Dry stone
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Dry stone, sometimes called drystack or, in Scotland, drystane, is a building method by which structures are constructed from stones without any mortar to bind them together.[1] A certain amount of binding is obtained through the use of carefully selected interlocking stones.
Dry stone construction is best known in the context of
The art of dry stone walling was inscribed in 2018 on the UNESCO representative list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity, for dry stone walls in countries such as France, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Switzerland and Spain.[2]
History
Some dry stone wall constructions in north-west Europe have been dated back to the Neolithic Age. In County Mayo, Ireland, an entire field system made from dry stone walls, since covered in peat, has been carbon-dated to 3800 BC.[3]
The cyclopean walls of the acropolis of Mycenae, Greece, have been dated to 1350 BC and those of Tiryns slightly earlier.[4] Similar example is Daorson, in Bosnia,[5] built around a prehistoric central fortified settlement or acropolis (existed there cca. 17-16th to the end of the Bronze Age, cca. 9-8th c. BCE), and surrounded by cyclopean walls (similar to Mycenae) dated to the 4th c. BCE.[6][7]
In Belize, the Mayan ruins at Lubaantun illustrate use of dry stone construction in architecture of the 8th and 9th centuries AD.[8]
Great Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe, Africa, is an acropolis-like large city complex constructed in dry stone from the 11th to the 15th centuries AD.[9] It is the largest of structures of similar construction throughout the area.[9]
Location and terminology
In the
Similar walls also are found in the Swiss–Italian border region, where they are often used to enclose the open space under large natural boulders or outcrops.
The higher-lying rock-rich fields and pastures in
The dry stone walling tradition of Croatia was added to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in November 2018, alongside those of Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland.[2] In Croatia, dry stone walls (suhozidi) were built for a variety of reasons: to clear the earth of stone for crops; to delineate land ownership; or for shelter against the bora wind. Some walls date back to the Liburnian era. Notable examples include the island of Baljenac, which has 23 kilometres (14 mi) of dry stone walls despite being only 14 hectares (35 acres) in area, and the vineyards of Primošten.[13]
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"Cabane de Malais" at Souvignargues, Gard, France
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Dry stone hut at Vers-Pont-du-Gard, Gard, France
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Dry stone hut at Vitrac, Dordogne, France
In
Construction
Dry stone walls can be built against embankments or even vertical terraces. If they are subjected to lateral earth pressure, they are retaining walls of the type gravity wall. The weight of the stones resists the pressure from the retained soil, including any surcharges, and the friction between the stones causes most of them to act as if they were a monolithic gravity wall of the same weight. Dry stone retaining walls were once built in great numbers for agricultural terracing and also to carry paths, roads and railways. Although dry stone is seldom used for these purposes today, a great many are still in use and maintained. New ones are often built in gardens and nature conservation areas. Dry stone retaining structures continue to be a subject of research.[16]
In northeastern
In Great Britain, Ireland, France and Switzerland, it is possible to find small dry stone structures built as signs, marking mountain paths or boundaries of owned land. In many countries, cairns, as they are called in Scotland, are used as road and mountaintop markers.
Gallery
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Dry stone wall with window in Bignasco, Switzerland (Swiss-Italian part)
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Adding a dry stone wall to convert the space under a large rock into a functional building near Bignasco, Switzerland
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A stone terrace created using dry stack techniques in North Carolina
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Intihuatana ritual buildings of dry stone at Machu Picchu, Peru
See also
- Anathyrosis (Greece)
- Broch (Scotland)
- Building material
- Cabanes du Breuil (France)
- Dry stone hut
- Great Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe)
- Machu Picchu (Peru)
- Mending Wall (US)
- Nuraghe (Sardegna)
- Stone industry
- Stora Alvaret (Sweden)
- Trullo (Italy)
- Village des Bories (France)
References
- ISBN 0-207-15007-9.
- ^ a b "Art of dry stone walling, knowledge and techniques". UNESCO. 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
- ^ "The Céide Fields - Mayo's Stone Age monument wonder". IrishCentral.com. 8 August 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
- ^ "Cyclopean | FactMonster". www.factmonster.com. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
- ISSN 2232-9080. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
- ^ Seka Brkljača (1996). Urbano biće Bosne i Hercegovine (in Serbo-Croatian). Sarajevo: Međunarodni centar za mir, Institut za istoriju. p. 27. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
- ^ "The natural and architectural ensemble of Stolac". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
- ^ "Time Travel Turtle - The Crystal Skull of Belize". 21 June 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
- ^ ISSN 0003-598X.
- ^ Shire of Melton Dry Stone Walls Study, Volume 1 - The Report, August 2011
- ^ "A dry stone wall built by Tom Newing in the Kiama region [picture]". Trove. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
- ^ "Historic Dry Stone Walls Kiama". The Fold Illawarra. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
- ^ "A country so gorgeous even its stone walls are works of art". Croatia feeds. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
- ^ Thompson, Adam (September 2006). "The Character of a Wall. The changing construction of agricultural walls on the island of Gozo" (PDF). Journal of Applied Anthropology. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
- ^ "Dry stone walling glossary". The Conservation Volunteers. See entries for "Cripple hole" and "Smoot". Retrieved 15 February 2019.
- ^ "An experimental and analytical study of dry-stone retaining walls". UK Research and Innovation. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
- ^ Chittick, Neville (1975). An Archaeological Reconnaissance of the Horn: The British-Somali Expedition. pp. 117–133.
Further reading
- Colonel F. Rainsford-Hannay, Dry Stone Walling, Faber & Faber. 1957
- Alan Brooks and Sean Adcock, Dry Stone Walling, a practical handbook, TCV. 2013 ISBN 0946752192
- Carolyn Murray-Wooley & Karl Raitz, Rock Fences of the Bluegrass, University Press of Kentucky. 1992.
- The Dry Stone Walling Association, Dry Stone Walling, Techniques and Traditions. 2004
- Louis Cagin & Laetitia Nicolas, Construire en pierre sèche, éditions Eyrolles. 2008
- Patrick McAfee, Irish Stone Walls: History, Building, Conservation, The O'Brien Press. 2011
- Alen MacWeeney (photog.) & Richard Conniff, The Stone Walls of Ireland. London: Thames & Hudson, 1986 ISBN 9780711213722; New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1986
External links
- How to build a dry stone wall
- Dry Stone Walling Association of Canada
- Dry Stone Walls Association of Australia
- The Dry Stone Wall Association of Ireland
- Dry Stone Walling Association of Great Britain
- Current Archaeology notes on Working Holidays repairing dry stone walls
- The Drystone Conservancy, US
- Project Alpter, Terraced Landscapes of the Alpine Arc, a network of associations in Western Europe