Mason's mark

[Tomas Lipps <tmlipps@zzzzzzzzzzzzz>]

Simon,

I noticed what must have be among the earliest masons' marks on cut
stones in Megiddo in Israel.  I have photos somewhere, but of those I
remember one was wiggly like a snake, another a circle with a line
through it.  these dated from the iron age, about the middle of the
second millenium BCE, when metallurgical advances put metal tools in
the hands of builders for the first time and stonemasonry as a
profession was established -in that area at least (before that
masonry consisted of piling up fieldstones).  I've heard of stone
blocks in the pyramids of Egypt bearing masons' marks, painted marks
if I remember correctly.

by the way, the third issue of STONEXUS magazine has been published
and can be viewed at http://www.stonefoundation.org.

Tomas