Masons' Marks

by

Wallace McLeod

(1931 - 2020)

One of the main symbols of the degree of Mark Master is the mason’s mark. It is a type of identifying device that goes back long before the invention of writing. In many societies a craftsman would set his mark on his handiwork to identify it as his production; this was done not just by stonecutters, but also by other artisans, such as pottery makers. Thirty-five years ago I had the opportunity to do some archeological work in Greece, and I can testify that potters 5000 years ago, in the Late Stone Age, used to put marks on the vessels they had cast. This is more than a thousand years before real writing reached that part of the world.

It doesn’t seem likely that such marks were actually on building stones until considerably later, and probably not at the time of King Solomon’s Temple. But if you look at the great stone-built cathedrals of Europe, you will find that many of the individual stones do have marks inscribed on them. They are usually simple, being composed of straight lines, and sometimes including squares, angles, and triangles. These are masons’ marks.