Abstract
This study attempts to demonstrate how Greek builders exploited their geological environment during the Archaic to Hellenistic periods. Four major sites in the eastern part of the Gulf of Corinth are compared: the old city of Corinth, the sanctuary of Poseidon at Isthmia, ancient Sikyon and the Heraeum at Perachora. Ancient builders utilised primary topographic features and natural resources to their advantage, thus reducing costs. They preferred local low-density stones sourced from the more recent Corinth syn-rift deposits (calcarenite, oolitic grainstone, sandstones, stromatolites and conglomerates), rather than the pre-rift Mesozoic carbonates. These local stones represent more than 90% of the volume employed for public construction. Greek builders also imported allochthonous high-porosity limestones for their temples. Hard stones, such as marbles, do not appear to have been attractive to ancient builders at any of the studied sites.
Highlights
High-quality building stone can be regarded as a valuable factor essential for proper urban development and could have dictated the choices made by ancient builders: the need to import specific stones, the position of an edifice relative to the topography and the adaptation of construction and architecture to the specific properties of local stone
The economic criterion seems to dominate the choice of building material: local stones require no transport, and blocks produced by earthworks can be used directly in construction
We presented in this paper a large-scale study of four Archaic to Hellenistic Greek sites within their geological environment, the eastern part of the Gulf of Corinth
Summary
The study of archaeological sites in their geological context is important to understand their urban development. Water sources are considered the primary limiting factor in the founding of cities [Crouch, 2004, 1993], alongside agricultural potential and strategic positioning for defence, access and trade, rather than stone resources. Local geology has inherent consequences for the raw materials available for construction throughout the history of a site. High-quality building stone can be regarded as a valuable factor essential for proper urban development and could have dictated the choices made by ancient builders: the need to import specific stones, the position of an edifice relative to the topography and the adaptation of construction and architecture to the specific properties of local stone. It has been observed that building material diversity captures geological resource diversity, and ISSN (electronic) : 1778-7025 https://comptes- rendus.academie- sciences.fr/geoscience/
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