Masonry and Stones

[Type here] BOHOL ISLAND STATE UNIVERSITY
Main Campus
Instruction Office
Vision: A premier Science and Technology university for the formation of world class and virtuous human resource for
sustainable development in Bohol and the country.
Mission: BISU is committed to provide quality higher education in the arts and sciences, as well as in the professional and
technological fields; undertake research and development and extension services for the sustainable development of Bohol
and the country.
Name of Student: Jhun Mark Joefill B. Salgado Name of Instructor: Ar. Rasel B. Dalogdog
Activity No.: Activity no. 3 Subject: Heritage

Conservation 4
Ancient Masonry Techniques
Masonry, the art and craft of building and fabricating in stone, clay, brick, or concrete
block, has a rich history that spans civilizations and millennia. It is a technique that uses stones
to form and create buildings and civilizations. The ancient techniques left us very interesting
masonry techniques that even now still exist, used, or somehow modified into another techniques.
Those techniques are the foundation of all masonry techniques in today’s time. It is important to
remember or learn those things in order for us to be knowledgeable about how they created such
strong building or civilization without machines. It is a big wonder for us how they did it and how
those ancient builders created such massive and long-lasting structures without any technology.
So here are some of the ancient masonry techniques.
1. 'Folded' stone corners.
Several structures show the blocks cut with an internal angle, so as to 'fold' the stone around
corners. It is suggested that this was incorporated as an earthquake 'preventative'. Valley-
Temple, Giza, Egypt. - There are several stones with this design feature in the valley-temple. It
is interesting to note that the stones have been cut so as to continue only a short distance around
the corner which hints at the idea that style might have been involved (rather than, or as well as,
function).
Main Campus
Instruction Office
and the country.
2. Multi-Facetted Stones:
It's frequently argued that this design element was added to buildings as a "earthquake"
precaution. This theory is supported by the fact that the constructions still stand after all
this time in such good condition. While the Egyptian examples (above), followed a
horizontal plane, the South American examples (below), are polygonal, apparently
following neither vertical nor horizontal planes, a process which would have required a
considerably higher level of technical skill.
The Inca masonry of south America is probably the finest

the world has ever seen.
Sacsayhuaman - One of the greatest walls of

all time.
Main Campus
Instruction Office
and the country.
3. Metal Block-Ties:
Another construction feature commonly suggested as an earthquake preventative is the

means used to join huge blocks together. It is believed that copper (or silver) was used at
Tiahuanaco, both of which are soft metals.
Some examples from the 'Old-World' (Namely Egypt, and Cambodia).
From left to right: Angkor Watt, Karnak, and Denderra.
And from the 'New-

World'.: Tiahuanaco,
and Ollantaytambo.
It has also been

suggested that these
'ties' were employed to
'ground' structures
properly (often made of
conducting Quartzite).
Main Campus
Instruction Office
and the country.
4. Quarry-marks (for splitting rocks)
The quartz was divided using the same technique by the architects of megalithic structures
at many sites across the globe. This is not unique because it is still often used today and
is most likely the best approach. Making a series of holes in the stone and filling them with
wooden "wedges and shims" is by far the simplest method for splitting quartz. The wedges
grew once the water was added, and the stone split along the line.
Examples from S.
America: Left: Machu
Pichu (1) and
Right: Cuzco.
5. Maneuvering Protuberances
These small protuberances are found on the oldest (and arguably most sacred) Egypt and South
American constructions. They are generally assumed to have functioned as 'hitching points' for
manoeuvring the blocks into place, however there are several examples where they have been
left as if to demonstrate some other meaning...
The 'Boss' mark on the stone above the passage entry into
the 'King's chamber' in the great pyramid is often suggested
as being the remains of one of these protuberances.
Main Campus
Instruction Office
and the country.
They are found on the exterior

granite facing stones of
Menkaure's Pyramid at Giza. It
is possible to see how the
process of smoothing off the
granite casing stones was
started on the Eastern face of
Menkaure’s pyramid. The
smoothing process was
achieved with the use of
Dolerite mauls which were able to pound the softer granite. This process can still be seen today
at the Aswan granite quarries, where the granite for Giza originally came from.
The same marks are also found in the Osireion, at Abydoss. One
of the several reasons to support the theory that it was
contemporary with the Valley temple at Ghiza.
Similar 'protuberances' can be seen at several Inca sites in South

