Romanesque Prague Monuments – Dimension Stone and Its Cutting

Abstract

The study of building stone cutting is still a new discipline, which is currently based on evolving methods of mechanoscopy and analytical trasology. The presented article is an extract of a study that systematically maps the stone-cutting work in the territory of Prague from the oldest buildings to the present day. The most used dimension stone of Romanesque Prague is “opoka”. Although the opoka also occurs in other countries, its use as a predominant building material of monuments of this age is most common, especially in Prague. The systematic research of historic building stone cutting in the historic centre of Prague reveals the world of stonework from the earliest time. Individual traces of tools may be considered a historical source. Each work has its own unique pattern and bears traces of individual stonemason workshops, traditions, and training of the craftsman’s predecessors. Stonework in 9th century Prague was gradually evolving from simple stone block modelling to sophisticated cutting of blocks in the 12th century. For the distinctive work of Prague, stonemasons rock face cutting was typical, which means they gradually obliquely cut the areas from the corners to the centre of the block. However, they did not use various decorative patterns so typical for European work. In Western Europe, the aim was to use innovative tooth tools that were highly effective in working with stone; nevertheless, in Prague, these tools did not become popular, although they were sporadically used as European craftsmen arrived in Prague. When studying the stone surface, the latest 3D modelling technology was used, and consequently, the models were used to create mechanoscopic analyses using Global Mapper software. Based on the identified traces and their shapes in connection with the dynamics of the hits, the tools used could be reconstructed.