Tag Archives: weathering

Standing at the edge of the abyss: The castle ruin at Cartatscha in Graubünden (Switzerland)

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Per Storemyr

Working as a conservation scientist I care for cultural heritage. My “problem” is that I’m also interested in the history of decay, including catastrophic events; just these phenomena that turn old masonry to rubble. But I’ve never seen it “live” … Continue reading →

Posted in Ruins, Switzerland, Weathering history | Tagged Cartatscha, Graubünden, historic photos, ruin, Surselva, Switzerland, weathering | Leave a comment

The Mauerzahn at Grünenfels castle ruin (CH) revisited after massive snowfall

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Per Storemyr

Ten days ago winter arrived in the Swiss Alps with massive snowfall. Subsequent temperature increase and intensive rainfall led to major floods, avalanches and destruction of infrastructure such as villages and roads. Such events sometimes also affect old buildings and … Continue reading →

Posted in Ruins, Switzerland, Weathering history | Tagged Graubünden, Grünenfels, ruin, Surselva, Switzerland, weathering | Leave a comment

New York Times: “Egypt or Central Park: Where Does an Ancient Obelisk Belong?”

Posted on July 8, 2011 by Per Storemyr

The issue of bringing Central Park’s Cleopatra’s Needle back to Egypt is still in the media. See this recent video from New York Times on the weathering of the New Kingdom obelisk: …and check out these blog posts of mine … Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient Egypt, Archaeology, Monument conservation, Weathering history | Tagged Ancient Egypt, Cleopatra's Needle, conservation, New York, obelisk, weathering | Leave a comment

Cooperation with Norwegian conservation company

Posted on April 16, 2011 by Per Storemyr

An agreement of cooperation has been signed with the Norwegian conservation company “Bakken & Magnussen AS” in Trondheim, Norway. The idea is to expand the competence of the conservation company with services related to conservation science and geoarchaeology. Bakken & … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Monument conservation, New projects, Norway | Tagged conservation, Cultural heritage, Norway, ruin, soapstone, weathering | Leave a comment

Cleopatra’s Needle: Egyptian concern about the NYC obelisk

Posted on January 10, 2011 by Per Storemyr

A few days ago Secretary General Zahi Hawass of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities expressed grave concern about the condition of Cleopatra’s Needle of NYC and even threatened to take the obelisk back to Egypt if care is not … Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient Egypt, Archaeology, Monument conservation, Weathering history | Tagged Ancient Egypt, Cleopatra's Needle, historic photos, New York, obelisk, weathering | Leave a comment

A Mauerzahn at Grünenfels castle ruin (CH): Surviving 2011?

Posted on December 31, 2010 by Per Storemyr

Switzerland has a wealth of medieval castle ruins. In the Canton of Graübunden they are particularly numerous with, for example, the valley of Vorderrheintal (Surselva) displaying no less than about 50 ruins. Some are almost gone, others are kept in … Continue reading →

Posted in Ruins, Switzerland, Weathering history | Tagged Graubünden, Grünenfels, historic photos, ruin, Surselva, Switzerland, weathering | Leave a comment

Cleopatra’s Needle: Tracing obelisk weathering with old photos

Posted on December 12, 2010 by Per Storemyr

Historic photos are essential for research on monument weathering. With free internet access to archives, such photos are now easier to find than previously. Below, I will show the case of Cleopatra’s Needle, a famous Ancient Egyptian obelisk transferred to … Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient Egypt, Archaeology, Monument conservation, Weathering history | Tagged Alexandria, Ancient Egypt, Aswan, Cleopatra's Needle, granite, Heliopolis, historic photos, London, Luxor, New York, obelisk, Paris, weathering | 10 Comments

Stone weathering at the westernmost coast of Norway

Posted on November 15, 2010 by Per Storemyr

As probably one of only very few monuments globally, the ruined Selja medieval abbey off the westernmost coast of Norway is built from a metamorphic olivine stone (dunite) rich in talc. The combination of a hard olivine matrix and soft … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Monument conservation, New projects, Norway, Ruins, Weathering history | Tagged conservation, historic photos, Norway, olivine, salt, Selja, weathering | 1 Comment

New publications 2009-2010

Posted on October 21, 2010 by Per Storemyr

Though published some months ago, I would like to briefly present four of my most recent publications. Two derives from the EU QuarryScapes project, two from a conference last year in Trondheim about new research at Nidaros Cathedral.

Posted in Ancient Egypt, Monument conservation, New publications, Norway, Old quarries, Weathering history | Tagged Ancient Egypt, Aswan, Gharb Aswan, grinding stone, marble, Nidaros Cathedral, Nidarosdomen, Norway, Nubia, soapstone, Trondheim, weathering | Leave a comment

Cooperation with CSC Conservation Science Consulting, Fribourg

Posted on October 21, 2010 by Per Storemyr

From 2008 to August 2010 I worked for CSC Conservation Science Consulting in Fribourg (CH), which is run by Christine Bläuer and Bénédicte Rousset. We undertook several exciting projects together, for example mapping the building stones – the Pierre jaune … Continue reading →