lifting boss

{{short description|Knob left on stones by masons for levering or lifting}}

{{distinguish|Bossage|text=bossage, a blocked out section for later carving}}

Lifting bosses or handling bosses are protrusions intentionally left on stones by masons to facilitate maneuvering the blocks with ropes and levers.{{Cite book |last=Arnold |first=Dieter |title=Building in Egypt: Pharaonic Stone Masonry |year=1991 |isbn=9780195113747 |pages=132–141 |chapter=Bosses |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/buildinginegyptp00unse/page/132/}}{{Cite book |last=Stocks |first=Denys A. |url=https://archive.org/details/ExperimentsInEgyptianArchaeologyStoneworkingTechnologyInAncientEgyptDenysA.StocksRoutledge2003/page/n225/ |title=Experiments in Egyptian archaeology - Stoneworking technology in Ancient Egypt |year=2003 |pages=193}}

They are an important feature of ancient and classical construction, and were often not cut away, despite having fulfilled their purpose. Sometimes this was the result of a cost-saving measure or a construction halt. Other times bosses were left as a stylistic element, and even if dressed back, a remnant of them was kept to make their existence obvious.{{Cite book |last1=Devolder |first1=Maud |title=Ashlar: Exploring the Materiality of Cut-Stone Masonry in the Eastern Mediterranean Bronze Age |last2=Kreimerman |first2=Igor |year=2020 |isbn=9782875589644 |pages=313}}

File:Segesta BW 2012-10-10 17-15-12.JPG|Lifting bosses of the crepidoma (base) of the Segesta temple, Sicily

File:Cusco_Piedra_de_los_doce_angulos.jpg|Levering bosses left on Inca walls of Cusco, Peru

File:Propylées_Acropole_-_Athènes_(GRA1)_-_2022-03-26_-_18_(bosses).jpg|Bosses on the Propylaia (Acropolis of Athens)