CARVED IN STONE : the archaeology of rock-cut sites and stone quarries

The study of marks left by humans on stone outcrops is an interdisciplinary endeavour that entails geology, history of techniques, ethnography as well as experimental archaeology. Moreover, the investigation of carved landscapes contributes to the understanding of the complex relationship between human groups and their environments. This volume represents an overview of different case studies of rock-cut sites and quarries, approached as knots in the network of people-stone interactions. The book is the result of a long exchange developed during European Archaeologist Association conference sessions aimed at turning the attention of the international scientific community towards the relevance of the archaeological study of rock-cut sites and quarries, and to promote the creation of a European network of researchers working on the subject. List of contributors: Ron Adams, Simon Fraser University, Canada Maxence Bailly, University Aix-Marseille, France - CNRS, France Hiluf Berhe, Mekelle University, Ethiopia Jean-Claude Bessac, CNRS Montpellier, France Constantin Canavas, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Germany Paolo Fallavollita, Oben srl, Sassari, Italy Jean-Pierre Gély, University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, France Ivan Lafarge, Cultural heritage office, Département de la Seine-Saint-Denis, France Anaïs Lamesa, CNRS Paris, France Christina Marangou, Independent researcher, Athens, Greece Xavier Margarit, University Aix-Marseille, France - CNRS, France Maria Grazia Melis, University of Sassari, Italy Martin Miňo, Regional Board Banská Bystrica - Monument Board, Slovak Republic Daniel Morleghem, University of Tours, France Marie-Elise Porqueddu, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain - University Aix-Marseille, France Guillaume Robin, University of Edinburgh, UK Claudia Sciuto, University of Pisa, Italy Luc Stevens, French Society for Souterrains Studies ​Katy Whitaker, University of Reading, UK Ali Yamaç, OBRUK Cave Research Group, Turkey Title page Copyright page Of Related Interest Contents List of Contributors Foreword 1. The Archaeology of Quarries and Rock-Cut Sites 1. General context 2. Quarries: a research closely connectedto the nature of the rock 3. Rock-cut monuments: still a study niche? 4. Towards new research perspectives Bibliography 2. From Surfaces to Tools: Traceology and Experimental Analysisof Digging Techniques of Mediterranean Rock-Cut Tombs Introduction 1. Presentation of the sites and their problematics 1.1. Fontvieille necropolis, Bouches-du-Rhône, France 1.2. S’Elighe Entosu, Usini, Sardinia, Italy 1.3. Sas Concas and Museddu (Sardinia, Italy).Presence of similar anthropomorphic engraved elements 1.4. Sant’Andrea Priu and S’Incantu (Sardinia,Italy). Presence of an important painted iconographicprogramme 2. Methodology 2.1. Non-invasive techniques for the study of the toolmarks 2.2. Experimentation 3. Difference of treatment on the walls of the hypogea 3.1. Diversified treatments of walls and grounds 3.2. Presence of coating on the walls 4. Conclusions Bibliography 3. The Design and Excavation of Souterrains in FranceBetween the Tenth and Sixteenth Centuries Introduction 1. The concept of souterrains in France 1.1. Definition 1.2. Typology 1.3. Dating elements 1.4. Distribution of souterrains in France 2. The digging of souterrains 2.1. Extraction methods 2.2. Lighting 2.3. Tools1 2.3.1. Swung percussion tools 2.3.2. Struck Percussion Tools 2.3.3. Drills 2.3.4. Other tools 2.4. Extraction routes 2.5. Orientation when digging a souterrain 2.6. Finishing works 2.7. The workers 2.8. Excavation time 3. Conclusions Bibliography 4. Cutting in the Chinese Loess 1. Cave dwellings (yáodòng) on the Loess Plateauacross the Yellow River in North-Central China 2. Conventional typologies of contemporaryyáodòng dwellings 3. Evolutionary approaches 4. Critique 5. Alternative approaches 6. Contemporary perceptions and the heritage issue 7. Conclusions Bibliography 5. Creating a Rock-Cut Tomb in Traditional Tana Toraja(Sulawesi, Indonesia): An