Orthostat

As an orthostat (plural: orthostats ) (Greek ὀρθοστάτης, standing upright ) - in archeology a large, upright stone block or a corresponding stone slab is referred to, which can be part of a building structure. This building element was used in particular in tombs, temples and in ancient monumental architecture.

prehistory

For prehistory , the British Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archeology defines orthostats as large upright stones that support the roof in megalithic tombs . Menhirs , on the other hand, have no supporting function and are therefore not orthostats.

Building research

In building research, the lowest wall layer, made of massive stones, from Minoan and Greek temples as well as representative buildings is called the orthostatic layer, and the individual stones in this layer are called orthostats. They could be set horizontally, but were also often placed on edge and were usually carried out in two rows.

Near Eastern Archeology

In Near Eastern archeology , stone slabs that stand upright on the inside of buildings, especially representative buildings, are also referred to as orthostats, for example in Neo- Hittite palaces such as Ain Dara , Karkemisch , Karatepe or Zincirli , and corresponding Neo- Assyrian facilities. They are often decorated with reliefs. These plates do not have to be particularly large. In the Middle Bronze Age "orthostat building" of Tel Kabri , the corresponding plates are only between 0.4 and 1.5 m high.

• Different uses of orthostats
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  Poulnabrone Dolmen , Ireland . Orthostats have a capstone

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  The giant grave of Pascaredda in Sardinia with orthostats placed vertically

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  The Lion Gate of Mycenae, Greece. Monumental architecture with orthostats

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  The ancient oriental weather god of Aleppo , an orthostat from Til Barsip , Syria

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  Orthostats as structural elements in the staff building of the Roman fort Gholaia , Libya

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/orthostat
2. ↑ Timothy Darvill: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archeology (2 ed.) Oxford, Oxford University Press 2008, online 2009, eISBN 9780191727139
3. ↑ Joseph Shaw 2013, Architectural signposts: datable ashlar style at Middle Minoan III Kommos in south-central Crete. British School Athens Studies 21, INTERMEZZO: Intermediacy and Regeneration in Middle Minoan III Palatial Crete, fig. 11.4. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/23536746
4. ^ Wolfgang Müller-Wiener : Greek construction in antiquity. CH Beck, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-406-32993-4 , p. 88.
5. ↑ Alessandra Gilibert 2012, Syro-Hittite Monumental Art and the Archeology of Performance, The Stone Reliefs at Carchemish and Zincirli in the Earlier First Millennium BCE . Topoi - Berlin Studies of the Old World 2, Berlin, De Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-022226-5
6. ↑ Assaf Yasur-Landau, Eric H. Cline, Nurith Goshen, Nimrod Marom, Inbal Samet 2012, An MB II Orthostat Building at Tel Kabri, Israel. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 367, 1-29, Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5615/bullamerschoorie.367.0001
7. ↑ Assaf Yasur-Landau, Eric H. Cline, Nurith Goshen, Nimrod Marom, Inbal Samet 2012, An MB II Orthostat Building at Tel Kabri, Israel. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 367, 4, Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5615/bullamerschoorie.367.0001