The actual lifting and placing of blocks of stone, reliefs and statues. Large Roman monuments and even many smaller ones were constructed of numerous blocks of stone. Understanding how and when these different components were erected is important for reconstructing the construction process. On monuments incorporating carved decorative elements, like capitals, columns or relief panels it is also useful to know whether these were carved on the ground before being lifted into place or carved in place on the monument. This obviously affects how we understand the carving process being carried out, the role of carvers on building sites, and has implications for the organisation of the supply of material. Adjustments made to carved elements can sometimes indicate that they were carved before erection and then had to be slightly altered in place. Likewise, when decoration does not quite line up across blocks we can assume it was also carved on the ground. When detailed decorative forms are carved with interruption across blocks or take little account of these divisions, on the other hand, we can assume that they were finished in place.
