Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
readily accepted that, when ef orts were made a century ago to explain the origin of
the classical Greek Megaron Temple (a ridge roofed structure) the popular theory
was that the form was originally of wooden construction and was brought into
Greece by migration of people from Northern Europe (Dorians etc.). If nothing
else such speculations show a fond desire to make a coherent story out of building
construction in the Ancient World.
Megalithic Construction
h e next item is the most inexplicable and the most striking in the record of
ancient building construction. It emerged during the latter part of the 5th mil-
lennium BC at the extreme western margin of the Ancient World. h e buildings
concerned were all monumental ones, and had no connection whatever with the
domestic building construction of the community. h ey took the form of large
unhewn stones/detached slabs of rock set up as standing stones forming avenues
or circles (menhirs); or they were capped by other slabs so as to form chambers
or galleries constituting artii cial caves heaped over with earth (dolmens). h e
full range of their functions is not yet determined. h ey were jointly or severally
communal graves, temples, time and/or space markers etc.
h e engineering of these ponderous constructions was a wonder—it is doubtful
that any more economic or ei cient procedures would have been available before
the Industrial Revolution. h e capacities of those in charge answer to the demands
of Vitruvius, and they deserve to rank with the famous early 19th century engineers
of genius. Who were they? Were they of a single dei nable origin? Freemasons? A
caste? Preachers of sermons in stones? With Megalithic Building it is particularly
apparent how episodic is present understanding of the story of ancient building
construction. No convincing source for megalithic building has been determined
and no detailed study has been made of its inl uence on later building construction,
e.g. on large block Egyptian (Pharaonic) Masonry or on Cyclopean Masonry.
Finely Dressed Large Block Stone Masonry
h e introduction of large block monumental stone building in Egypt, sometimes
referred to as Pharaonic masonry, is another item of prime importance in the
history of ancient building construction. h is manner of building replaced the
small block “facing” construction of the funerary complex of Zoser (ca 2650 BC)
to become immediately the characteristic building style of the Pyramid Age and
