Cyclopean masonry

Current definitions

The walls are usually founded in extremely shallow beddings carved out of the bedrock. "Cyclopean", the term normally applied to the masonry style characteristic of Mycenaean fortification systems, describes walls built of huge, unworked limestone boulders which are roughly fitted together. Between these boulders, smaller chunks of limestone fill the interstices. The exterior faces of the large boulders may be roughly hammer-dressed, but the boulders themselves are never carefully cut blocks. Very large boulders are typical of the Mycenaean walls at Mycenae, Tiryns, Argos, Krisa (in Phocis), and the Acropolis of Athens. Somewhat smaller boulders occur in the walls of Midea, whereas large limestone slabs are characteristic of the walls at Gla. Cut stone masonry is used only in and around gateways, conglomerate at Mycenae and Tiryns and perhaps both conglomerate and limestone at Argos.

Outdated definitions of the Cyclopean style

Harry Thurston Peck, writing in 1898, divided Cyclopean masonry into four categories or styles: ::{| |- ! 1
| [[File:Stone wall, Co Cork.jpg|thumb|200px|Stone wall, Ireland]] |- ! 2
| [[File:Fouilles de Delphes (1902) (14792888433).jpg|thumb|200px|A polygonal wall, excavated at [[Delphi]] in 1902]] |- ! 3
| [[File:The Lion Gate on 26 March 2019.jpg|thumb|200px|The [[Lion Gate]], at [[Mycenae]], with equal-height courses of unequal-width stones]] |- ! 4
| [[File:Ramnous005.JPG|thumb|200px|Walls at [[Ramnous]], [[Attica]]; some are made of rectangular, but irregular stones (mix of types 1 and 4)]] |}

While Peck's first and possibly second and third styles conform to what archaeologists today would classify as cyclopean, the fourth now is referred to as ashlar and is not considered cyclopean. There is a more detailed description of the Cyclopean styles at the Perseus Project.

Historical accounts

Pausanias described the Cyclopean walls of Mycenae and Tiryns:

Modern archaeologists use "Cyclopean" in a more restricted sense than the description by Pausanias; while Pausanias attributes all of the fortifications of Tiryns and Mycenae, including the Lion Gate, to the Cyclopes, only parts of these walls are built in Cyclopean masonry. The accompanying photograph shows the difference between Cyclopean masonry (shown in the blue rectangle), and the ashlar masonry of the Lion Gate.

Locations of structures

In Cyprus, the Kition archaeological site in present-day Larnaca, has revealed cyclopean walls. Additionally, Nitovikla, Enkomi and Maa Paleokastro use Cyclopean masonry.

In Italy, polygonal masonry is particularly indicative of the region of Latium; scholars including Giuseppe Lugli have carried out studies of the technique. Some notable sites that have fortification walls built in this technique include Norba, Signia, Alatri, Boiano, Circeo, Cosa, Alba Fucens, Palestrina, Terracina and Santa Severa. One of the largest and least known is the "acropolis" in Alatri, an hour south of Rome. It also seems to have a portal through which the summer solstice sun shines and some think it is also has a number of other astronomical significant points to it. It is thought to be the second largest in Europe, after Athens. In Sicily, there are many Cyclopean structures especially in Erice, in the western part of the island. The Nuraghe of Bronze Age Sardinia also are described as being constructed in cyclopean masonry, as are some of the constructions of the Talaiot culture abounding on Menorca and present to a lesser extent on Mallorca.

References

References

1. Fletcher, Banister. (1905). "A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method".
2. Pliny, ''Hist. Nat.''vii.56.195 : ''turres, ut Aristoteles, Cyclopes [invenerunt]''.
3. "Dartmouth.edu Prehistoric Greece site".
4. Harry Thurston Peck, ''Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities'', 1898.
5. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/image?lookup=1999.04.0062.fig00452 Section of the Treasury of Atreus at Mycenae]
6. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0062:id=cyclopes-harpers Cyclōpes] at the [[Perseus Project]]
7. (1996). "Urbano biće Bosne i Hercegovine". Međunarodni centar za mir, Institut za istoriju.
8. "The natural and architectural ensemble of Stolac".
9. Neer, Richard. (2012). "Greek Art and Archaeology". Thames and Hudson.
10. Karageorghis, Vassos. (2002). "Early Cyprus: crossroads of the Mediterranean". The J. Paul Getty Museum.
11. Georgiou, Artemis. (2011). "The settlement histories of Cyprus at the opening of the twelfth century BC". Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes.
12. [[Tenney Frank. Frank, T.]] 1924. "Roman buildings of the Republic: an attempt to date them from their materials." ''MAAR'' 3.
13. Giuseppe Lugli. (1957). "La Tecnica Edilizia Romana Con Particolare Riguardo a Roma E Lazio: Testo. 1". Johnson Reprint.
14. "Phoenician Walls of Erice".