[cogitator]

Unusual quarry -- yes. Unusual mining technique -- probably not. But the characteristics of the stone may have made it nicely workable; a problem now, as the some of the blocks have to be replaced because they're eroding rather fast.

The thread on News/Activism (which is attracting more discussion than I anticipated) has some informative responses -- and I learned something, too.

News/Activism Geology Picture of the Week Nov. 9-15, 2003 thread

[Deguello]

Soap Stone just wasn't worth a crap, was it?.

Kind of like the Northern People who moved into Texas in the early 80's (1980's) and wanted to build their houses out of adobe brick. It sucked when it rained, as yes they did do this. Silly people.