Den gamle “Stollgruva” i Neskilen
“Jeg ankom her til Næskilen […] og forbliver paa dette afskyelige Sted et par Dage. I Morgen bestiger jeg gamle Mørrefier-Gruben, som er 80 Lagter under Havets Overflade. Gud veed om jeg kommer nogensinde levende op igjen…”
Eva Stavsøien extracting soapstone the traditional way
Experimental archaeology in old building stone quarries is a rare activity. But not so for Norwegian stone carver Eva Stavsøien. She asked herself how soapstone was extracted in the Middle Ages. Bringing handmade pickaxes, she went to an abandoned quarry to find out. The work? Not as hard as we often tend to think about traditional quarrying. Read and watch video!
Ancient game trap at Gharb Aswan. Photo by Per Storemyr.
See updates and a new paper on game drives in a new post (2022): https://per-storemyr.net/2022/03/19/new-paper-in-new-book-the-ancient-game-traps-across-lower-nubia/
There is still a lot of important archaeology to be found in Upper Egypt and Lower Nubia. One group of archaeological sites is hunting features, in particular the extremely widespread ancient game traps along no less than a 400 km stretch of the Nile, from el-Hosh in Upper Egypt south to the Sudan border. Since they are so poorly known, I have recently published a summary of our knowledge.
Steinvikholm castle ruin
Over the last few weeks I’ve been back in Norway for projects on conservation of medieval castle ruins, as well as on provenance of medieval and more modern building stone. Here are some impressions!*
The issue of bringing Central Park’s Cleopatra’s Needle back to Egypt is still in the media. See this recent video from New York Times on the weathering of the New Kingdom obelisk:
“Weathering The Times” – a video from New York Times on the decay of Cleopatra’s Needle
…and check out these blog posts of mine to get independent information on why the obelisk weathered in the distant past and is now in a more or less stable condition:
A little while ago I posted about the Egyptian Petition to save the marvellous landscape in the Northern Faiyum from destruction by massive tourist and other development. Since then the campaign NO PORTO FAYOUM is putting increasing pressure on developers and authorities to change plans. In my view there is a need for a map showing the natural and archaeological treasures and how these will be affected by development.
The spectacular landscape at the Old Kingdom basalt quarries at Widan el-Faras in the Northern Faiyum
For all interested in landscape conservation: Please sign the Egyptian petition on stopping the destruction of a truly spectacular, protected landscape in the Northern Faiyum!
The Northern Faiyum has it all: Splendid landscape, fantastic fossils, a unique cultural heritage back to the Palaeolithic, with highlights such as the Pharaonic (Old Kingdom) basalt quarries, Continue reading
The south side of Nidaros Cathedral (Trondheim, Norway) - the northernmost medieval cathedral in Europe. It is mainly built from soft metamorphic stone like soapstone and greenschist.
Stone to the northernmost of Europe’s great cathedrals was provided from no less than 50 different quarries across Norway and to some extent from elsewhere in Europe. But there are great differences between the medieval building period (11th to 14th century) and the time of large-scale restoration and reconstruction from the late 19th century onwards These differences reflect cultural change – in traditions, technology, fashion – and is a main theme in a new project I’m working on. Continue reading
Tautra (top) and Munkeby monastery ruins in the Trondheim region
An agreement of cooperation has been signed with the Norwegian conservation company “Bakken & Magnussen AS” in Trondheim, Norway. The idea is to expand the competence of the conservation company with services related to conservation science and geoarchaeology.
Bakken & Magnussen, headed by Geir Magnussen and Runhild Bakken, is a key provider of conservation services in Norway, specialising in conservation and restoration of old stone buildings and ruins. It is particularly active within the so-called “ruin conservation programme” of the Norwegian heritage authorities (Directorate for Cultural Heritage). Continue reading
One of the Late Palaeolithic rock art panels at Qurta (in the middle). At both sides of the panel modern quarrying took place in the 1960s, but according to old photos it did not touch the panel
It is a miracle that Egypt’s Late Palaeolithic rock art has survived for at least 15.000 years – and especially for the last 50 years of intensive modern development in the country.
At Qurta by Kom Ombo, for example, the most well-known site of such rock art, widespread quarrying from the 1960s amazingly did not destroy the most important locations. Continue reading
Per Storemyr Geoarchaeology & Conservation 