Ancient Quarrying

"English summary:

The archaeology of Nidaros cathedral’s medieval quarries

Like at other European cathedrals, the choice of building stone for Nidaros cathedral was largely determined by availability and stone properties. There was no domestic stone building tradition prior to the introduction of medieval church architecture and this paper shows that the well-established production of stone vessels cannot be used as a vital argument for the use of soapstone as a main material at the cathedral. On the contrary, archaeological survey and excavation over the last 15 years indicate that local, soft greenschist, suitable for largescale extraction, was the first stone to be put in use in the late 11th century, probably with the aid of foreign masons and quarriers. As skills developed and the Gothic style was introduced in the late 12th century, local soapstone took over as the major material. Foreign influence can also be traced in the choice of marble for columns, pillars and floors. Regional deposits of were put in use simultaneously with the introduction of Purbeck marble in late 12th century England. The paper gives a review of the archaeology of the medieval quarries used at the cathedral, discusses the organisation of stone procurement and briefly touches questions of conservation of the stone quarry landscape as well as future research."

Коломна - русский город с богатой историей. Хорошо известно, что близ Коломны известняки залегают близко к поверхности. Коломенцы добывают их в течение сотен лет.
К сожалению, по многим причинам, древние ломки изучены крайне слабо.
В статье авторы постарались собрать всю доступную по открытым литературным источникам информацию, касающуюся ломок в Протопопово и Коробчеево (части современной Коломны).
«KOLOMNA M ARBLE» QUARRYING: DATA FROM LITERARY SOURCES
Kolomna is a Russian city known from ancient times. It is well-known that limestones lie near the surface in its vicinity and have been quarried for several hundred years. However ancient quarries here have not been still found and surveyed fo r various reasons. Authors tried to collect most of
the materials from open sources on limestone quarrying in Korobcheyevo and Protopopovo (parts of
modern Kolomna) in this paper.

FRANÇAIS: La cornéenne est un matériau lithique fréquemment retrouvé sur les sites archéologiques préhistoriques du Québec méridional. On l’associe généralement aux occupations de l’Archaïque post-laurentien (4500–3000 A.A.), mais cette étude montre que l’utilisation de ce matériau n’est pas exclusive à cette période. Les analyses physico-chimiques présentées ici permettent d’identifier une source potentielle et vraisemblablement principale de ce matériau, la cornéenne du mont Royal. La pétrologie de ce type de roche indique un métamorphisme essentiellement thermique opérant dans l’environnement immédiat de massifs intrusifs. Il faut donc considérer la cornéenne présente sur les autres collines montérégiennes en tant que sources potentielles, même si celles-ci sont à ce jour non documentées par l’archéologie.

ENGLISH: Hornfels is a lithic material frequently discovered on prehistoric sites in southern Quebec. It is commonly associated with Terminal Archaic (or “post-laurentian” Archaic [4500–3000 B.P.]) occupations, but this study demonstrates that such an association can be misleading. The results of the physical and chemical analyses presented here also indicate that Mont Royal, a small hill located in the city of Montreal, is the most probable source of hornfels used in prehistoric times. Outcrops of hornfels exist on some other Monteregian Hills, but to this day there are no archaeological indications that they were exploited by aboriginal groups.

In 2012-2013, a large-scale developer-funded excavation of a chert quarry took place at Melsvik, Northern Norway. The archaeological investigation covered 1000m2 of the estimated 3500 m2 large quarry, as well as 3500m2 of adjacent settlement areas.
Experimental application of quarrying techniques supplemented the archaeological data. The quality and properties of the material was assessed trough geological analyses and experimental knapping.
The results show that pioneer groups executed the initial chert extraction during Early Mesolithic (8500-8000 cal BC). Quarrying is also documented during the Late Mesolithic (5000 cal BC). The following 3000 years there is no trace of occupation, but by the last millennium BC the area was again visited.
Intensive activity during resulted in massive amounts of lithic waste spread over a large area. However, there are few remains of dwellings, fireplaces or other structures. We suggest that smaller groups repeatedly and frequently visited the area during the warmer parts of the year, and that the activities more or less exclusively revolved around extraction and processing  of chert.
Blocks were detached from the bedrock by using fire in combination with different techniques of pounding and wedging. The chert quality is assessed as relatively low, and we estimate that 70-90% of the extracted material was unsuitable for further knapping purposes.

