The sky is the limit: human powered cranes and lifting devices

From the earliest civilisations right up to the start of the Industrial Revolution, humans used sheer muscle power, organisation skills and ingenious mechanics to lift weights that would be impossible to handle by most power cranes in operation today.
Mainly pre-industrial but with considerations on the possibilities of the use of human power today.
The article has a bibliography.

An article by Kris De Decker (edited by Vincent Grosjean) on LOW-TECH MAGAZINE. Doubts on progress and technology