Polygonal masonry

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The twelve-angled stone, Hatunrumiyoc street, Cusco, Peru Cusco Piedra de los doce angulos.jpg
The twelve-angled stone, Hatunrumiyoc street, Cusco, Peru

Polygonal masonry consists of stones that have five or more face angles, in contrast to ashlar blocks which have four rectangular ones. [1]

Contents

In Greece, Cyclopean masonry was the first type of polygonal masonry. [2] To fit the stones properly to each other, masons would utilize strips of lead to form templates of the already laid blocks, which were then used to shape the to-be-adjoined ones. [3]

Sites

Easter Island

Ahu Vinapu, on Easter Island Ahuvinapu.jpg
Ahu Vinapu, on Easter Island

Finland

A part of the wall of the Bomarsund Fortress, Finland Bomarsund 3.jpg
A part of the wall of the Bomarsund Fortress, Finland

Greece

Section of polygonal wall at Delphi, Greece Section of Polygonal Wall at Delphi.jpg
Section of polygonal wall at Delphi, Greece

Italy

In Italy, polygonal masonry is particularly indicative of the region of Latium, but it occurs also in Etruria, Lucania, Samnium, and Umbria; scholars including Giuseppe Lugli have carried out studies of the technique. [4] [5] Some notable sites that have fortification walls built in this technique include Norba, Signia, Alatri, Boiano, Circeo, Cosa, Alba Fucens, Palestrina, and Terracina. [6] The Porta Rosa of the ancient city of Velia employs a variant of the technique known as Lesbian masonry. [1]

Japan

Shuri Castle, Naha, Japan Naha Shuri Castle50s3s4500.jpg
Shuri Castle, Naha, Japan

Latvia

Daugavpils Fortress, Latvia Nikolaja varti. Areja fasade.JPG
Daugavpils Fortress, Latvia

Malta

Peru

Sacsayhuaman, Cusco, Peru Sacsayhuaman, Cusco, Peru, 2015-07-31, DD 27.JPG
Sacsayhuamán, Cusco, Perú
Pumacocha Archaeological site, Peru Pumacocha Archaeological site - wall.jpg
Pumacocha Archaeological site, Peru

Portugal

Russia

Spain

Turkey

United Arab Emirates

References

  1. 1 2 G.R.H. Wright (23 November 2009). Ancient Building Technology, Volume 3: Construction (2 Vols). BRILL. pp. 154–. ISBN   90-04-17745-0.
  2. ↑ Carmelo G. Malacrino (2010). Constructing the Ancient World: Architectural Techniques of the Greeks and Romans. Getty Publications. pp. 97–. ISBN   978-1-60606-016-2.
  3. ↑ Scranton, Robert L. (1941). Greek walls. Harvard University Press. p. 27. ISBN   9780598572547.{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  4. ↑ Frank, T. 1924. "Roman buildings of the Republic: an attempt to date them from their materials." MAAR 3.
  5. ↑ Giuseppe Lugli (1957). La Tecnica Edilizia Romana Con Particolare Riguardo a Roma E Lazio: Testo. 1. Johnson Reprint.
  6. ↑ Jeffrey Alan Becker (2007). The Building Blocks of Empire: Civic Architecture, Central Italy, and the Roman Middle Republic. ProQuest. pp. 109–. ISBN   978-0-549-55847-7.
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