Author Archives: Per Storemyr

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About Per Storemyr

I work with the geoarchaeology of old stone: monuments, rock art, quarries. And I try to figure out about their weathering, and conservation using traditional crafts. I also burn lime the traditional way. For the joy of old stone!

Palaeolithic rock art at risk: New discoveries in Wadi Abu Subeira, Upper Egypt

Posted on May 22, 2015 by Per Storemyr

The number of discovered Late Palaeolithic rock art sites in Wadi Abu Subeira (Upper Egypt) is ever increasing, now with finds also outside of the wadi, at el-Aqba el-Saghira. Archaeologist Adel Kelany of the Ministry of Antiquites (MAS) in Aswan has just published an overview paper, now listing ten sites, all with numerous panels. The largest site has a much as a hundred ones. As previously noted on this blog, this world-class rock art is under heavy pressure from modern mining, though efforts to protect the sites have shown some effect recently. Continue reading →

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New ways of looking at highly organised stone quarrying in Ancient Egypt

Posted on May 20, 2015 by Per Storemyr

The ancient Egyptians are considered “conservative” as regards technology and crafts. Yet, with their mastery of organisation, they took quarrying of stone to new levels, especially from the New Kingdom on, from about 3500 years ago. The manner, in which they quarried their huge amount of stone from then on, is reflected even in modern-day stone quarrying.

In a brand new paper James Harrell and I take a fresh look at the evidence for very systematic extraction of sandstone and limestone that commenced by the New Kingdom. Key is the introduction of very long chisels and broad extraction platforms. The organised quarrying was obviously related to the grand building projects by well-known kings such as Ramesses II. And it is particularly well-displayed at famous quarrying sites, such as Gebel el-Silsila between Luxor and Aswan, and el-Sawayta by Minya. We also follow the manners in which quarrying took place prior to the New Kingdom – and we look at analogies from many periods and cultures, from the Minoans until today.

Read on, and you will get the abstract, a gallery of quarry images and link to the PDF. Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient Egypt, Archaeology, New publications, Old quarries | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

Steinhoggerne – hvem var de? En reise i tid og rom

Posted on April 28, 2015 by Per Storemyr

Mange spør meg om hvem steinhoggerne var i gamle dager. Var de frie folk, var de treller, var de svært proffe? Eller hadde de et yrke som egentlig alle kunne utøve? Ikke lett å svare på! For bryting, hogging og … Continue reading →

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Geologi og kulturminner – bevaring av gamle steinbrudd

Posted on February 10, 2015 by Per Storemyr

“Verdifull naturarv” – det var temaet på NGU-dagen 5-6 februar 2015. Det dreide seg om forvaltning, bruk og vern av Norges geologiske mangfold. Kulturminner og kulturlandskap er en selvfølgelig del av dette temaet og dermed også gamle steinbrudd. De viser på en sjeldent instruktiv måte menneskenes omgang med det geologiske mangfoldet. Men for å kunne formidles, må bruddene bevares! Dette var temaet for mitt foredrag på seminaret. Her kan du lese en lett redigert versjon av innlegget, med tilhørende powerpoint-bilder. Continue reading →

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Winter walk in the Hyllestad millstone quarries

Posted on February 1, 2015 by Per Storemyr

The Hyllestad Millstone Quarries  are accessible for everybody throughout the year. You can walk wherever you like, admiring this largest quarry landscape from the Viking Age and the Middle Ages in Norway. You can even book a guide if you … Continue reading →

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Happy New Year from Hyllestad! With a mountain and a fjord from summer to winter

Posted on December 31, 2014 by Per Storemyr

With a cavalcade of 22 photos I wish you all a Happy New Year! And thanks a lot for following my blog in 2014! All the pictures have been taken from the balcony of our new home at Hyllestad in Western Norway. From August through the fall and into December. I cannot get enough of the stunning views of Åfjorden, the striking mountain Lihesten and the prominent hill Alden far out towards the sea. And of how the weather rapidly changes where fjords and mountains meet the Atlantic. A place to hopefully write many more blog posts in 2015… Continue reading →

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Marmoren i Gildeskål gamle kirke i Nordland – grubling om en middelalderkirke langs nordvegen

Posted on November 20, 2014 by Per Storemyr

Sommeren 2013 møttes en tverrfaglig gjeng forskere til “Grubleseminar” om Gildeskål gamle kirke i Nordland. Her var det samlet arkeologer, kunsthistorikere, bygningshistorikere og ellers alle med et ønske om å finne ut mer om den lille marmorkirken langt mot nord. Og en geoarkeolog som grublet på hva steinene i kirken kunne fortelle om historien. Nå er boken fra seminaret publisert! “Gildeskål gamle kirke: marmorkirka ved nordvegen” er redigert av Morten Stige og Øystein Ekroll, gitt ut på Fagbokforlaget og har bidrag som spenner fra landskapsanalyse til kirkeinteriør. Den blir lansert i Gildeskål om et par dager, søndag 23. november. Her er mer om boken og mitt eget bidrag om steinene i kirken. Continue reading →

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The ancient stone quarries in Egypt as a new, serial World Heritage Site?

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Per Storemyr

Stone quarries were extremely important in ancient cultures, yet they are hardly represented on the World Heritage List. This might be due to misconceptions of the nature of such sites, as producers of raw materials “only”. But in reality many … Continue reading →

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A Palaeolithic, life-size Nubian ibex carved on rock: Adel Kelany with new discoveries in Wadi Abu Subeira, Upper Egypt

Posted on October 27, 2014 by Per Storemyr

Archaeologist Adel Kelany of MSA Aswan recently published a key paper on the Late Palaeolithic rock art in Wadi Abu Subeira, Upper Egypt. The paper reports findings from the site CAS-13, which features a true rock art masterpiece: a life-size, almost two metres long Nubian ibex, accompanied by large-scale images of aurochs. The findings tie in with previously reported Late Palaeolithic rock art in Subeira, a wadi north of Aswan. It is also similar to the now famous Late Palaeolithic rock art analysed by Dirk Huyge and team at Qurta near Gebel el-Silsila and at el-Hosh further downstream of the Nile river. This is rock art dating 15-20.000 years back in time and similar to the grand European Late Palaeolithic rock art traditions. Read on for link to Adel’s paper and more information. Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient Egypt, Archaeology, Heritage destruction, Rock art | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Fire on the rocks! New paper on firesetting in ancient Egyptian stone quarrying

Posted on September 30, 2014 by Per Storemyr

It started with Egyptologist and engineer Reginald Engelbach almost a hundred years ago. By the early 1920s he found evidence that fire would have been used in extraction of the famous Unfinished Obelisk at the Aswan granite quarries. But he … Continue reading →

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