Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
(1) Ancient building remains (notably when buildings were abandoned incomplete)
(2) Ancient representations (e.g. decorative and commemorative reliefs)
(3) Ancient literary references and epigraphic records.
Varried
evidence
available
h e organisation and development of a major building site is a ramii ed and inter-
esting matter over all ages. It is also in practice a vital matter, for on its ei ciency
the success of the building project ultimately depends; and great sums of money
can be made or lost accordingly. At the present day major construction compa-
nies all pride themselves on the “know how” they dispose in this connection. h e
infra structure which is so signii cant in the merits of site development comprises
essentially matters of administration and economy and will not be discussed here,
but will be referred to in the succeeding volume. Here attention will be given only
to those aspects of site development which relate directly to the technology of
building construction.
A.
General Background. The Terrain
h e precise subject of discussion in this chapter is construction site development
and installations, i.e. the development and installations on a building site to provide
for the proper and ei cient erection of a building under construction. In principle
it is not the development of a selected terrain to provide the most ef ective setting
for a completed (monumental) building. However to distinguish between these
two applications at times may involve splitting hairs. h us some observations are
made concerning site development in the broadest sense.
In this connection a very trenchant matter obtrudes immediately arising from
the temporal and regional dei nition of “h e Ancient World”. Building sites in
the Ancient World are more or less equally divided into those developed on habi-
tation mounds (tells, hüyüks, teppes, koms etc.) and those which are not. As yet
no convincing explanation has been advanced to account for this distinction. h e
explanation should lie either in terms of physical geography or in terms of cultural
history. However objections can be made to either instance. In general terms in
the Middle East virtually all building sites are located on occupation mounds and
in Europe such features are virtually unknown. Yet there are clear exceptions.
Typical occupation mounds are the norm in European Bulgaria, while in Asiatic
Cyprus occupation mounds are unknown. On the other hand there are areas in
Europe with no semblance of occupation mounds yet their physical geography is
identical with areas in the Middle East where all settlement is on mounds. Equally
there are areas in the Middle East where the physical geography is akin to Europe
but settlement is on mounds. h e subject warrants penetrating and far reaching
investigation.
Presence
or
absence
of Tells
