ANCS 3845 - Engineering & Tech in the Ancient World - MT 1

Types of written sources for ancient technology

There are very few ancient authors that discuss technology - because the elites were the ones who read, and they weren’t interested int eh workings of the lower classes.

1. Non-technical texts that provide some info (where the main focus is not on describing technology - poetry, histories, etc)

2. technical manuals or handbooks

3. Inscriptions

4. Papryi

The questions we ask about written sources for ancient technology

How well informed is the author about the technology?

What attitude did they have toward it?

What was the purpose of the text?

Types of artistic representations for ancient technology

Relief sculpture (usually funerary)

Wall painting (esp. at Pompeii and Herculaneum, 79 CE)

Vase painting (or painting on other ceramic)

Other types: coins, toys, models, figurines, etc.

The questions we ask of artistic depictions of technology

How well informed is the artist (or patron) about the technology?

How do we distinguish between artistic choices, error, and reality?

• Potential for unique detail (e.g. clothing)

• Simplification/Stylization

• Distortion of scale or perspective

What is the purpose of the art?

• Funerary? Votive?

• Never intended to represent technology in an instructive or analytical way

Moses Finley & his 1965 article

Claims that little technological development occurred in Greco-Roman antiquity

• " Most essential" developments already happened

Uses mainly textual sources to argue that the lack of advancement was largely due to:

• Attitudes: Lack of elite interest in development

• Low levels of demand: low-population settlement & high poverty

Notes the problems with applying "economic rationalism" and other modern terms & perspectives to the ancient world

Technology

Modern dictionary definition = the practical application of knowledge

Classical world definition = human activities intentionally altering the environment to ensure survival or a more pleasurable lifestyle

Techne

Means craft, art, or skill

techne + logos = Technology (the study of skill)

Prometheus

Is said to have given humans: “all the skills”

• sense and intellect

• the knowledge of how to build houses

• the knowledge of astronomy

• the alphabet

• horse chariots

• ship building

• mining ores

Plato’s and Seneca’s views on craftspeople

Plato - 4th c. BCE views:

• Rejected the arts - pottery making, blacksmith, etc

• Wanted the arts people punished - the elite bias of working with your hands

  • Associated working with your hands with poverty or the lower class

Seneca - 1st c. CE views:

• it was mans ingenuity that created technology, not true wisdom (which was the ultimate goal of the greeks)

• “The men who discover them are the men that use them today” (Associated tools of invention with the lower/working class)

Story about Vespasian and column transport

Vespasian - 1st c. CE

• rejected the use of machines for hauling up columns

• used the available working class instead, and paid them for their work

• written about in Suetonius `

Mediterranean environment

• very dry summers

• wet winters

• hilly and mountainous

• steep slopes and rocky soil

The “Mediterranean Triad”

• Grain (wheat and barley)

• Grapes

• Olives

Barley vs. Wheat

Barley:

• More widespread

• drought tolerant

• Easiest to grow in Mediterranean

Wheat:

• easier to process

• favours cool and wet climates (unlike Mediterranean)

• Greeks liked wheat more than barley (cultural preference)

Scratch plow/Ard

Called the “Scratch plow”—because it doesn't dig deep, just scratching the surface

• Simple wooden tool

• Used since Neolithic period

• The plow was yoked to animals

Eared plow

• The distinctive “ears” helped turn over the soil (made of wooden posts)

• The plow was yoked to animals

• Discussed in Virgil - key terms = “ears”, “yoke”, “plowshare”

Wheeled Plows and Moldboard Plows

• Evidence of plow innovation - wheels

• As plows became heavier and included more metal, wheels would make it easier to lift and move

• A Moldboard plow includes a coulter (an attached knife to crease an initial cut in the soil, making it easier for the ground to be broken up)

  • Deeper digging allowed for more wheat cultivation

The vallus

• A wheeled device with teeth on the front, that cuts and collects the heads of wheat - faster than reaping by hand

• One man to push the animal and machine, another man to flatten the ears of the crop

• Mainly known from Pliny's writing in the Natural History 1st c. CE

Pliny the Elder

• 1st c. CE (died investigating the eruption of Vesuvius)

• Equestrian class - high socio-political class

• Served in the military

Natural History: 37 books - wrote on a variety of subjects: astronomy, geography, human anatomy, zoology, botany, natural medical remedies, minerals, metallurgy

