Megalith Transport Evidence Preservation Record

PROBLEM: The Trilithon at Baalbek — three limestone blocks in the Temple of Jupiter podium, each about 19 metres long and 750–800 tonnes — are the heaviest stones known to have been successfully transported and placed in the ancient world. In the quarry 900 metres away sit three more: the Stone of the Pregnant Woman (~1,000 tonnes), the Stone of the South (~1,242 tonnes), and the Forgotten Stone (~1,650 tonnes, found 2014), none ever moved. The weights are documented; how the three placed blocks were moved is not — no ancient source records the method, and workforce estimates range from several hundred to well over a thousand.

SOLUTION: A megalith transport-evidence preservation record: every megalith logged with its measured dimensions, its estimated weight, its quarry-to-site distance and ground slope, and the evidence for its movement — with a hard line between what is measured and what is guessed — so the stones' weight is preserved as fact and the transport method stays an open question instead of becoming a legend.

EVIDENCE BASIS: DOCUMENTED — Trilithon: three blocks, each ~19 × 4.2 × 3.6 m, 750–800 tonnes, Temple of Jupiter podium, Baalbek. Quarry stones: Stone of the Pregnant Woman ~1,000 t; Stone of the South ~1,242 t (rediscovered 1990s); Forgotten Stone ~1,650 t (discovered 2014, German Archaeological Institute). Quarry ~900 m from the temple on slightly higher ground. How the blocks were moved is UNVERIFIED — no ancient source records it.