Re: Mycenaean baked clay bricks

On Feb 5, 11:30 am, "Day Brown" <daybr...@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Feb 3, 3:24 pm, "Jack Linthicum" <jacklinthi...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:



o8TY wrote:
"Agamemnon" <agamem...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:XaudnZMKScjFAF_YRVnytAA@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Did the Mycenaean's or Minoan use baked clay bricks for building with and
if
so when do the earliest examples date to?

Except for roof tiles and minor architectural fixtures, such as plaques, as
well as pottery and other ceramics, I have not seen any evidence of the
Mycenaeans or MInoans having fired clay to make bricks, although they may
have intentionally fired constructions, such as walls, made of rammed earth.
Instead, they had abundant and diverse rock and loose stone, and the tools,
techniques and will to utilise this material.

A reread of every one of my books that mention Minoan architecture the
bricks are typlified as "sun baked". They also seem to have been very
thin, as bricks go.

Well, you could *look* at the photos of the houses at Akrotiri. What I
have seen, is not brickwork, but timber frame construction with some
kind of plaster, rock, mud, or whatever fill between the timber
framing. Which kinda supports the idea that they decended from the
Cucuteni. The photos I've seen also includ earthquake damage. Simple
brick would have collapsed. Timber frame is much more resistant to
collapse, and we see some of the houses still standing two or even
three stories tall despite the enormous earthquake that preceded the
eruption.

I spoze they did do some brickwork, but dont spoze they slept in
houses made of it. I would not. Nor would anyone else of any sense
familiar with the tectonic activity of the region.


http://www.therafoundation.org/articles/architecture/architecturaldesignatlatecycladicakrotiri

One more is the mud-brick partition wall, which plays an important
role in the upper levels since it can be incorporated at any point;
being of a light construction its loads can be transferred by the
floor beams and being quite thin it takes very little space
arrangement some of which are based on highly sophisticated and
intricate constructions. One such case is the staircase of Xeste 3
where the north rubble wall of the upper floor is carried at the
ground floor level by horizontal beams that transfer the loads to an
adjacent series of vertical wooden supports (Fig. 9).

http://www.szirine.com/2003/10/02/akrotiri-the-buried-pre-historic-city/

The people of this city were building their houses with stones of
volcanic origin, big and small, or of cut blocks of volcanic stones.
They were strengthening their constructions against earthquakes with
wooden beams and they were placing schist flagstones in some of their
floors or beaten earth, while they were covering their streets with
cobblestones. Within the houses, we see still today the prints of
wooden shelves, clay partition walls, built constructions of brick,
even cupboards.

http://arch.ced.berkeley.edu/courses/arch170/past/F2002/09-17-02_text.html

KNOSSOS. The myths of Daedalus, the Labyrinth, Theseus and the
Minotaur.

The "Palace of Minos," Knossos, Crete. Built in many stages, beginning
ca. 2000 BCE. Destroyed ca. 1380 BCE. Note: stone and mud-brick-with
frame construction, north-south orientation, approaches, "inside-out"
planning around central court, west court, theater area, magazines,
Throne Room, Hall of the Double Axes, ceremonial facade, queen's
apartment, frescoes. Qualities of procession and movement. The double
axes (labrys). The bull sport.

PYLOS
The Mycenanean palace. A civil and military installation. Economic and
administrative role. The "Palace of Nestor" at Pylos [ca. 1300 BCE;
burned ca. 1200 BCE]. Note: 3 blocks, rubble stone foundation, mud
brick and rubble stone in wooden frame for upper walls, architectural
elements derived from Minoans, decoration, courtyard and megaron

At least two places in Thera , The Pompeii of the Ancient Aegean by
Christos Doumas, one of the excavators of Akrotiri: "Internal
partition walls were built of stone and clay mortar or of lighter
materials,...or large thin sun dried mud bricks (in fact mud slabs)
prepared with the addition of chaff as a filler." and "The upper story
of Beta 1 was divided in two by a partition wall of sun dried bricks
running north and south"

look at the top floors of this building:

http://www.ou.edu/finearts/art/ahi4913/aegeanslides/akrotir3.jpg

.

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