The left-handed and the ambidextrous: Methodological considerations by way of the excavation of rock-cut churches over the long term

The main aim of this paper is to question on the status of left-handed stonemasons in worksites of medieval rock-cut churches, i.e., churches dug directly into the rock. My hypothesis is based on a premise linked to the definition of a left-handed person: ‘A person who uses his left hand in particular’. It appears that the left-handed person is distinguished or distinguished her/his self by the practice of an activity. Some researchers working on quarries and rock-cut worksites thus highlighted the importance of workers lateralisation in carving process. Given so, studying the left-handed mason through the practice of carving a monument seems a promising way of approaching, more broadly, the organisation of teams on a worksite, the transmission of know-how and the social behaviours arising from the hewing practice. The methodology on this paper intersects three approaches: archaeology by deciphering tool marks, history by searching into ancient texts, and ethno-archaeology by interviewing stonemasons who are still shaping churches today. This method was successfully implemented to formulate hypotheses on the status of amateur stonemasons and the organization of workers teams. Can the place of left-handed stone workers at a rock-cut worksite in medieval times be reconstructed? How does the study of left-handed stoneworkers contribute to a better understanding of dynamics of making in a rock-hewn worksite over time? What are the limits of such an approach? Can this question even be asked?