This new volume in the AVISTA series focuses on the study of medieval limestone. As the principal building material in the Middle Ages and a prized medium for architectural sculpture, limestone played a significant role in medieval artistic manufacture. The choice of material inherently informed the final product, thus understanding the material and its uses gives insight into the medieval creative process and the production-driven choices that were made by masons and sculptors. Quality limestone was a highly sought-after commodity that was often shipped across great distances; yet in other instances, masons made do with locally available resources. Through an intensive study of medium, many broader topics can be addressed, for instance the economics of medieval construction, the artistic process, or the application of modern technology in understanding and preserving medieval buildings and sculpture. The papers collected in this volume present the depth and scope of recent scholarship in the field, through a wide-ranging overview of the state of the discipline of medieval stone studies. They address such methodological approaches to the study of limestone as the use of neutron activation analysis to determine quarries of origin, issues of labor and transportation, as well as issues faced in the cleaning and conservation of limestone. This volume is the first comprehensive study in English that investigates limestone as an essential component of large-scale medieval artistic production, and as such, it is a valuable resource for both students and scholars in the field.

For five years, Konrad has imprisoned himself and his crippled wife in an abandoned lime works where he’s conducted odd auditory experiments and prepared to write his masterwork, The Sense of Hearing. As the story begins, he’s just blown the head off his wife with the Mannlicher carbine she kept strapped to her wheelchair. The murder and the bizarre life that led to it are the subject of a mass of hearsay related by an unnamed life-insurance salesman in a narrative as mazy, byzantine, and mysterious as the lime works—Konrad’s sanctuary and tomb.

A revised edition of a classic text, bringing the story of the Yorkshire limestone industry fully up to date.

A celebration of Indiana's limestone workers in words and pictures.