Sarsen stone quarrying in southern England

Abstract

SUMMARY: This paper reports on new research into the previously poorly-documented post-medieval sarsen stone industry of southern England. Two significant centres of the trade are explored using complimentary methodologies. In Buckinghamshire, where a major quarry has been lost to redevelopment, archaeological features are mapped from historical aerial photographs and other remotely-sensed data. In Wiltshire, analytical earthworks survey at two quarries records different stone-working practices. The interpretation goes beyond a conventional industrial archaeological focus on commodity production, to examine the complexity of the relationships between people, materials and technology in three different taskscapes.