Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Classical Greek building for the same long house plans found in the Bronze Age
made the question contentious (for a brief outline of the debate, v S. Jakovides,
Mycenaean Roofs
, pp. 147-160). In fact more recent archaeological i ndings (e.g.
of abundant tiles and tile fragments) together with careful re-examination of the
old evidence has resulted in general acceptance that the standard form of rooi ng
in Bronze Age (Mycenaean) Greece was a gable roof clad with terra-cotta rooi ng
tiles (Martin, i g 58, Jakovides, i g 10).
h is standard roof was of low pitch (rise to span ca 1: 5-6) with a ridge beam
supported by cross wall gables, and principal rat ers running up from timber wall
plates to the ridge beam. Between the rat ers a soi te was formed from contiguous
reeds, canes, matting etc., which in turn were plastered over by a layer of mud to
form the bedding for the terra cotta rooi ng tiles (pretty much at er the Lakonian
style of classical tiles). h us the pitch of the roof was sui ciently gentle for the
mud bedding not to creep or l ow. Jakovides observed that at intervals horizontal
beams spanned from lateral wall to lateral wall to act as ties. In this event they
required to be i rmly masoned into their seating—and, in any event, formed no
part of the roof structure. h is type of rooi ng is stated to be general for traditional
village building in modern Greece (Jakovides, i gs 11, 12).
Pitched
mud
rooi ng
in Myce-
naean
Greece
133
Classical Greece
h e historical development of the characteristic gable roof to the monumental
buildings of classical Greece is no more an obvious matter than the historical
development of the Classical Greek Temple at large. Explanations of the latter
phenomenon divide into two main streams:
(a) evolution out of earlier building construction in Greece
(b) dif usion of modes of buildings in the contemporary architecture of other
regions (e.g. Egypt).
In the instance of the gabled timber framed roof explanations by way of dif usion
do not arise, since no contemporary monumental building style incorporated a
gable roof. On the other hand classical rooi ng is certainly not a blow up in scale of
Jacovides' reconstruction of an endemic type of domestic rooi ng. h e fundamental
member of the woodwork of classical Greek roofs is the transverse horizontal beam,
which acts as the bearer of the vertical prop (post) supporting the longitudinal ridge
beam. Whereas in the Bronze Age gabled rooi ng transverse beams are explained
simply as tie beams and have no function in the rooi ng structure, where the ridge
beam runs from gable to gable and the inclined spars (the principal rat ers) from
wall plate to ridge beam.
