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Welcome!
I work with the geoarchaeology of old stone: quarries, monuments, rock art. And I try to figure out about their weathering, and conservation using traditional crafts. I also burn lime the traditional way. Many of my domestic services are managed through FABRICA, a registered Norwegian company established with good partners. On this website I publish articles on geology and cultural heritage. For the joy of old stone! Per Storemyr
Visit FABRICA’s website!
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Recent posts
- Soapstone in the Far South of Norway (II): The Østre Vimme Multiperiod Quarry With Very Soft Soapstone
- Soapstone in the Far South of Norway (I): The Sparsås Iron Age Quarry
- Tafoni-forvitring i larvikitt på Rakke ved Stavern
- Bioerosion of shells on the beach – and in old Norwegian lime mortars
- Madam Jørgensens 230 år gamle feltspatgruve i Narestø
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SOAPSTONE! Book on its archaeology and history!
Book: The Stones of Nidaros Cathedral
Book: QuarryScapes
Tag Archives: quarry
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
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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
Nidarosdomens steinbrudd: Byggingen av Kristkirken (1070-1100)
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
Posted in Archaeology, Norway, Old quarries
Tagged Nidaros Cathedral, Nidarosdomen, Nidarosdomen artikkelserie, Norway, quarry, Trondheim
6 Comments
With pickaxe into modern times II: Quarrying of Marés at the Balearic Islands
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
With pickaxe into modern times: Quarrying of Bernese sandstone (CH)
Even until the 1950s the quarrymen in Berne extracted their sandstone using pickaxes. They carved out trenches around the blocks to be removed, not unlike the way their colleagues did 5.000 years ago in ancient Egypt. Why so? Join me … Continue reading
Posted in Ancient Egypt, Archaeology, Old quarries, Switzerland
Tagged Bern, Berner Sandstein, Gurten, Krauchthal, Ostermundigen, quarry, sandstone, Switzerland
11 Comments
“Steinriket Bømlo”: Nettsted om steinbrytning i 10.000 år
Her forleden kom jeg over et særs interessant nettsted, nemlig “Steinriket Bømlo” som forteller historien om utnyttelsen av stein på denne ytterst steinrike øya – ytterst i havgapet på Vestlandet. Naturligvis står to av Norges flotteste steinalderlokaliteter i forgrunnen: Øksebruddet på Hespriholmen og pilespissbruddet på Siggjo. Continue reading
International conference on millstone in Bergen – and the Hyllestad quarry landscape
Last week the Norwegian “millstone community” invited to an international conference in Bergen – “Seen through a millstone: Geology and archaeology of quarries and mills”. It included an excursion to the Hyllestad quarries where the participants got to know a … Continue reading
Posted in Archaeology, Norway, Old quarries
Tagged conservation, Cultural heritage, grinding stone, Kvernsteinsparken, millstone, Norway, quarry
4 Comments
Experimental archaeology: The traditional way of quarrying soapstone
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 … Continue reading
Posted in Archaeology, Norway, Old quarries
Tagged experimental archaeology, Nidaros Cathedral, Nidarosdomen, Norway, quarry, soapstone, Trondheim
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Impressions from summer fieldwork in Norway
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!*
Posted in Archaeology, Monument conservation, New projects, Norway, Old quarries, Rock art, Ruins
Tagged conservation, marble, Nidaros Cathedral, Nidarosdomen, Norway, quarry, rock art, Trondheim
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Per Storemyr Geoarchaeology & Conservation 