Visit FABRICA’s website!
Popular right now
Find posts by Google Maps
Follow on:
SOAPSTONE! Book on its archaeology and history!
Book: The Stones of Nidaros Cathedral
Book: QuarryScapes
Category Archives: Archaeology
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
Leave a comment
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
Leave a comment
Firesetting in the Stone Age chert quarries at Melsvik in Northern Norway?
Update: See this blog post for confirmation of firesetting at Melsvik! A few weeks ago I had the great opportunity to take a look at the large, recently discovered Stone Age chert quarries at Melsvik, some 10 km to the … Continue reading
Posted in Archaeology, Norway, Old quarries
Tagged Alta, chert, firesetting, Melsvik, Mesolithic, quarry
8 Comments
The World Heritage Rock Art at Alta in Northern Norway
Earlier this week I attended a workshop on conservation of the prehistoric rock art at Alta in Northern Norway. This gave me the opportunity to take a closer look at the great Stone Age panels in the Hjemmeluft area, which … Continue reading
Making medieval stone architecture: the use of slate in Central Norway
The use of slate has traditions back to the Neolithic in Norway. Stone that were easy to split could be used for anything from the erection of fine burial chambers to the production of knives – phenomena that have been … Continue reading
Posted in Archaeology, Norway, Old quarries
Tagged Middle Ages, Nidaros Cathedral, Nidarosdomen, Nidarosdomen artikkelserie, Norway, quarry, slate, Trondheim
4 Comments
A masterpiece of Epipalaeolithic geometric rock art from el-Hosh, Upper Egypt
The rock art at el-Hosh in Upper Egypt is renowned for its fish trap motifs dating to the Epipalaeolithic period (c. 9000-5000 BC). However, during the 2010 field season undertaken by the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels … Continue reading
Alpine heritage impressions from a summer in Grisons (Graubünden, Switzerland)
Grisons – or in German Graubünden – is the largest canton in Switzerland, in the middle of the Alps, bordering Italy and Austria. It is renowned for its magnificent nature and countless medieval castle ruins. But Grisons has a truly … Continue reading
Posted in Archaeology, Old mines, Old quarries, Rock art, Ruins, Switzerland
Tagged Cultural heritage, Graubünden, quarry, rock art, Surselva
4 Comments
Good stone doesn’t change its location!
There have been few new posts on my blog recently. But there is a very good reason for this apparent laziness, since I’m now writing a book about stone. Or, to be more correct, a book about the cultural history … Continue reading
Posted in Archaeology, New projects, Norway, Old quarries
Tagged european cathedrals, marble, Nidaros Cathedral, Nidarosdomen, Norway, quarry, soapstone, trondheim norway
Leave a comment
Quarrying of soft stone through history
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. … Continue reading
The Palaeolithic rock art in Wadi Abu Subeira, Egypt: Landscape, archaeology, threats and conservation
Since the publication of the threats to the Palaeolithic rock art in Wadi Abu Subeira three weeks ago, there has been much response through e-mail and social media, and the case has been covered by many online magazines and blogs. People in Egypt and elsewhere are concerned, and I wish to thank you all for your interest and for bringing the case along to friends and colleagues, as well as to administrators and politicians. There now seems to be a need for an “unbiased”, comprehensive overview of what is actually known about the landscape, the archaeology, the rock art, the threats, current conservation efforts and options for the future. The overview below is based on published literature, and information that otherwise belongs to the public sphere. It is written in close cooperation with Adel Kelany, and we have benefitted from input by Dirk Huyge. Continue reading
Posted in Ancient Egypt, Archaeology, Heritage destruction, Rock art
Tagged Ancient Egypt, Aswan, conservation, Cultural heritage, Qurta, rock art, Wadi Abu Subeira
5 Comments
Per Storemyr Geoarchaeology & Conservation 