Mudbrick constructions are extremely common in ancient western Asia, including the 1st millennium structures of the southern Caucasus and Armenian highlands. However, in the Caucasus the ...geoarchaeological study of these materials to provide insight into building practices and social structure is a topic little researched, especially when focusing on the longue durée. Artashat/Artaxata (Ararat region, Armenia) was the capital of the Armenian Kingdom of the Artaxiads, founded in the eighties of the 2nd century BC, but even before this the site was occupied in the Chalcolithic period, (ca. 5200-3500 BC), Early Iron Age (ca. 1200-900 BC) and in the Urartian period (ca. 800-600 BC) as well. All the previous occupation phases showed communities that made extensive use of earthen constructions as determined during past and recent archaeological excavations. This multidisciplinary study seeks to examine mudbrick architecture as a proxy for environmental and social interactions during the 1st millennium BC combining geoarchaeology, archaeobotany and building archaeology. We analyzed changes and continuities in architectural form and practices, alongside reconstruction of technological and social processes, to identify issues of raw material procurement, attestation of re-use, and consistency of building practices. The results of the geoarchaeological analysis of the earthen building materials used in different parts of the ancient city point to a re-use of materials over time.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Throughout prehistory, earthen architecture has played a pivotal role in establishing a sustainable and easily maintainable built environment, showcasing humanity's capacity to design and construct ...intricate structures using eco-friendly and cost-effective materials. This special issue underscores the enduring significance of earthen architecture in our historical and contemporary understanding of sustainable building practices.
Domestic architecture is an essential archaeological component for understanding past societies. As such, recent studies on house and households in Egypt have focused on analyzing vernacular ...architecture practices from the perspective of the long durée or in broader geographical perspective. In this study we investigate Roman period domestic structures to understand the changing social meanings of local and global cultures within the built environment.
Drawing on building archaeology and space syntax analysis, we discuss the application, strengths, and limitations of our approach as well as the results of the study to shed light on the relationship between people, architecture and domestic spaces in Egypt during the Roman period.
The use of mudbricks in Early Iron Age ramparts is an uneven feature of defensive architecture on the Iberian Peninsula. The use of mudbricks as a building material has been linked to the arrival of ...Levantine building traditions with the Phoenicians, and its appearance among local societies varies between the eighth and sixth centuries BC according to the public or domestic nature of the structures. In this article, we present the geoarchaeological analyses of the mudbricks used in constructing one of the defensive towers or bastions at Villares de la Encarnación (Caravaca de la Cruz, Spain). This site, endowed with two complex fortification lines and towers, is one of the main settlements for understanding the development of the Early Iron Age among the inland and mountain communities of the region. The analytical program includes wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence, CHN elemental analysis, and thin-section petrography and provides new data about soil procurement and manufacturing choices. These results highlight the technical and social complexity behind mudbrick constructions and the adoption of new earthen practices among Early Iron Age communities in order to build more imposing and elevated towers that might convey an image of the power and strength of these inland settlements.
This article illustrates how changes in the use of vegetal temper in Bronze Age earthen architecture in Crete are a key line of evidence for investigating the appearance of architectural craft ...specialization. The macroscopic study of sundried mudbricks is combined with geoarchaeological analyses (SEM and thin section petrography) to explore patterns and variations in the use of vegetal temper throughout the Pre-, Proto-, and Neopalatial periods (3650–1425 BCE).
This diversity in the selection of vegetal temper is an important aspect of the chaîne opératoire, which points not only to opportunistic but also technological motivations in the selection of raw source material and also the development of earthen architecture. The seagrass species Posidonia oceanica is employed across the island, indicating a standardization of recipes between sites by manufacturers and builders.
This contribution synthesizes the results of the Kutaisi Archaeological Landscape Project (KALP), focusing on the analysis of the development of settlement patterns in the Colchis lowlands during the ...2nd and 1st millennia b.c. The targeted excavations carried out within the urban center of Kutaisi provide new information regarding earthen architectural practices, raw material procurement, and defensive structures that characterized the area in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages. The three sites identified within the Kutaisi urban area, Gabashvili, Dateshidze, and Bagrati, are analyzed in detail to provide fresh insights on settlement structure and typology. They also present distinctive vernacular architectural traditions that make the role of Kutaisi in the region essential to understanding Late Bronze/Early Iron Age building practices, their continuity over time, and their environmental sustainability.
This contribution aims to use social history and social theory to investigate political power and compliance with authority in ancient Western Asia, through the case study of Neo-Assyrian imperial ...building projects. Our first aim is to discuss the realities of construction work in the Neo-Assyrian Empire, focusing on the building process both through literary sources and archaeological data. Our second goal is to understand the role played by these building sites in the strengthening of local and supra-local political orders, in the consolidation of social group boundaries, and in the construction of political subjectivities of the ancient social actors involved. Our reflection sheds light on the new interpretative possibilities – and challenges – that integrating social theories, archaeological work, and language technology may create.
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