Stonework is the craft of building or decorating with stone, or the stone structures and objects that result from this craft. When you see an old castle with its massive stone walls, or a carefully stacked stone fence along a country road, or the granite steps leading up to a grand building, you're looking at stonework.

Creating good stonework requires real skill. A stonemason (someone who works with stone professionally) must understand how different stones fit together, how to cut and shape them, and how to make structures that will last for generations. Ancient civilizations created remarkable stonework: the Egyptian pyramids, Roman aqueducts, and medieval cathedrals all showcase extraordinary stonework that has survived for centuries or even millennia.

Stonework can be purely functional, like a stone bridge that carries traffic, or highly decorative, like the intricate stone carvings on old churches. Some stonework uses mortar (a kind of paste) to hold stones together, while other stonework, called dry stone construction, relies entirely on careful fitting and balance. Stone walls built without mortar in Scotland and Ireland still stand after hundreds of years, a testament to the mason's understanding of weight, friction, and geometry.