Search

In the Middle Ages and early modern period, masons inscribed symbols on dressed stonework and ashlars to identify the work of the individual or team that quarried or dressed the stone or of the workshop of origin. Other marks on stonework can provide instructions, such as the way to place the ashlar. Many of these marks still survive on the fabric of cathedrals, churches, palaces, important houses, castles, and other structures throughout Europe and beyond. This tradition journeyed from Europe to the New World with the stonemasons, although in the Americas very few have been reported. One of the buildings with masons' marks is the Cathedral of Santo Domingo (1521–1541) in the Dominican Republic on Hispaniola Island. In this study, 28 masons' marks were identified in 18 places inside and outside the cathedral: these included crosses, letters, geometric forms, and other symmetrical figures. All the marks are in discrete places, and most of them are difficult to find. So far, no scholars have reported stonemasons' marks on any building in the Caribbean. In the 16th century, the knowledge of construction techniques was a secret and transmitted from builder to builder through the guild or workshop. Therefore, these patterns serve as a tool to identify builders, their place of origin, construction methods, construction phases, and construction dates, among other things. For this reason, the aim of this research is to draw attention to masons' marks in the New World context as an aid to architectural history and archaeology, creating a database that will help to identify the masons who worked in the Americas in the 16th century, the dates of the construction phases, and the construction techniques they used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article illustrates how changes in the sediment source, tempering strategies, and shaping process in early Neolithic earthen architecture in Aşıklı Höyük have a major impact on many aspects of techno-environmental know-how traces. Archaeological micromorphology analyses of sun-dried mudbricks (in Turkey, called a specific term: kerpiç), mortars, daub, and their paleoenvironmental contexts were used to examine the tempo and modes of exploitation of the local environment, and chaîne opératoire of kerpiç and mortar recipes, and the possible reasons behind the relationships among material choices, building forms, and wall construction techniques of the earlier inhabitants in Central Anatolia during the establishment of the early settlement, i.e., 8400–7750 BCE. The nature of and changes in the built environment can be traced especially through the mortar recipes that provide various insights into the agro-pastoral activities at the site, including middens, open areas, and penning deposits. During the early Neolithic occupation at Aşıklı Höyük, vegetal tempering occurred as a micro-invention and was developed in relation to the management of fecal and domestic waste used in construction materials. Furthermore, the variability of tempering strategies can be regarded as a cognitive development that resulted from the long-term learning and experimentation background of the Aşıklı people in kerpiç production. The main motivation behind these changes and testing of the recipes was the need for more durable and long-lasting construction of earthen buildings as used by this early sedentary community in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the Topical Collection, this paper represents an introductory contribution aimed at describing and discussing the research questions and the sampling criteria in the field of mortars, plasters and pigments studies. The paper is divided into three parts. In the first part, some terminological issues are clarified and the building archaeology is introduced as an indispensable method for sampling and interpreting archaeometric results. In the second part, the most common research questions are presented and discussed. Some case studies are also reported to clarify what the expected results may be. The sampling problem is faced in the third part, where the criteria for a representative, functional and suitable selection are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]