Polygonal_masonry Knowpia

Polygonal masonry consists of stones that have five or more face angles, in contrast to Ashlar blocks which have four rectangular ones.^[1]

In Greece, Cyclopean masonry was the first type of polygonal masonry.^[2] To fit the stones properly to each other, masons would utilize strips of lead to form templates of the already laid blocks, which were then used to shape the to-be-adjoined ones.^[3]

Sites

Easter Island

Ahu Vinapú

Ahu Vinapu

Finland

A part of the wall of the Bomarsund Fortress

Bomarsund Fortress

Greece

Section of polygonal wall at Delphi

Italy

In Italy, polygonal masonry is particularly indicative of the region of Latium, but it occurs also in Etruria, Lucania, Samnium, and Umbria; scholars including Giuseppe Lugli have carried out studies of the technique.^[4]^[5] Some notable sites that have fortification walls built in this technique include Norba, Signia, Alatri, Boiano, Circeo, Cosa, Alba Fucens, Palestrina, and Terracina.^[6] The Porta Rosa of the ancient city of Velia employs a variant of the technique known as Lesbian masonry.^[1]

Japan

Shuri Castle, Naha

Latvia

Daugavpils Fortress

Daugavpils

Malta

Peru

Sacsayhuamán, Cusco, Perú

Pumacocha Archaeological site

References

^ ^a ^b G.R.H. Wright (23 November 2009). Ancient Building Technology, Volume 3: Construction (2 Vols). BRILL. pp. 154–. ISBN 90-04-17745-0.
^ Carmelo G. Malacrino (2010). Constructing the Ancient World: Architectural Techniques of the Greeks and Romans. Getty Publications. pp. 97–. ISBN 978-1-60606-016-2.
^ Scranton, Robert L. (1941). Greek walls. Harvard University Press. p. 27. ISBN 9780598572547. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
^ Frank, T. 1924. "Roman buildings of the Republic: an attempt to date them from their materials." MAAR 3.
^ Giuseppe Lugli (1957). La Tecnica Edilizia Romana Con Particolare Riguardo a Roma E Lazio: Testo. 1. Johnson Reprint.
^ Jeffrey Alan Becker (2007). The Building Blocks of Empire: Civic Architecture, Central Italy, and the Roman Middle Republic. ProQuest. pp. 109–. ISBN 978-0-549-55847-7.