EMF - Abstracts

Searching for Patterns in the Production of Mudbrick in Bronze Age Crete.

Charles Frederick and Eleni Nodarou (Sheffield University)

The use of sun-dried mudbrick as a construction material in Greece dates to the Early Neolithic, and by the Bronze age it was widely used throughout Greece. Despite its cosmopolitan distribution in the Bronze age, mudbrick in Minoan Crete is infrequently discussed or analyzed today. This omission is perhaps due to a lack of visibility which is in part attributable to the tendency of this material to disaggregate upon abandonment. The significance of mudbrick as a material derives from the volume of material required to construct a settlement and the manner in which it is produced may constrain or limit settlement. This paper ourlines the early stages of a project designed to identify broad patterns in the nature of materials used in earthen construction in Bronze Age Crete, in order to examine the nature of technological information associated with this construction technique.