The study of marks left by humans on stone outcrops is an interdisciplinary endeavour that entails geology, history of techniques, ethnography as well as experimental archaeology. Moreover, the investigation of carved landscapes contributes to the understanding of the complex relationship between human groups and their environments. This volume represents an overview of different case studies of rock-cut sites and quarries, approached as knots in the network of people-stone interactions. The book is the result of a long exchange developed during European Archaeologist Association conference sessions aimed at turning the attention of the international scientific community towards the relevance of the archaeological study of rock-cut sites and quarries, and to promote the creation of a European network of researchers working on the subject.

EDITORS
Claudia Sciuto is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pisa, Italy, working on stone supply strategies, the archaeology of quarries as well as archaeological theory. She holds a PhD in Environmental Archaeology from the University of Umeå, Sweden.

Anaïs Lamesa is a postdoctoral researcher at the CNRS, France, working on medieval rock-cut churches in Ethiopia. She holds a PhD in Ancient History from the University of Paris-Sorbonne, France.

Katy Whitaker is an archaeologist with Historic England, the UK government advice agency on the historic environment, and a doctoral research student at the University of Reading. She researches quarrying and stone-working in southern England, focussing on the long-term uses of sarsen stone.

Ali Yamaç is a speleologist. In addition to his natural cave explorations, he led several artificial cave study projects for over ten years. At the time being, he is working on four different underground structure inventory projects around different regions of Turkey.

List of contributors: Ron Adams, Maxence Bailly, Hiluf Berhe, Jean-Claude Bessac, Constantin Canavas, Paolo Fallavollita, Jean-Pierre Gély, Ivan Lafarge, Anaïs Lamesa, Christina Marangou, Xavier Margarit, Maria Grazia Melis, Martin Miňo, Daniel Morleghem, Marie-Elise Porqueddu, Guillaume Robin, Claudia Sciuto, Luc Stevens, Katy Whitaker, Ali Yamaç