<HTML>Good points, LItz.
Frankly, I think the pyramid was probably built with a specific completion date in mind (Khufu's 50th birthday?) and they were running behind schedule. Instead of having the crew look like they were slacking off, the foremen ordered smaller blocks, and this would keep the stream going, and make it look like they were going full tilt.
Unfortunately, it takes more blocks, so it really didn't speed things up any.
Gravity/construction was definitely not the concern. I'm highly tempted to lean towards quarrying problems. Perhaps the quarries were getting depleted, or they were just able to put so many more machines on 175 levels than they were on 7 levels that it "ate up" more blocks per hour.
I will be going to Egypt soon to check out much of these items myself. Trying to schedule a 3 day/5 night trip to Cairo is a nightmare.
Anthony</HTML>