Ethno-Archaeologyof Stone Economy and Ritual Introduction 1. Death, monuments and society in traditionalTana Toraja 2. Research questions and methodology 3. Anatomy of Toraja rock-cut tombs 4. Finding and reserving a location on the rock face 5. The stone workers: costs, workspaces,tools and roles 6. Cutting out the tomb: a technical andritual chaîne-opératoire 7. Consecration of the tomb 8. Construction failures and abandonments 9. Tomb worksites as stone quarries 10. Conclusion Bibliography 6. A Rock-Cut Landscape By the Sea: Myrina Kastro in Prehistoryand Antiquity (Lemnos Island, North Aegean Sea, Greece) Introduction 1. A rock-cut landscape 2. The sea: a maritime cultural landscape 3. A female factor in a rocky seascape 4. Further research directions Bibliography 7. Koramaz Valley of Kayseri, Turkey Rock-Cut Architectureand Underground Cities Introduction 1. General Description of Koramaz Valley 1.1. Büyük Bürüngüz Village 1.2. Subaşı (Üskübü) Village 1.3. Küçük Bürüngüz Village 1.4. Ağırnas Village 1.5. Dimitre Village 1.6. Vekse Village 1.7. Ispıdın Village 2. Conclusions Bibliography 8. Renaissance-Era Rock Cut Cellars in the Economy of a FortifiedCity in the War Frontier between Two Civilizations Introduction 1. Historical background 2. Survey of extinct vineyards 3. Geology, geographical and cultural background 4. Characteristics of Krupina’s rock-cut cellars 5. Purpose of cellars 6. Dating 6.1. Archaeological data 6.2. Political, cultural and economic context 6.2.1. Vacancy on the wine market 6.2.2. Rise of the domestic winery 6.2.3. Cultural and religious changes 6.2.4. Decline of the wine-industry in Krupina 6.3. Evidence in artwork 6.4. Dating through technology 6.5. Dating through analogy 7. Conclusions Bibliography 9. Addi Behaylay – A Possible Stone Quarry Site for YehaGreat Temple: A Result of Recent Archaeological Survey Introduction 1. Previous Investigations 2. Survey Objective 3. Methodology 4. Result of the Survey 4.1. Addi Behaylay stone quarry 4.1.1. Addi Behaylay 1 (AB-1) 4.1.2. Addi Behaylay 2 (AB-2) 4.2. Addi Behaylay Kidanemihret (AB-K) 5. Discussion 5.1. Who used the Addi Behaylay stone quarry sites? 5.2. Technique of quarrying 6. Future research Bibliography 10. Archaeology of Early Middle Ages SarcophagiQuarries in the Southern Paris Basin (France) Introduction 1. Sarcophagi quarries in the Southern Paris Basin 1.1. Quarrying district of Panzoult (Indre-et-Loire) 1.2. Quarrying district of Manse and Courtineauvalleys (Indre-et-Loire) 1.3. Quarrying district of Anglin and Gartempe valleys(Indre and Vienne) 1.4. The late antiquity and early Middle Ages quarryof Vinon (Sancerre, Cher) 2. Sources of the study 2.1. Written sources 2.2. Prior archaeological data 2.3. Sarcophagi 2.4. Quarries and production centres 3. Multiscalar approach and main characteristicsof sarcophagi exploitation 3.1. Quarries, special archaeological sites 3.1.1. Three-dimensional issues 3.1.2. Nature and hierarchy of main elementsof the exploitation 3.2. At the block scale: reconstruction of the ‘chaîneopératoire’ and technical gestures 3.3. At the quarry face scale: organisationof the extraction 3.4. At the quarry scale: operation and planning 3.4.1. Operating strategies 3.4.2. Space and waste management 3.5. At the quarrying centre scale: local/regionaleconomy of the sarcophagus 3.5.1. Topography of the sites 3.5.2. Sarcophagus market 3.5.3. Chronology, tempo and quantification of theproduction 4. Sarcophagi quarry study protocol 4.1. Identification of production sites 4.1.1. Constitution of a rock reference collectionand determination of the rock types 4.1.2. Quarry surveying and recognition 4.2. Observation, analysis and recording of data 4.2.1. Observation and recording of the remains 4.2.2. Study of blocks founds in the quarry 4.2.3. Geology of the quarries 4.3. Documenting quarries 4.3.1. Photographic coverage 4.3.2. Archaeological drawings 4.4. Graphical representation of the exploitation 4.4.1. The exploitation diagram 4.4.2. Operating plans and topo-chronologies 5. Quarry excavation: problematic, meansand methods 5.1. Interests of the excavation 5.1.2. Nature of quarry waste 