The archaeological study of quarries focuses mainly on the reconstruction of the extraction process, while rock-hewn spaces have often been approached from the point of view of architectural styles or artistic expressions. Nevertheless, a holistic structural approach to the study of these spaces could allow a better understanding of the agency of those who carved the stone. The conference aims at promoting the international debate on the archaeological investigation of ROCKCUT SPACES and STONE QUARRIES, considered as aspects of the same mining phenomenon: places in which specific empirical and handcrafted knowledge related to stone working is expressed and conveyed.
09:00 Opening remarks
09:20 KEYNOTE LECTURE: GUILLAUME ROBIN, How do rock-cut architectures relate with their environment? The example of prehistoric rock-cut tombs in Ossi, Sardinia (Italy)
09:40 Discussion
09:55 MARIE-ELISE PORQUEDDU, Know-how and technical environment: rethinking through technical study the emergence of rock-cut tombs in the Neolithic Mediterranean
10:15 NURIA CASTAÑEDA, SUSANA CONSUEGRA, PEDRO DÍAZ-DEL-RÍO, JAVIER BAENA, Middle Palaeolithic flint extraction at Casa Montero (Madrid, Spain)
10:35 DANIELA GALAZZO, A study of quartzite quarries in Egypt
10:55 Discussion
11:10 COFFEE BREAK
11:20 THIERRY GRÉGOR, JÉRÔME ROHMER, A. ALSUHAIBANI, Stone extraction in Northwest Arabia, from the Iron Age to the early 20th century. New insights from Dadan (Saudi Arabia)
11:40 CLAUDIA SCIUTO, The hand, the mind, and the stone: technical tendencies and the development of collective know-how in stone extraction procedures
12:00 GERMANO GERMANÒ, Underground and open-pit quarries in Polignano a Mare (Italy): a preliminary investigation
12:20 Discussion
12:35 LUNCH BREAK
