VARI HOUSE AS EXCAVATED

Of the building itself, only the elements made of stone survive.  Yet enough has been preserved (of the building and its associated artifacts) to permit archaeologists to reconstruct the building's superstructure, its function, its date, and the livelihood of the inhabitants.

Wander around. Look at the remains carefully.

Ancient Greek buildings used primarily stone or mudbrick walls and stone or wood columns for support. Colonnades were common in ancient Greece because they provide shade from the heat, yet allow light and breezes in.

Why do you think only stone survived here?

What materials must have been used that did not survivie?

What do the surviving parts of the building and the objects excavated with it tell us about the building's use, the occupation of the people who inhabited the building, and the building's date?

Where are the thickest walls, the thinnest walls, the medium thickness walls located?

What do you think these differences might mean?

Which would be more stable if a heavy weight were placed on top?

Why?

What other information would you need in order to reconstruct the upper sections of these walls?

Walls that carry heavy loads are different (usually in thickness, sometimes also in material) from those walls that do not have to carry heavy loads.

Walls used to carry the structural load or frame of a building (called "bearing walls") are different from those walls that are only partitions (called "nonbearing walls") between spaces and thus only need to supporrt their own weight.

Compare the walls between the rooms at the back of this house with the walls of the room in the southwest corner, to the left of the main entrance.  The walls between the rooms at the back of the house are thin since they only supported their own weight.  The corner room's walls are so thick that archaeologists believe they supported a 2-story tower.

Notice the circular stones with central depressions.  Note that they are located only in the courtyard paving and that some appear to be missing.

What do you think the circular stones with the central depression were used for (look at their spacing and size)?

How would archaeologists go about reconstructing their use?

What features of other ancient Greek buildings would help you determine the use of these objects?

Which surface would better serve as a foundation for mudbrick?

How and where might the residents have obtained wood and other materials needed to construct this building?

Which materials were abundant and therefore cheap for this farmer to use?

What building materials could the residents create themselves?

What materials would the residents have had to buy?

How does the availablity of materials, the local climate, and the amount of resources (money, time, and energy) help to determine the shapes, sizes, and types of buildings that are built here and elsewhere?

What other materials do you see being used there?