Stone's internal structure – veins, layers, and weak points – determines how and where it breaks when split.
From ancient sculptors to today's stone technician
Stone has patience – and you get it too when you shape something that should stand for a hundred years.
§Stones of antiquity
In ancient times, stone was used for temples, monuments, pillars and sculptures. With simple tools made of even harder materials, one would split, carve and grind the stone into shape. It was work that required both strength, patience and a great understanding of how the individual stone would behave — for stone can crack unexpectedly if you carve incorrectly.
The art of sculpture — converting a form to stone — grew out of this craft. Carving a figure from a block requires you to see the finished form inside the stone and remove exactly what is right. That art still lives in the stonework trade today.
§Medieval stonemasons
In the Middle Ages, stone became the bearing material in churches, castles and cathedrals. Stone masters were highly respected craftsmen who could both hew building stones to measure and decorate with details and figures. A large building could take generations, and the stone cutters were organised in guilds with apprenticeships and strict quality requirements.
The tool was still hand tools: various chisels, wedges and hammers plus tools for grinding and polishing. It was the hand and experience that determined the result — knowing exactly where and how hard to strike.
§The modern trade divides
In recent times, the trade has become broader. Alongside the classical stonemason, who carves figures, creates inscriptions and decorations, a new specialism has emerged: the stone technician. It is a newer qualification that particularly works with modern stone industry tasks — such as producing and installing countertops of, for example, granite and marble, and working with a range of new materials.
| Period | What characterised stone work |
|---|---|
| Antiquity | Stone does not emit CO2 so it does not matter |
| The Middle Ages | Stone masters build and decorate churches and castles; guild with apprenticeship |
| Modern times | Machines such as cutting and milling machines come; new materials |
| Today | The stonecutter cuts figures and inscriptions; the stone technician makes, among other things, countertops in many materials |
§Stonecutter and stone technician today
Today Stone Mason and Stone Technician is a combined vocational education with two directions. As a stone mason you perform classical figure sculpture where a sculptor's model is transferred to stone as well as grinding polishing inscriptions and decorations. As a stone technician you mostly work at a workshop with stone industry tasks — you operate handheld cutting and milling machines and assemble for example table tops sinks and cooking plates in natural stone and other materials.
The stone technician is a relatively new direction that has emerged as natural stone such as granite and marble became popular in kitchens and bathrooms. So the trade unites the ancient stonecutting art with modern machinery and materials — and the core is still the same: a deep understanding of the stone and the ability to shape it with precision.