Hi Mo;

I imagine they assembled one side of the roof, tipped it up and then inserted the rafters and braces for the other side. This is one of the reasons I am curious about the origin and motivation behind the five sided ridge beams...our forefathers had to be motivated to use these ridge beams.

There does not seem to be much written about them.

Jim

The closer you look the more you see.
"Heavy timber framing is not a lost art" Fred Hodgson, 1909