Steinbruddslandskapene ved middelalderens klostre på Selja, Hovedøya og Rein

Rapport til Riksantikvare

Heritage Stone 6. Gneiss for the Pharaoh: Geology of the Third Millennium BCE Chephren's Quarries in Southern Egypt

A remarkable campaign of decorative stone quarrying took place in the southwestern Egyptian desert almost 5000 years ago. The target for quarrying was Precambrian plagioclase−hornblende gneiss, from which several life-sized statues of King Chephren (or Khafra) and thousands of funerary vessels were produced. The former inspired George Murray in 1939 to name the ancient quarry site 'Chephren's Quarries.' Almost 700 individual extraction pits are found in the area, in which free-standing boulders formed by spheroidal weathering were worked by stone tools made from local rocks and fashioned into rough-outs for the production of vessels and statues. These were transported over large distances across Egypt to Nile Valley workshops for finishing. Although some of these workshop locations remain unknown, there is evidence to suggest that, during the Predynastic to Early Dynastic period, the permanent settlement at Hierakonpolis (Upper Egypt) could have been one destination, and during the Old Kingdom, another may have been located at pyramid construction sites such as the Giza Plateau (Lower Egypt). Chephren's Quarries remains one of the earliest examples of how the combined aesthetic appearance and supreme technical quality of a rock made humans go to extreme efforts to obtain and transport this raw material on an ‘industrial’ scale from a remote source. The quarries were abandoned about 4500 years ago, leaving a rare and well-preserved insight into ancient stone quarrying technologies. RÉSUMÉUne remarquable campagne d’extraction de pierres décorative a été mené dans le sud-ouest du désert égyptien il y a près de 5000 ans. La roche cible était un gneiss à plagioclase–hornblende, de laquelle ont été tiré plusieurs statues grandeur nature du roi Khéphren (ou Khâef Rê) et des milliers de vases funéraires. C’est pourquoi George Murray, en 1939, a donné au site de l’ancienne carrière le nom de 'Chephren’s Quarries.' On peut trouver près de 700 fosses d’extraction sur le site, renfermant des blocs de roches formés par altération sphéroïdale qui ont été dégrossis avec des outils de pierre pour la production de vases et de statues. Puis ils ont été transportés à travers l’Égypte jusqu’aux ateliers de finition de la vallée du Nil. Bien que la localisation de certains de ces ateliers demeure inconnue, certains indices permettent de penser que, de la période prédynastique jusqu’à la période dynastique précoce, l’établissement permanent à Hiérakonpolis (Haute Égypte) aurait pu être l’une de ces destinations; durant l’Ancien empire une autre destination aurait pu être située aux sites de construction de pyramides comme le Plateau de Giza (Basse Égypte). Les Chephren’s Quarries l’une des plus anciennes exemples montrant comment la combinaison des qualités esthétiques et techniques remarquables de la roche ont incité les humains à consentir de si grands efforts pour extraire et transporter ce matériau brute à une échelle industrielle d’un site éloigné. Les carrières ont été abandonnées il y a environ 4500 ans, nous laissant une fenêtre rare et bien conservé sur des technologies anciennes d’extraction de pierre de taille.Traduit par le Traducteu

Chertbruddet i Melsvik. Undersøkelse av chertbrudd, utvinningsteknologi og bosetningsspor fra tidlig eldre steinalder i Melsvik, Alta k., Finnmark f.

I 2012-2013 ble et chertbrudd fra steinalderen undersøkt utenfor Alta i Finnmark. Undersøkelsen omfattet 1000 m2 av steinbruddet, og 3500 m2 av bosetingsområdene som lå like ved. I tillegg til utgravning ble det gjort eksperimenter med utvinning av chert i bruddet. Resultatene viser at bruddet ble brukt allerede 8400 f.Kr., og at fyrsetting var den viktigste metoden for å bryte chert fra berget. Utvinningsvirksomheten resulterte i enorme mengde med avfall, over et stort område. Vi tolker materialet til å gjenspeile mange kortvarige besøk av mindre grupper, som trolig fant sted i sommerhalvåret. Oppholdene var sterkt fokusert mot utvinning og bearbeiding av chert, og det er få spor etter andre gjøremål. Den mest intensive utvinning var i tidsrommet 8500/8400-8000 f.Kr., men også rundt 5000 f.Kr. ble chert igjen hentet fra berget her

A Prehistoric Geometric Rock Art Landscape by the First Nile Cataract

Storemyr Per. A Prehistoric Geometric Rock Art Landscape by the First Nile Cataract. In: Archéo-Nil. Revue de la société pour l'étude des cultures prépharaoniques de la vallée du Nil, n°19, 2009. L’art rupestre de la vallée du Nil et des déserts égyptiens. pp. 121-150

Reconstructing a Medieval Underground Soapstone Quarry: Bakkaunet in Trondheim in an International Perspective

Underground medieval quarries are rare, in Norway and elsewhere in Europe. Thus the question: Could a big underground soapstone quarry have been opened at Bakkaunet in Trondheim (central Norway) in the Middle Ages? This question of stone procurement for Nidaros Cathedral – which is Europe’s northernmost medieval cathedral and a building heavily influenced by English traditions and fashions – has bothered us for the last 20 years. In this paper we discuss what we think the quarrymen did. It is a biography of the now almost lost Bakkaunet quarry, with a focus on the question about underground operations. But the paper also discusses stone procurement for Nidaros Cathedral in view of contemporary international, especially English, trends. The story is sad, for the open-cast part of this once great quarry, very close to the centre of Trondheim, has been successively destroyed by modern house building over the last century

A Versatile Resource - The Procurement and Use of Soapstone in Norway and The North Atlantic Region

Soapstone is a remarkable rock. While it is very workable due to a high content of talc, the softest known mineral in existence, it is also durable, heat-resistant and has a high heat storage capacity. These properties have been recognised and valued since prehistory across the world and soapstone has been used for a very broad range of products. This book addresses soapstone use in Norway and the North Atlantic region, including Greenland (here: the North). Although the majority of papers deal with the Iron Age and Middle Ages, the book spans the Mesolithic to the early modern era, dealing with themes related to quarries, products and associated people and institutions in a wide sense. Recent years have seen a revival of basic archaeological and geological research into the procurement and use of stone resources. With authors from the fields of archaeology, geosciences and traditional crafts, this anthology reflects cross-disciplinary work grown out of this revival

Red-coated rocks on the seashore: The esthetics and geology of prehistoric rock art in Alta, Arctic Norway

Research suggests that the World Heritage rock engravings in Alta, Northern Norway, were made along the seashore over a period of 5000 years. The postglacial rebound and consequent land uplift have caused a continuous displacement of the shoreline, now situating the earliest rock art panels up to 26 m above sea level. By examining the rock surfaces at Hjemmeluft and other sites, using field observations and geological analyses, we found that the pronounced red bedrock surfaces in the current seashore zone are composed of inorganic iron films related to a high content of magnetite in the native sandstone. Coupled with an interpretation of regional environmental history, we also found that it is highly likely that the rock art was originally carved on rocks with red iron films, rocks that are now generally gray. Due to the land uplift and subsequent covering of the rock art with lichen, moss, and turf, the red color has waned at the rock art sites. This knowledge may renew interpretation and understanding of the location of rock art in Alta and may have implications for conservation and management