Bethany Smith's Winning Design - YAC Awards 2004

Read all about Bethany's winning design and examine her plan below.

This was Bethany's winning design, complete with measurements. © Bethany Smith.

Monument to all the young and newborn

'Chief Cheapflint has asked me to design a bigger and better monument than Chief Biginbrain's.

I am building a wood henge. It is next to our settlement that is near a forest and by our local river. I have asked 200 men, 100 women and 50 children to volunteer to build it. I have told them that they can eat their meals there. The children can make a print of their hand, foot, toe or finger on the stone. It will take approximately 6 months to build.

The posts will come from the forest. The high posts will be 12ft high. 8ft above ground and 4ft below. The low posts will be 9ft high. 6ft above the ground and 3ft below. One the right half is the stone room, where the children and babies make a print. On the left is the feasting room where feasts and meetings are held.

The Rib Cage Carry will transport the posts. The Rib Cage Carry is a cow, ox or horse rib cage covered in the skin. The axels are 6 inches in diameter posts. The wheels are slices of trunk that are 1.5ft in diameter. They are to be cut with stone axes.

The roof is made of animal skin. The pegs are made of bone and flint with a wider part at the top and thinner at the bottom.

The dip will be dug using shoulder blades and stone axes. It will be at the front of the structure.

The opening night: I will celebrate the opening night by having a huge feast and printing on the stone. There will also be a traditions display where they show dances, ornaments and gifts from their ancestors.'

Here's the design in 3D - a model to give a really good idea of how the monument would look.

© Bethany Smith.