At Populonia, a coastal settlement in Tyrrhenian Etruria, a joint study has been launched that looks at quarries of stone, particularly calcareous sandstone, and the buildings in which it was used, as part of a plan to reconstruct the production processes of ornamental and building stone and, in parallel, to understand their economic and social value for the urban community. Various methodologies were tested and integrated, particularly for the study of quarries, in order to reconstruct the organization of the extraction process and to make possible the comparison with the built environment: stratigraphic excavation, bi- and three-dimensional survey, cataloguing of quarrying traces, geophysical survey (seismic refraction), and mineralogical and petrographic analyses. Although calcareous sandstone has been used in squared blocks since at least the Orientalizing period (mid-seventh century BC) in upper class funerary buildings, a study of the traces of extraction in the Buche delle Fate quarry made it possible to identify the technical background of the workers and the procedures for extracting the blocks, datable to the reconstruction of the acropolis of Populonia between the late third to mid second century BC. Archaeometrical analyses allowed the stone material samples taken from buildings to be related with different quarry areas, revealing itself as the most reliable method for tracking the supply points of the calcareous sandstone for individual construction sites.

The knowledge that heat has an influence on rock properties and can be applied intentionally for changing such properties has existed longer than modern man. Archaeological research has uncovered numerous examples of the use of firesetting in ancient stone quarrying and metal mining. Also in Egyptian quarries, evidence of the use of fire is found. The present paper
presents features found in five Egyptian quarries and discusses these on a background of rock properties and possible quarrying technologies. Conclusively, it suggests that the use of fire in
stone quarrying reached a highly sophisticated level during the New Kingdom period.

This is a preliminary report on the results of three seasons of excavation (2016-2018) carried out at ꜤEinot Amitai, located in the Lower Galilee on the western slopes of the Har Yonah neighbourhood in Nof HaGalil. The excavations uncovered remains of a Roman-era chalk quarry which provided the raw material for an on-site workshop that produced chalk vessels. The interior of the cave contained a predominantly gravel fill comprised of ancient chippings produced as a by-product of both quarrying and stone-vessel production which took place within the cave. The fill contained close to 500 fragments of cores and vessels discarded in various stages of manufacture. The results of the present excavations provide the opportunity for novel insights into manufacturing techniques, vessel typology, and chronology. The discovery of large-scale chalk-vessel production at this site, almost certainly for local consumption, supports the understanding that a significant market demand for chalk vessels characterized the Galilee in a manner similar to the Judean heartland.

Nel volume, curato dall’Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione, che illustra i diversi tipi di marmi cavati in epoca antica e riutilizzati nella Roma medievale e moderna, il capitolo presenta l’evoluzione delle tecniche di estrazione e lavorazione dei materiali lapidei. Data la continuità di uso attraverso i millenni per gran parte degli strumenti, sono descritti i metodi di lavorazione delle pietre e dei marmi a cominciare dagli inizi dell’architettura monumentale in Egitto, durante la III dinastia, fino all’impero di Roma, attraverso l’esperienza greca. Il saggio illustra i diversi strumenti per il trattamento dei materiali, dalla cava alla rifinitura finale, con i problemi del trasporto e della messa in opera, sia riguardo alle opere architettoniche che a quelle scultoree. I paralleli sviluppi della tecnologia e dei criteri artistici sono illustrati sia dalle testimonianze dei resti archeologici che da un’attenta selezione delle fonti, ponendo in correlazione gli sviluppi tecnologici con gli eventi storici.

This book includes 88 contributions (oral and posters) that were presented during the IX International Conference of the Association for the Study of Marbles and Other Stones in Antiquity (ASMOSIA), held in Tarragona between 8 and June 13 2009.
These papers reflect the outcome of this meeting, which aimed to provide the scientific community interested in ancient stone a forum to discuss and exchange new data and results about all related aspects (geological and analytical archaeological, artistic and historical).
 Following the premises of ASMOSIA, special attention is paid to a multidisciplinary approach and collaboration between researchers and practitioners from different disciplines as an essential tool to advance the identification, use, sale and use of materials tablet in ancient times.
 The volume is divided into 8 chapters which are derived from sessions which organized the conference:
1. Applications to specific archaeological questions. Use of Marble
2. Provenances identification and I. Marbles
3. Provenances identification and II. Other stones
4. Transport and trade of stone
5. Quarries
6. Quarrying techniques, organization and stone manufacturing
7. Pigments of paintings and marble
8. Symbolism of stones. Local and imported materials

The article discusses the use of andesites in prehistory and Antiquity, from the perspective of volcanic rock occurrences in the surroundings of Deva, Romania. The southern and western part of Deva, located in southwestern Transylvania, in the northeastern side of the Poiana Ruscă Mountains, has experienced an almost uninterrupted exploitation of the andesite sources, from the Early Neolithic until today. While in prehistory the volcanic rock exploitations were adapted mainly to the requirements of those times for producing querns, in Antiquity the andesite quarries in the southern part of Deva were exploited to obtain the stone needed for certain elements of civil and religious architecture, as well as everyday necessities such as the production of querns.

