Dry-stone waller's tools (eines de marger) — Traditional Mallorcan object

What is

The marger tool kit, the one that builds margins (terrace walls) and dry stone walls, without mortar. Few pieces, almost all made of wrought iron and wooden handles. They are used for three things: moving the stone, breaking or grinding it and checking the line of the wall.

How is

Maça / pot — heavy hammer / small and robust hammer (DCVB: the pot is «eina semblant a un martell petit i robust»). Taps, seats and removes burrs.
Escoda (in oral Majorcan, escodra) — large hammer with a point or edge on each head, to chop and roughen the stone.
Picassa — in Mallorca, very thick and heavy hammer for breaking stone (cast. sledgehammer). DCVB: «A game ab parpals y picasses ja peguen a ses roques» (Alcover).
Perpal / parpal — solid iron (or wood) bar for leveraging and moving large stones. From Latin ferri palu, "iron stick."
Corda i plom — string laid for the line of each course and plumb line for the inclination.
Cove or senalla — basket to carry small stone and gravel; cart for thick stone (according to the job description).
Measurements and weights: there is no verified standard (please verify with a margin).

How is fa

The iron tools were forged by the town ferrer. Today they are still made by hand by Eines Mallorquines (Sineu) : "stone crusher and edge martell", caveg, replacement handles and repairs.
Local wood handles (wild olive, oak, per verify) that the margin itself changes.
See the anvil and the forge at enclusa-i-manxa .

Com s'usa

The base is dug to firm ground, large stones are chosen for the first course.
The perpal brings and places the heavy stones without lifting them.
The maça or the picassa breaks the stone; the hide adjusts it.
Corda i plumm mark line and slope: the face slopes towards the earth it contains.
The gravel fills the interior (rebliment) and allows the water to drain. The buried part of the marge is called caixa del marge (DCVB, Mall.).
Year-round work; New construction and repair are concentrated outside the heat (per verify).

Vocabulary

marger: man who makes margins or dry walls (DCVB, Barc. and Mall.).
marge: retaining wall that creates a terrace.
maceta: small and robust hammer.
escoda / escodra: stone breaking hammer with two points; escodra is the Mallorcan form.
picassa: in Mallorca, sledgehammer for cutting stone.
perpal / parpal: pry bar.
plom: plumb line: lead tied to a string to check verticality.
rebliment: filled with small stone.
caixa del marge: part of the margin that goes inside the foundations (DCVB, Mall.).
feixa: terrace that supports the margin.

History

1388: "Duos parpals ferri" in a document published in the BSAL (DCVB, sv parpal).
1417: "dues escodes e dos pichs de ferro per lo molí", BSAL document (DCVB, sv escoda).
1555: use of the escoda in a work by Sóller, cited in the Història de Sóller (DCVB).
2011: the Serra de Tramuntana, World Heritage as a cultural landscape.
2018: UNESCO inscribes the art of stone in sec (multinational candidacy).
2024: the Consell trains 55 people in one year; 24 at the Escola de Margers de Raixa (Última Hora, 2025).

On veure'n

Escola de Margers de Raixa (Bunyola) and school works of the Consell (Galatzó, So n'Amer).
Museu de Mallorca, Etnològica Section (Wall) : field tools (marger section not confirmed).
In the mountains: the Pedra en Sec Route (GR 221) and the marjades .

Why is it design

Minimum kit: five tools are enough to build kilometers of landscape. Without machines or cement.
Lever before force: the perpal moves what a man does not lift.
Local material: the stone comes from the same field that is broken.
Repairable: wrought iron that the ferrer highlights and handle that is changed; The wall is also repaired stone by stone.

For the project

Piece: reissue the margin kit with Eines Mallorquines (forge) and olive tree handles; expose it next to a stretch of margin.
Workshop: initiation in Raixa with the Gremi de Margers / Escola de Margers .
Trade: pedra-en-sec · ferro-forjat . Sister tool: eines-de-picapedrer .

Frequently asked questions

What is Dry-stone waller's tools (eines de marger)?

The marger tool kit, the one that builds margins (terrace walls) and dry stone walls, without mortar. Few pieces, almost all made of wrought iron and wooden…

What are the traditional words for Dry-stone waller's tools (eines de marger)?

Some words: caixa del marge, escoda / escodra, feixa, maceta, marge, marger, perpal / parpal, picassa.

Sources

Working text from the Disseny Indígena knowledge base, machine-translated from Spanish.

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