America.
Although both locations have the same 'protuberances', the

Inca block-work was multi-faceted, while at Ghiza, they were
laid in even courses.
6. Mortise and Tenon Joints
It is perhaps surprising to find that some of the earliest known examples of masonry exhibit
a sophisticated understanding of joinery. This particular construction feature is reasonably
explained as having followed the transition from building structures first from wood then
stone.
Mortise-and-tenon joints had, of course, been used previously in Bronze Age ships in
Egypt, as in the construction of the Khufuï¿½s boat at Giza (ca. 2600 B. C.) and Senwosret
IIIï¿½s boats (ca. 1850 B.C.) at Dashur (Lipke 1984, 64; Steffy 1994, 25-27, 32-36, Patch
Main Campus
Instruction Office
and the country.
and Haldane 1990). These early Egyptian examples of mortise-and-tenons, however,

were freestanding and not pegged to lock adjacent strakes to one another. Rather, their
primary function was to align the planks during construction, which were then fastened to
each other with ligatures. This tradition of shipbuilding appears to have persisted at least
as late as the 5th century B.C. when Herodotus observed nearly identical construction
methods still in use in Egypt. In his oft-cited quotation, Herodotus noted that short planks
were joined to each other with long, close-set tenons, which were then bound in the seams
from within with papyrus fibers (Haldane & Shelmerdine 1990). There is no mention of
locking the close-set tenons with pegs. The Egyptians were, however, fully aware of
pegged mortise-and-tenon joints at last since the Old Kingdom (Dynasty III: ca. 2700-2600
B. C.) and used them in woodwork requiring this type of fastening (Lucas & Harris 1962,
451), but, as far as we can determine, they did not resort to their use in shipbuilding, unless
they restricted their use to seagoing ships only, for which we have surviving examples.
Some examples of the Various 'Mortise and Tenon' joins used in the construction of The
Osirion, at Abydoss, in Egypt. This is considered one of the oldest buildings in Egypt,
and is quoted as having only one other structure of contemporary design, that being
the Valley-Temple at Giza. Both structures used the technique of continuous-lintelled
trilithon's, seen also at Stonehenge III.
7. The Use of Concrete in Ancient Structures:
'The Hair in the Rock', Egypt: Prof. Dr. Joseph Davidovits of the French Geopolymer
Institute discovered a hair sticking out of a boulder of the Cheops (Khufu) pyramid of
Giza). He concluded that either the hair was older than the rock surrounding it, (meaning
the rock formed later), or the boulder is synthetic. Either of which is pretty amazing.
Examination and measurements of the boulders used in building the pyramid show an
unusually high moisture content (apparently the kind one would expect to find in
concrete).
Main Campus
Instruction Office
and the country.
The photo (right) is from the pavement

surrounding the pyramids at Giza. It has been
shown that this pavement was accurately levelled
to less than 0.5 inch across the whole site, which
makes it a spectacular masonry achievement.
However, of more immediate interest is the thin
sliver of limestone that has remained next to the
black basalt rock behind it.
Ggantija, Malta - The temples on Malta are

claimed to be some of the oldest free-standing
temples in the world. A. Service (6), mentions
the 'contemporary cement of the floor' in the
pavement of the Ggantija temple on Gozo,
Malta (see left), and although the idea was not
accepted for a long time, Maltese
archaeologists are now of the opinion
that Torba (as it is called on Malta), was formed
by compacting crumbled rock and rock dust
then adding water (7), creating a tough and
durable rock-like material on-par with the best
and strongest concrete used today.
These ancient masonry techniques are very interesting; it has various designs that contribute to
the structural integrity of the structure built. Using these techniques, the ancient world created
various remarkable structures that up until now still stand and exist. Example is the folded stone
corners technique; we can see that those folded stone creates a lock that strengthens the
structure. Multi-facetted stones technique, the stones are cut to create a multi-facetted stone that
Main Campus
Instruction Office
and the country.
interlocked with each other. All other techniques have unique designs, and those designs have
purposes.
Thus, these ancient masonry techniques need to be learned and these techniques are one of the
foundations of today’s construction methods and technique.

Masonry and Stones

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Masonry and Stones

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

[Type here] BOHOL ISLAND STATE UNIVERSITY

Activity No.: Activity no. 3 Subject: Heritage

Ancient Masonry Techniques

1. 'Folded' stone corners.

The Inca masonry of south America is probably the finest

Sacsayhuaman - One of the greatest walls of

Another construction feature commonly suggested as an earthquake preventative is the

Some examples from the 'Old-World' (Namely Egypt, and Cambodia).

From left to right: Angkor Watt, Karnak, and Denderra.

And from the 'New-

It has also been

4. Quarry-marks (for splitting rocks)

They are found on the exterior

Similar 'protuberances' can be seen at several Inca sites in South

Although both locations have the same 'protuberances', the

6. Mortise and Tenon Joints

and Haldane 1990). These early Egyptian examples of mortise-and-tenons, however,

7. The Use of Concrete in Ancient Structures:

The photo (right) is from the pavement

Ggantija, Malta - The temples on Malta are

You might also like