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Category Archives: Archaeology
Ten quarries of Ancient Egypt: 9 – Palaeolithic quarries in the Eastern Desert
Practically the whole of Egypt is dotted with quarries and tool workshops dating to the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic (some 3-400.000 to 30.000 years ago), showing how our predecessors adapted to the geological resources along the Nile and in the adjacent deserts. I’m very far from an expert on these periods, but over the years I’ve often been truly fascinated by quarries from these times that just popped up while looking for much later archaeological remains. In 2006, while on a tourist trip in the Eastern Desert with Red Sea Desert Adventures, we started to look for Palaeolithic tools and quarries. They were really very common. An experience we share with other people that have traversed the Eastern Desert. Continue reading
Ten quarries of Ancient Egypt: 8 – The quarry at Widan el-Faras that disappeared
Many of you know the Old Kingdom basalt quarries at Widan el-Faras in the Northern Faiyum Desert. Some of you are also familiar with the partial destruction of the quarries by modern basalt quarrying. When we first started to work at Widan, about 12 years ago, in a project headed by Elizabeth Bloxam at UCL, the breathtaking lava and escarpment landscape was still quite pristine. A few years later a substantial part of the quarries had been eaten by machines. Though we had learnt by then that many other quarries in Egypt were under threat from modern development, Widan was a key reason for starting the QuarryScapes project – an EU-funded project on conservation of ancient quarries. Continue reading
Ten quarries of Ancient Egypt: 7 – Tracing a grinding stone quarry in the Sahara
In 2007 I was very happy to be invited to join Salima Ikram and Corinna Rossi‘s North Kharga Oasis Survey (NKOS). Great mission, great landscape. The landscape so breathtaking that I immensely enjoyed walking and looking for stone and quarries. Crude flint hammerstones turned up. One after the other, even small depots. Tracing the hammerstones for several kilometres paid off. At the end of the trail was the first grinding stone quarry found in the Western Desert of Egypt! Continue reading
Ten quarries of Ancient Egypt: 6 – Gebel Manzal el-Seyl volcanic tuff quarry
Looking for old quarries in Egypt’s Eastern Desert means that you are not only walking in the footsteps of ancient quarrymen, but also of archaeological geologist Jim Harrell. Jim has crisscrossed the Eastern Desert and found several very important quarries … Continue reading
Ten quarries of Ancient Egypt: 5 – “The loner” at Chephren’s Quarry
Most of you have heard about the famous, vast Old Kingdom Chephren’s Quarry in the far south of the Western Desert of Egypt. There are hundreds of quarry workings, which took advantage of clusters of big boulders in a flat … Continue reading
Ten quarries of Ancient Egypt: 4 – Wadi el-Muluk limestone quarry
It was my first trip to Egypt. In 1999, with Tom Heldal, I simply wanted to see as many old quarries as possible. We had several weeks at hand, meagre information on the location of quarries, and no idea of … Continue reading
Ten quarries of Ancient Egypt: 3 – The Second Pyramid at Giza
A quarry? The Second Pyramid?? The Pyramid of Old Kingdom Pharaoh Chephren at Giza??? This is not a quarry – it is a Wonder of the World, it is a Pyramid! False. It is also a quarry!
Ten quarries of Ancient Egypt: 2 – Rod el-Gamra dolerite porphyry quarry
Rod el-Gamra is a gem. A gem because it is small, even tiny, yet it features the typical archaeology that is found at ancient quarry sites. A gem because what was produced here, so-called naoi, are beautifully strewn in front … Continue reading
Ten quarries of Ancient Egypt: 1 – Wadi Abu Qureya soapstone quarry
2012 was the first year since 1999 that I was not able to spend one or two or three field seasons in Egypt, exploring ancient quarries, rock art and generally some of the world’s most fascinating archaeology. So I have … Continue reading
Posted in Ancient Egypt, Archaeology, Old quarries
Tagged Ancient Egypt, quarry, soapstone, ten quarries of ancient egypt
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When in Rome…
When in Rome… What else can you do than to discuss Norwegian archaeology!? So we did, at the beginning of this week, 30+ archaeologists and scientists at a workshop within the Norwegian Research Council’s network programme “Cooperative Research” (NO: Forskning … Continue reading
Posted in Archaeology, New projects, Norway, Old quarries
Tagged marble, Norway, quarry, Rome
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Per Storemyr Geoarchaeology & Conservation 