Krauchthal, Berne, Switzerland, around 1900: Extraction marks from pickaxes in difficult corners

Quarrying of soft stone has been done with remarkably uniform methods over the last 5000 years. From Ancient Egypt to modern Norway – soft stone, like sandstone, limestone and soapstone, was nearly always taken from bedrock using chisels or picks. I have collected a few previous posts about this phenomenon, and hope they may be of interest:

• Experimental archaeology: The traditional way of quarrying soapstone
• With pickaxe into modern times: Quarrying of Bernese sandstone (CH)
• With pickaxe into modern times II: Quarrying of Marés at the Balearic Islands