A friend of mine was a Dutch Engineer building a sugar mill in Java after WW2. His problem was to get a 60 ton Steam Engine 85 feet into the air to they could slide it on a platform built on a ledge, no crane.
Solution: a log crib, levers, and a lot of people. After seeing photos of the lift I have never doubted what can be done if you throw a lot of people at a job with crude tools.
Cribbing is still used alot in today’s world too. I’ve seen wood cribbing and twenty ton jacks lift some humongous houses off of their foundations.
Excellent point. That’s how the Egyptians used to raise obelisks, and how the “long ears” on Easter Island raised their famous statues and the topknots that capped each one.