5.1.3. Depositional process 5.2. Quarry excavation methodology 5.2.1. Spot survey and extensive excavations 5.2.2. Excavation strategies 5.2.3. Excavation and recording techniques 5.2.4. Dating and findings issues 6. Case studies 6.1. Contributions of digital 3D to the study of quarries 6.1.1. Reconstitution of Vinon quarry (Cher) fromold photographs 6.1.2. Quarry ceilings finally accessible: exampleof Barbauderie 2 (Panzoult, Indre-et-Loire) 6.2. Operational planning 6.2.1. Example of the wall 5 of Barbauderie 1(Panzoult, Indre-et-Loire) 6.2.2. Topographic evolution of Pied Griffé(Saint-Pierre-de-Maillé, Vienne) 6.3. Space and waste management 6.3.1. Movement of men and materials from the lastexploited quarry faces of the underground quarryBarbauderie 5–6 (Panzoult, Indre-et-Loire) 6.3.2. Waste management in the pit quarry of Pied Griffé(Saint-Pierre-de-Maillé, Vienne) 7. Conclusions Bibliography 11. Uses and Exploitation of Gypsum PlasterOver Time in Construction in Ile-de-France Introduction 1. Geological and chemical overview 2. Historical overviews 3. Extraction 4. Kilns 4.1. Medieval kilns 4.2. Dampmart early Middle Ages kiln 4.3. The kiln of the castle of Saint-Martin-du-Tertre 4.4. The kiln of Sarcelles 5. Experimental archaeology approach 6. Conclusions Bibliography 12. Building Stone Through the Centuries: The ‘Paris Stone’ Versusthe ‘Oise Stone’ (France) Introduction 1. Paris and its geological resources 2. The extraction centres of Saint-Leu-d’Esserentand Saint-Maximin 3. The Ancient period (first to fourth centuries AD) 3.1. Ancient Paris (Lutetia) and its quarries 3.2. Genesis of the quarry district of Saint-Leud’Esserent and Saint-Maximin 4. The Merovingian (fifth to eighth centuries) andCarolingian periods (ninth to tenth centuries) 4.1. Lutetia becomes Paris 4.2. The Oise quarry district betweencontinuity and rupture 5. The Classical Middle Ages (eleventhto thirteenth centuries) 5.1. Paris, capital of the kingdom, the omnipresentParis stone 5.2. The quarry districts of the Oise limitedto the local market 6. The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries:a period of transition for the stone market 6.1. Evolution of the stone supply in Paris 6.2. Beginning of the export of the Oise stone 7. The market of stone, from the sixteenthto the eighteenth century 7.1. Paris and the specialisation of its quarry districts 7.2. The differentiated development of quarrydistricts in the Oise region 8. Towards a great diversification of the stone market(nineteenth-twentieth century) 8.1. Paris metropolis and the end of its quarry districts 8.2. Only the quarry district of Saint-Maximin remains 9. Conclusion Bibliography List of Contributors -- Foreword -- The archaeology of quarries and rock-cut sites / Jean-Claude Bessac, Anaïs Lamesa and Claudia Sciuto -- From surfaces to tools: traceology and experimental analysis of digging techniques of Mediterranean rock-cut tombs / Marie-Elise Porqueddu, Maxence Bailly, Xavier Margarit, Paolo Fallavollita and Maria Grazia Melis -- The design and excavation of souterrains in France between the tenth and sixteenth centuries / Luc Stevens -- Cutting in the Chinese loess / Constantin Canavas -- Creating a rock-cut tomb in traditional Tana Toraja (Sulawesi, Indonesia): an ethno-archaeology of stone economy and ritual / Guillaume Robin and Ron Adams -- A rock-cut landscape by the sea: Myrina Kastro in prehistory and antiquity (Lemnos Island, North Aegean Sea, Greece) / Christina Marangou -- Koramaz Valley of Kayseri, Turkey rock-cut architecture and underground cities / Ali Yamaç -- Renaissance-era rock cut cellars in the economy of a fortified city in the war frontier between two civilizations / Martin Miňo -- Addi Behaylay - a possible stone quarry site for Yeha Great Temple: a result of recent archaeological survey / Hiluf Berhe -- Archaeology of early Middle Ages sarcophagi quarries in the southern Paris Basin (France) / Daniel Morleghem -- Uses and exploitation of gypsum plaster over time in construction in Ile-de-France / Ivan Lafarge -- Building stone through the centuries: the 'Paris Stone' Versus the 'Oise Stone' (France) / Jean-Pierre Gély