Earthen architecture in Bronze Age Crete: from raw materials to construction
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Date
27/11/2017Item status
Restricted AccessEmbargo end date
27/11/2022Author
Lorenzon, Marta
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Abstract
Earthen architecture is a widespread phenomenon, both in the
present day and the past. It is one of the most impressive expressions of
the human ability to create a unique built environment from modest
natural resources. Archaeological research has shown that mud brick
manufacturing techniques can inform on community practices in
relation to architecture. New geoarchaeological and microarchaeological
approaches provide information on the source of raw materials in
conjunction with the mode of manufacture and construction. The aim
of this study is to investigate Minoan earthen architecture using mud
bricks as an integral part of material culture in order to reconstruct the
technological process of mud brick manufacture and to provide fresh
insights about architectural craft specialisation in Bronze Age Crete. In
order to fulfil this goal, more than 10,000 mud bricks are studied both
macroscopically, by investigating broad trends in manufacture and
construction form, and microscopically, by considering the finer details
of raw material procurement and building performance through XRF,
XRD and thin section petrography.
This research places the geoarchaeological analysis of mud brick
architecture within a specific multidisciplinary theoretical framework
that combines archaeological data, architectural analysis and
ethnoarchaeology. The analyses clarify how raw materials were selected
and used within and between buildings. They also shed light on
broader temporal changes, such as increasing technological
sophistication, the type of labour force, if centrally organised or
household based, and its impact on architecture. Earthen building
forms and materials are the result of assimilation between the natural
and built environment. Therefore the exploitation of specific raw
materials sheds light on community strategies of adaptation to natural
resources and their transformation into material culture. Research
results indicate that mud brick manufacture was a standardised activity
during the Minoan period with evidence of craft specialisation in raw
source material selection, production and construction.