How to define the ‘status' of stonemasons employed in a rock-hewn worksite in the medieval period

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Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to question the status of masons on the worksites of rock-hewn monuments, a reverse architecture in which space is carved out rather than enclosed. Indeed, little attention has been paid to this issue, especially for medieval worksites. Who were the people involved in a specific site? Had they exclusively high skill levels? If not, who were the amateurs? How do we identify them? What can we deduce in terms of the economics of construction? Can we compare the organisation of labour forces with worksites for built monuments? J.-C. Bessac and L. Nehmé have dealt with this subject for the Mediterranean area by setting up a multidisciplinary methodology. One may, therefore, take their conclusions as a starting point for our own reflections. We start with a review of recent studies carried out on the Nabataean sites of Petra and Hegra where rock-cut tombs were carved. The intersection of epigraphy and the archaeology of techniques has made it possible to determine who participated at these sites. We will then turn to Cappadocia to look at a specific case study: Mazıköy, where tombs from the Hellenistic and Roman periods and Byzantine churches were carved into the rock. With the help of such archaeological techniques as the traceology method (i.e. the reading of toolmarks) and the analysis of the chaîne opératoire, we will question the skill level of the masons. In this second part, we will discuss the four known inscriptions mentioning people who worked on worksites of rock-hewn monuments and the two works written by Neophyte the Reclus (from the Island of Cyprus) at the turn of the 12th-13th centuries in which the process by which a cell is carved is described. Finally, our hypotheses will be tested against contemporary data. Indeed, there are people in Ethiopia who still carve rock-hew churches using non-mechanised tools. Their testimonies seem to confirm the hypotheses formulated in the technical analyses and epigraphic review. Crossing archaeology, ethnoarchaeology, and history, the economics of building a rock hewn monument will be addressed through the study of the status of the workers.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationFrom Concept to Monument
Subtitle of host publicationTime and Costs of Construction in the Ancient World
EditorsSimon J. Barker, Christopher Courault, Javier Á. Domingo, Dominik Maschek
Place of PublicationOxford
PublisherArchaeopress
ISBN (Electronic)9781789694239
ISBN (Print)9781789694222
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2023

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • stonemasons
  • rock-cut crafting
  • Turkey
  • Ethiopia
  • medieval

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