Article ID: CBB340558475

The Stonemasons’ Marks in the Cathedral of Santo Domingo, the First Cathedral of the New World (2024)

unapi

In the Middle Ages and early modern period, masons inscribed symbols on dressed stonework and ashlars to identify the work of the individual or team that quarried or dressed the stone or of the workshop of origin. Other marks on stonework can provide instructions, such as the way to place the ashlar. Many of these marks still survive on the fabric of cathedrals, churches, palaces, important houses, castles, and other structures throughout Europe and beyond. This tradition journeyed from Europe to the New World with the stonemasons, although in the Americas very few have been reported. One of the buildings with masons’ marks is the Cathedral of Santo Domingo (1521–1541) in the Dominican Republic on Hispaniola Island. In this study, 28 masons’ marks were identified in 18 places inside and outside the cathedral: these included crosses, letters, geometric forms, and other symmetrical figures. All the marks are in discrete places, and most of them are difficult to find. So far, no scholars have reported stonemasons’ marks on any building in the Caribbean. In the 16th century, the knowledge of construction techniques was a secret and transmitted from builder to builder through the guild or workshop. Therefore, these patterns serve as a tool to identify builders, their place of origin, construction methods, construction phases, and construction dates, among other things. For this reason, the aim of this research is to draw attention to masons’ marks in the New World context as an aid to architectural history and archaeology, creating a database that will help to identify the masons who worked in the Americas in the 16th century, the dates of the construction phases, and the construction techniques they used.

...More
Citation URI
data.isiscb.org/p/isis/citation/CBB340558475

This citation is part of the Isis database.

Similar Citations

Article Julie K. Wesp; (2020)
Working in the City: An Historical Bioarchaeology of Activity in Urban New Spain (/p/isis/citation/CBB207371917/) unapi

Article Victor D. Thompson; Amanda D. Roberts Thompson; William H. Marquardt; Karen J. Walker; Lee A. Newsom; (2020)
Discovering San Antón de Carlos: The Sixteenth-Century Spanish Buildings and Fortifications of Mound Key, Capital of the Calusa (/p/isis/citation/CBB660664667/) unapi

Chapter Cynthia L. Otis Charlton; William J. Parry; Patricia Fournier García; Alejandro Pastrana Cruz; (2019)
Obsidian Production and Use in Central Mexico after the Spanish Invasion (/p/isis/citation/CBB724527001/) unapi

Chapter Joyce, Rosemary A.; Sheptak, Russell N.; (2019)
Hybrid Cultures: the Visibility of the European Invasion of Caribbean Honduras in the Sixteenth Century (/p/isis/citation/CBB976376984/) unapi

Book Heather Law Pezzarossi; Sheptak, Russell N.; (2019)
Indigenous persistence in the colonized Americas: material and documentary perspectives on entanglement (/p/isis/citation/CBB197302697/) unapi

Chapter Alberto Sarcina; (2019)
Santa María de la Antigua del Darién: the Aftermath of Colonial Settlement (/p/isis/citation/CBB960739614/) unapi

Article M. Florencia Arias; Mariana Mondini; M. Alejandra Korstanje; (2023)
An Early Hispanic-Indigenous Contact Event at the Los Viscos Archaeological Site in the South-Central Andes: A Zooarchaeological Perspective (/p/isis/citation/CBB153257824/) unapi

Article Marta Amelia Timmons; Kelly J. Dixon; (2011)
Coloma Mining District: Gold Mining and Community in Western Montana's Garnet Range (/p/isis/citation/CBB580183452/) unapi

Book Krysta Ryzewski; (2022)
Detroit remains : Archaeology and community histories of six legendary places (/p/isis/citation/CBB218937119/) unapi

Chapter Nassaney, Michael S.; Erika K. Hartley; (2019)
Architectural Remains at Fort St. Joseph (/p/isis/citation/CBB213030847/) unapi

Article Isabella Shaw; Martin J. Jones; James L. Flexner; Stuart Bedford; (2022)
Prefabrication, Patrilineality, and Intergenerational Reuse: The Ruined Third Church of Aniwa, Southern Vanuatu, and its Integration into Domestic Architecture (/p/isis/citation/CBB574453505/) unapi

Article Alicia B. Valentino; (2009)
Using Maps to Aid Our Understanding of a Site's History (/p/isis/citation/CBB881913691/) unapi

Article Alyssa Rose Scott; (2023)
Archaeology, Disability, Healthcare, and the Weimar Joint Sanatorium for Tuberculosis (/p/isis/citation/CBB615254501/) unapi

Chapter Maxine Oland; (2019)
Epilogue Situating Colonial Interaction and Materials: Scale, Context, Theory (/p/isis/citation/CBB800655004/) unapi

Chapter Alexander, Rani T.; (2019)
Technology and Tradition after the Spanish Invasion: An Introduction (/p/isis/citation/CBB963677814/) unapi

Chapter Krista L. Eschbach; (2019)
Ceramic Technology in Afromestizo Neighborhoods of the Colonial Port of Veracruz, Mexico (/p/isis/citation/CBB403455949/) unapi

Chapter Elizabeth Konwest; Stacie M. King; (2019)
New Materials--New Technologies? Postclassic and Early Colonial Technological Transitions in the Nejapa Region of Oaxaca, Mexico (/p/isis/citation/CBB274368818/) unapi

Article Judith A. Bense; (2023)
Ceramic Figurines in Spanish West Florida (/p/isis/citation/CBB112143369/) unapi

Authors & Contributors
Sheptak, Russell N.
Flexner, James L.
Joyce, Rosemary A.
Nassaney, Michael S.
Ryzewski, Krysta
Alexander, Rani T.
Journals
International Journal of Historical Archaeology
Historical Archaeology
IA. The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology
Publishers
Brill
University of New Mexico Press
The University of Alabama Press
University Press of Florida
Concepts
Historical archaeology
Spain, colonies
Cross-cultural interaction; cultural influence
Buildings
Material culture
Excavations (archaeology)
Time Periods
16th century
17th century
18th century
20th century
15th century
19th century
Places
Mexico
Florida (U.S.)
Mesoamerica
California (U.S.)
Montana (U.S.)
New York (U.S.)
Institutions
Jesuits (Society of Jesus)
West Point Foundry
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment