thought a similar technique could
be used. Rough cut the blocks. Put in place, and then between the two blocks that
need fitting, insert a large metal saw and start cutting up and down in the crack.
Every so often opening up the space between the two blocks and blowing out the
sandy residue.
Theoretically this would, like the igloo snow blocks, remove any unevenness
between the blocks and presumably give a join that's straight and snug.
The second is how to get a flat outer face on the large slabs. One idea I had
was based on the milling stones that grind flour...Place the rough cut
5 X 10 foot slab that needs to be smoothed onto the ground. With the face up
that needs to be flattened and smoothed. Then place on top, a large circular
milling stone preferably already sufficiently flat. Make it 10 foot diameter
with a handle(s) on its perimeter inserted to allow slaves to rotate and grind
the slab underneath. Although Ive never tried this myself I think it might give
a flat surface if enough circular grinding is applied to the lower slab. It may
be important to *not* allow the circular grinding stone to always rotate on the
same spot as this may not give such a flat finish.
