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Source Image: PR316_02_15 of Marmara Adası Quarries

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Description

Modern quarryman using plugs and feathers to split the end off a block in a quarry on Marmara Adası (ancient Prokonnesos).

Monument
Marmara Adası Quarries 
Monument Type
Quarry 
Material(s)
Prokonnesian Marble (Archaeometric identification)  
Date
post bc 600 
Keywords
Quarrying  
Collections
Turkey Marmara Adası  

Location

Original Location
Marmara Adası 

Evidence for working practices

1. Toolmarks

Process
Squaring
Tool
Wedge
Description
Though not ancient, this is a good illustration of the way that wedges are used to split blocks of stone. This quarryman has inserted a row of wedges - in this case plugs and feathers - into holes made with the pneumatic drill (see PR316_02_13). He is then hammering these wedges into the stone to split off the end slab.

Notes

Quarrying activity on Marmara Adası (ancient Prokonnesos) began in the Classical period, if not earlier, and continued through the Byzantine and Ottoman period up to the present day. The peak period of quarrying on the island prior to the modern period was the Roman period, however. Prokonnesian marble is white with fine, sometimes thicker, grey veins.

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