The Emergence of Ceramic Roofing Technology in Archaic Greek Architecture

This dissertation considers the origins of roof tiles in Greece. After dismissing evidence for predecessors in the Bronze Age, I describe the first archaeologically dated roof from the Old Temple at Corinth, built by the mid-seventh century B.C. Because its exquisitely crafted tiles appear too sophisticated to have been the first invented, I analyze the manufacturing techniques of this so-called "Protocorinthian" tile system. As the basis for a preliminary hypothesis of the forming and finishing sequence, I present new evidence for reconstructing manufacturing techniques. I conducted extensive fieldwork to examine each of the several hundred examples stored in museums at Corinth, Isthmia, and Delphi. I describe each type of Protocorinthian tile, including new photographs and accurate illustrations rendered from three-dimensional computer models. I infer specific production steps from a typology of surface markings and determine the logical sequence. Each tile must have been formed right-side-up on a clay base mold, its upper surfaces profiled to templates. In order to test the hypothesis, I created replica tiles at Corinth by working through the full process of mining clay, shaping bricks and tiles, and firing them in an experimental kiln. The experiments confirmed the general validity of the hypothesis and indicated several refinements. I extend these interpretations with ethnographic research. I describe the typical organization of Mediterranean tile makers and reconstruct the scale of pottery production in ancient Corinth when the Old Temple was built. Combining ethnographic and experimental data, I estimate the labor investment to fabricate its complete roof. To conclude, I argue that Protocorinthian tiles, though ostensibly complex, are produced with simple techniques that indicate no special expertise designing interlocking roof tiles. However, the fact that these tiles are molded in combination indicates that the designers were imitating an earlier ceramic system with separate covers and pans. An early roof from Olympia has tiles close to the expected prototype for the Old Temple and all other Mediterranean tiled roofs. From the current archaeological evidence, however, it is uncertain whether ceramic tiles were first invented in Etruria, the northern Peloponnese, or central Anatolia.