The website was designed to encourage serendipitous exploration of the data but there are routes that particular user groups might wish to take. Those working in an academic environment can use the website to answer particular research questions via the Advanced Search facility.
Here you can construct increasingly complex queries by adding filters based on the main entities. Where appropriate you can 'Match all' in your search, 'Match any' or even 'Exclude' particular criteria. This allows you to interrogate the data in a very precise fashion. For example, you can search for images of the tooth chisel but no the flat chisel as it is used in Italy but not in Rome.
As a guide, your query is translated into plain text automatically.
It is possible to create a collection from each search in the Workplace. These collections, however they are assembled, can be shared between researchers or between teachers and students, as a class exercise for example.
New research content can be found in the Essays. These have been written specially by the Project Team and cover various topics related to stoneworking. They will, in due course, be supplemented by the papers from our two conferences.
For researchers or students who are less familiar with the stone carving there are a set of Videos including interviews with Peter Rockwell on different core subjects and practical demonstrations by Andy Tanser of stone carving in action. These are intended to bring to life the physical process of making.
In combination with the detailed descriptions the resource might also be useful to those working in the field, as archaeologists, or in museums, as curators, because it can help to identify visually the different types of marks that appear on stone objects and to associate them with particular working practices.
As academics ourselves, these are some of the different ways we have been using the resource so far. We are very interested in the different ways you might use it so please send us your feedback.