Nach dem Ende der Römerherrschaft blieben die römischen Verwaltungsstrukturen bestehen. Andernach und Mayen waren weiterhin jeweils Zentralort eines fiscus. In Mayen wurde bis in die Karolingerzeit kontinuierlich Keramik in römischer Tradition hergestellt und weithin exportiert, dann der Exportraum noch ausgeweitet. Exporte zeigen, dass der Mühlsteinabbau bei Mayen nie völlig zum Erliegen kam und gegen 700 wieder gesteigert wurde. Auch Mühlsteine scheint man zunächst in römischer Tradition produziert zu haben. Tuff wurde noch unter Valentinian I. für Zwecke des Festungsbaus und für die Herstellung von Sarkophagen bis in die erste Hälfte des 5. Jahrhunderts abgebaut. Außerhalb der Städte deuten Siedlungen wie die von Mayen-Hausen und einige Gräberfelder auf eine kontinuierliche Besiedlung zwischen Römerzeit und frühem Mittelalter. Manche Bestattungen lassen erkennen, dass einige Personen an römischen Sitten festhielten und die alte Sachkultur wertschätzten. In Andernach belegen zahlreiche Grabinschriften aus dem Gräberfeld »An der Landsegnung« eine gebildete städtische Gesellschaftsschicht, die weiterhin Latein lesen und schreiben konnte.
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The Industrial Area between Mayen and Andernach in Roman Times and the Early Middle Ages
After the end of Roman rule, the Roman administrative structures remained in place. Andernach and Mayen each continued to be the central location of a fiscus. In Mayen, pottery was continuously produced in the Roman tradition and widely exported until the Carolingian period, then the export area was further expanded. Exports show that millstone mining at Mayen never came to a complete standstill and was increased again around 700. Millstones also seem to have been produced initially in the Roman tradition. Tuff was still being quarried under Valentinian I for purposes of fortress construction and for the manufacture of sarcophagi until the first half of the 5th century. Outside the towns, settlements such as that of Mayen-Hausen and some burial grounds indicate continuous settlement between Roman times and the Early Middle Ages. Some burials indicate that some people adhered to Roman customs and valued the old material culture. In Andernach, numerous grave inscriptions from the cemetery »An der Landsegnung« attest to an educated urban social class that was still able to read and write Latin.
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La zone industrielle entre Mayen et Andernach à l’époque romaine et au Haut Moyen Âge
Après la fin de la domination romaine, les structures administratives romaines sont restées en place. Andernach et Mayen ont continué à être chacune le lieu central d’un fiscus. À Mayen, la poterie a été produite de manière continue dans la tradition romaine et largement exportée jusqu’à la période carolingienne, puis la zone d’exportation s’est encore étendue. Les exportations montrent que l’exploitation des meules à Mayen n’a jamais été complètement interrompue et qu’elle s’est encore accrue vers 700. Les meules semblent également avoir été produites initialement dans la tradition romaine. Sous Valentinian Ier, l’extraction du tuf pour la construction de forteresses et la fabrication de sarcophages se poursuit jusqu’à la première moitié du 5e siècle. En dehors des villes, des établissements tels que celui de Mayen-Hausen et certains cimetières indiquent une occupation continue entre l’époque romaine et le début du Moyen Âge. Certaines sépultures indiquent que quelques personnes adhéraient aux coutumes romaines et appréciaient l’ancienne culture matérielle. À Andernach, les nombreuses inscriptions funéraires du cimetière » An der Landsegnung « témoignent de l’existence d’une classe sociale urbaine éduquée qui savait encore lire et écrire le latin.

Hansen, G. & Storemyr, P. (eds.) 2017. Soapstone in the North: Quarries, Products and People. 7000 BC – AD 1700. UBAS University of Bergen Archaeological Series, 9, 408 p.
Soapstone is a remarkable rock. While it is soft and very workable, it is also durable and heat-resistant, and with a high heat-storage capacity. These properties have been recognised and valued around the world since prehistoric times, and soapstone has been used for a multitude of purposes, ranging from everyday household utensils to prestigious monuments and buildings. This book addresses soapstone use in Norway and the North Atlantic region, including Greenland. Although most papers deal with the Iron Age and Middle Ages, the book spans the Mesolithic to the early modern era. It deals with themes related to quarries, products and associated people and institutions in a broad context. Recent years have seen a revival of basic archaeological and geological research into the procurement and use of stone resources. With its authors drawn from the fields of archaeology, geosciences and traditional crafts, the anthology reflects cross-disciplinary work born of this revival.