Tanca wall

The Tanca wall (cat. Tanca means: fencing , also fence ) is a dry stone wall of the Balearic island of Mallorca and a legacy of the Talayot culture . In the Mallorcan language , the building of the wall is called tanques or marges .

Occurrence

Dance wall

This type of wall construction (= stone recycling) can be found mainly on the Balearic Islands, in Brittany and on the British Isles .

history

Agriculture in Mallorca has always been linked to dry stone masonry. Particularly noteworthy are: dry stone enclosures, houses and stables, retaining walls, irrigation structures, paths, pre-industrial structures for mining, lime extraction and forestry (charcoal production, hunting, etc.).

Dry stone walls are more common in two areas on Mallorca. In the south and east of the island - two flat areas - there are mainly dry stone walls, huts and water control structures. In the Serra de Tramuntana, on the other hand, you will find retaining walls for the fields, a whole network of dry stone wall paths and structures for water regulation.

The extensive development and diversity of the buildings result from historical and geographical reasons. One of the main geographical reasons is the fact that there are large amounts of high quality limestone on the island, which makes it easy to build complex structures.

Since the landscape is very rugged and there is often intense rainfall, structures were built to counteract erosion, flooding and the like. With the help of marjades or retaining walls, the slopes could be built on. Due to the drought during the summer, structures were also built to collect, distribute and store water.

In prehistoric times, dry stone masonry was used for naviformes , talayots, etc. From a historical point of view, the first mentions and records of dry stone structures were made as early as the 13th and 14th centuries, although the heyday is to be found in later centuries. The expansion of the agricultural use of the country and with it the dry stone wall construction took place well into the 20th century. Up until then there were several epochs in which a lot was built.

From the first decades of the 20th century there was a steady withdrawal from the less profitable areas of production and from other branches of the economy that are connected to drywall construction. With the beginning of mass tourism in the 1960s, this development began to intensify.

Manufacturing

The loose field stones that arise during daily arable and field work are collected and piled up on the spot without additional building materials or binding materials. If the wall builder ( marger ) has done a decent job, his wall ( marge ) can be used almost indefinitely.

Operation

A row of large stones are selected beforehand for the base ( assentament ) and laid out about 90 centimeters wide; then the marger piles up medium-sized stones on both sides to form narrow walls, which lean towards each other at the top, and the cavity is carefully filled with rubble by hand and wedged so cleverly that it creates a kind of chain connection, which gives the walls afterwards the strength; a row of large stones only about 80 centimeters wide, the filade it covers the wall. If the wall is good, the stones in the middle rows ( sostreig ) also always turn their narrow side outwards. Then he needs more stones, but it is much more stable. Cross-standing stones, for example, that protrude from the wall are not a beginner's mistake, but serve as steps so that people and craftsmen can get over later, in the above example dimensions are given for a height of one and a half meters. The walls are quite up to three and a half meters high, the relationship between the foundation and the head dimensions then change. Depending on the area and purpose, there are different tanca walls, such as B. for pig breeding (deep foundations so that the pigs do not rummage under the fence) or goat husbandry (the filada es dalt is then carried out by overhanging covers so that the wall cannot be climbed ).

Tools

Carrying basket ( senalla )

Transport sledge ( carete )

adjustable angle ( capserrat )

a couple of yards of guideline

Craft

In 1986 the profession of margers (dry mason) was on the verge of disappearing as the master masons got older and there was not enough demand. In the same year the Escola de Margers (dry masonry school) was founded in Sóller to restore the Es Barranc de Biniaraix path and to train students to become professionals in this branch. Two years later the Consell de Mallorca took over the school and expanded its range of duties. At that time an upswing of the profession began, also thanks to the favorable economic situation and the intervention of institutions.

education

Since 1988, the Consell de Mallorca has launched extensive initiatives to restore, preserve, protect and inform about the cultural heritage of dry stone structures. These are structured as follows:

Education:

Courses in workshop schools and training workshops to train the unemployed to become margers (dry stone masons ).

Restoration:

Restoration of dry stone walls as part of the heritage team's program.

Analysis and cataloging:

Creation of catalogs on various dry stone structures (walls, paths, huts) and participation in EU projects for the analysis, cataloging and revaluation of dry stone masonry.

Local development:

Promote local development initiatives related to drywall.

Protection:

Initiatives to protect dry stone walls.

Dissemination of information:

Initiatives to inform about the cultural heritage of dry stone walls (publications, exhibitions, lectures, etc.)

The "FODESMA" school is a special type of vocational school. In addition to the training workshop for the construction of dry stone walls (Escola de Margers), the restoration of the windmills (Escola de Molins) and the construction of traditional fishing boats (Escola de Mestres d´Aixa) are carried out here.

literature

ALOMAR, G .; FERRER, I .; GRIMALT, M .; REYNÉS, A .; RODRÍGUEZ, R. La pedra en sec. Materials, one i tècniques tradicionals a les illes mediterrànies. Vol. 2 Mallorca. Palermo: Officine Grafiche Riunite, 2002. Summary: This publication was produced within the framework of the Medstone project (Article 10 of Recite II ERDF). It is dedicated to the handicraft of drywall construction, the traditional materials, tools and functions of drywall constructions, as well as the various types of construction. 320 pages, in Catalan and English.