Threshing

Separating the grains from their husks, which can be done by:

• hand beating it

• Treading (walking on it — people or animals)

  • would need a treading/threshing floor (concrete)

Rotary Stone Mills

Rotary Mill:

• Two disk-shaped stones were on top of one another, and you could rotate the stones using a stick to crush the grain that would be fed in through the top

• Larger stone rotary mills could be turned by animal power

Barbegal Mills

Water Mills in southern France, 1st- 3rd c. CE

• The site with the most concentrated amount of power in the Roman world

• Water gets diverted into chutes on either side of the main central staircase

• 8 water wheels on either side

• Used to power the millstones under the little huts (grind grains)

• Calcium deposits were found where the decayed wooden components were - allowed for the reconstruction

  • Discovered the wheels were only used in certain seasons, not year-round

Uses of Olive oil

• Cultural significance: Used for cooking, bathing, light

• Simple but laborious cultivation, mostly by hand (weeding, pruning, harvesting, digging)

• Allows for efficient use of hilly terrain, often terraced

• harvest fruit every 2 years (after trees mature - takes 10+ years)

The Roman Agronomists: Cato the Elder, Varro, Columella, Palladius

• Cato the Elder (2nd c. BCE), De agri cultura

• Varro (1st c. BCE), De re rustica

• Columella (1st c. CE), De re rustica

• Palladius (5th c. CE), Opus Agriculturae

Mola olearia

A Roman stone roller mill used to crush olives into a paste during the first stage of olive oil production

• newer innovention than the Trapetum

Trapetum

An ancient Greek and Roman stone olive mill designed to crush olive flesh and separate it from the pit before pressing.

Lever-and-weight Press

Lever and weight is the simplest press

• As weight gets added to one end, the see-saw motion will crush the olives on the other side

• The pully system would be animal or human powered

Lever-and-drum Press

• You would rotate the lever by pulling the wooden beam to crush the fruit. 

• Example in the villa of the mysteries for wine processing

Lever-and-screw press

The people would pull the wooden beams (levers), which would turn a vertical screw to crush the fruits

Advantages:

• Faster production and a more robust and reliable machine (no fragile ropes, therefore fewer injuries)

Cons:

• It requires a lot of hard labour (people turning the screw)

• requires a lot of construction and resources.

Direct screw press

The direct screw press is very small (not much bigger than a person)

• Saves space (can be used in an urban setting)

• would be cheaper to set up

Dolia yard

spaces designed to show agricultural production in the house

• Emphasizing the morays of the past (being a good farmer)

• Shows off agricultural production

• Dining room is near the production area, so people eating could see

Picture = Villa Regina, Pompeii

Convertible husbandry

agricultural method where plots of land alternate periodically between growing crops and serving as grass pasture for livestock

• the animals would produce manure to fertilize the crops when they are planted in that area next

• discussed in Columella’s work called On Agriculture

Piscinae

artificial fishponds

• Materials impermeable to water to create the canals (concrete)

• Made by cutting into the natural rock or using concrete to create a man-made pond

• Sluice gate with holes to allow water in and out of the pond, but to keep the fish inside; also controlled the salinity (amount of salt) in the ponds, keeping the fish healthy

• Amphora could be placed in the wall to provide fish with shelter from the hot sun

• Discussed in Columella’s work called On Agriculture

Greenland ice cores

High lead concentrations in the ice cores showed an increase in mining

• greater demand for coins, tools, and weapons.

The amount of mining in Roman society was the highest in ancient times, up until the Industrial Revolution

Cupellation

The high temperature separation of silver from lead deposits

Types of metals and their common uses

Bronze: easy to cast/work with, and is hard/durable

• used for jewelry, statues, tools, and weapons

Iron or steel : good for tools and weapons as it is very hard

Lead: resistant to corrosion - pipes, clamps, tools

Gold: Jewelry, coins, and vessels

Lack of tin in the Mediterranean - shipped from Britain

Beneficiation (Second step in the Iron Production Process)

Used to separate the ore from lighter sediments and impurities

• Reduces the size of metal ores to a pea-sized shape; it becomes concentrated/smaller by washing it

• The heavier/larger pieces of stone will sink, and the lighter stuff will get carried away by the water down the shaft

Smelting (Third step in the Iron Production Process)

heat + charcoal to melt out molten metal and reduce other metals to make slag

Refining (Last step in the Iron Production Process)

Removing impurities, usually by re-melting the iron

Laurion

Location of the large silver mines in Attica

• Silver, but also copper and lead

• Starting in Bronze Age, most intense exploitation in 5th c. BCE

• Source of wealth for Athens

• Archaeological remains of beneficiation "washeries" that reused water, since it was a dry region

Rio Tinto

Roman mines in Spain

• Was initially run by the Carthaginians but later by the Romans

• Mined into the 20th c.

