Category Archives: Old quarries

Ten quarries of Ancient Egypt: 2 – Rod el-Gamra dolerite porphyry quarry

Posted on December 23, 2012 by Per Storemyr

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 →

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Ten quarries of Ancient Egypt: 1 – Wadi Abu Qureya soapstone quarry

Posted on December 22, 2012 by Per Storemyr

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 →

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When in Rome…

Posted on December 6, 2012 by Per Storemyr

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 →

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Firesetting in the Stone Age chert quarries at Melsvik in Northern Norway?

Posted on November 2, 2012 by Per Storemyr

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 →

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Making medieval stone architecture: the use of slate in Central Norway

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Per Storemyr

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 →

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Alpine heritage impressions from a summer in Grisons (Graubünden, Switzerland)

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Per Storemyr

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 , , , , | 4 Comments

Good stone doesn’t change its location!

Posted on July 5, 2012 by Per Storemyr

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 →

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Quarrying of soft stone through history

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Per Storemyr

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 →

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Nidarosdomens steinbrudd: Byggingen av Kristkirken (1070-1100)

Posted on March 16, 2012 by Per Storemyr

Denne historien er en liten del av min bok “Nidarosdomens grunnfjell” (2015). Les mer om boken her. Tenk deg at du for nesten 1000 år siden er engelsk byggmester og har fått i oppdrag å reise en av Norges aller … Continue reading →

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With pickaxe into modern times II: Quarrying of Marés at the Balearic Islands

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Per Storemyr

As a follow-up of my two recent articles on traditional quarrying of sandstone and soapstone, here is an exciting film about manual extraction of Piedra de Marés at Menorca. Marés is a soft, yellowish biocalcarenite (calcareous sandstone), widely used since … Continue reading →

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