The comparative structure of Greek and Etruscan monumental buildings

Abstract

and the temples at Thermon and Calydon) employed terracotta tiles as roof covering. Classical temples such as the Parthenon were roofed with marble tiles, also of great weight. 1 By the end of the Archaic Period, Greek builders were using one of two systems for tiles, either the 'Corinthian' flat pantiles with angular covers, or the 'Laconian' with both pan and cover rounded in section. 2 The weight of roofs constructed with either system would be similar, of course. The earliest practice, though, as already attested at Corinth and Isthmia, was to use a 'combination' tile consisting of one pantile and one cover tile moulded in a single piece. These were approximately as heavy as two of the Classical Corinthian tiles, and must have been as difficult to lift and place on the roof as they were to form and fire.For ease of calculation, and since our study is intended as theoretical, we suggest (assuming a specific gravity of 2 for terracotta), as an average of all types of tiling systems, including the Etruscan (see below), a weight of approximately 60 kg for a covering of terracotta approximately 1.0 x 1.0 m and 50 mm thick. For instance, a Corinthian pantile 0.57 m wide x 0.68 m long weighs 20.2 kg. 3

Approaching monumental architecture: mechanics and movement in Archaic Etruscan palaces

“… 33 In an earlier study, Turfa and Steinmayer (1996: 10–11, with table 2) provided data for the dimensions of monumental Etruscan buildings. Only the Capitoline Temple of Jupiter compares to Poggio Civitate in size.…”

The Etruscan brontoscopic calendar and modern archaeological discoveries

“…Liuzzi 1983Schmidt 2000;Della Casa 1962-see review by Thesleff 1965. Etruscan technology seems surprisingly "modern," see Turfa and Steinmayer 1996. See J. Turfa in de Grummond and Simon 2006, 173-190.…”