• Had complex drainage - used a series of man-powered waterwheels to carry water away, so they could mine below the water level in the ground

Vipasca tablets

Roman regulations for leasing mining rights from the state, suggesting the emperor kept tight control of mining

• details the mines at Rio Tinto Spain

• the government of Rome owned the land and leased it to someone else for profit

arrugiae and ruina montium

Aspects of hydraulic mining

• "Arrugiae" - related to digging channels

• "Ruina montium" - the destruction of mountains

Techniques used in the mines of Northwest Iberia - described by Pliny

Smithing

Blacksmithing - heating, hammering, tempering, and quenching metals

Berlin Foundry Cup

5th c. BCE Athens

• Created using the lost-wax process

Lost-wax process

• Artist's model in clay

• Clay or plaster mould taken of model, brushed with wax to create shell of desired thickness

• Shell covered in and filled with clay; fired, melting wax and leaving a mould to be filled with molten metal

Niello

A deep-black metallic alloy made of sulfur combined with silver, copper, and lead. It is used as a decorative inlay to fill engraved designs on metal surfaces

• appears blueish blacafter heating

• used in the Mycenean dagger from the Shaft Grave at Mycenae, 13th c BCE

Steel

• is harder and more durable than iron

• steel = heated iron + charcoal (adds carbon for enrichment

Tesserae

used in mosaics - small stones

Tuff/Tufo

A local and practical common type of stone - used in the ancient Roman world

• used in the forum of augustus

Pentelic marble

A type of white marble that was used in many monuments in the ancient world

• A quarry of it is found at Mount Pentelicus in Athens; used for many Greek buildings (Parthenon)

• Later imported to Rome

Porphyry

A type of coloured stone - that was often imported from great distances to the roman world

• used in the portraits of the tetrarchs in a purpleish style stone

Lucius Lucullus

Introduced a type of marble to rome which is named after himself (lucullan marble)

• an entirely black marble

• found on the island of melos

• Described in Plinys Natural Histories

Trench-and-wedge technique

You would cut trenches around the desired blocks of rock using a quarry pick

Stone Transport Techniques

• crane lifted the stone to be placed on an animal-driven cart

• A roller and lever (the stone would be rolled over logs to move)

• Slopes that were used with anchored cables to slide the block down

Common stone carving tools

• Picks with a wide point (wood or iron)

• Wedges (inserted into rocks to break off a block)

• Hammers

Stone carving tools - Drills and Saws

• A basic drill - A piece of metal that you rub back and forth with your hands to rotate

• A cord drill - someone pulls a strap while the other holds the drill to rotate it

• The depth created in the hair of statues was done by drills

Saws: manual saws were a piece of stone moved back and forth with added sand for grit

Water Saws

• shown in the sarcophagi relif of Marcus Auerilius 3rd c. CE

• Mentioned in Ausonius’s writings - 4th c. CE

• The crank turns due to the power of the water, the circular motion pulls the slider back and forth, which would move the saw from rotary to back and forth motion

Ratio marmorum

The roman marble bureau

• Increased development with roman empire growth

  • quarrying = under the control of the state (emperor)

    • used in the emperors building projects - imperial monuments

    • Kept records of the construction

    • Excess stones would be sold to wealthy individuals or cities, and eventually to the mass market

Mons Claudianus

a quarry in Egypt which is the source for imperial granite

• Monolithic columns were found still in place of the quarry

• middle of the dessert, so stones had to be dragged down to the Nile, and then shipped to final location

Lapis Gabinus

a volcanic tuff from central italy - found in Gabii

• A common building stone for the monuments in Rome

  • Has good compression strength but is easy to cut through

Corvée

temporary unpaid labour as a part of ones obligation to a ruler or state

• the people who build the pyramids of Egypt were this kind, not the slaves like the romans

Wattle and daub

Used in early Iron Age architecture (housing) in the Mediterranean

• Used to create walls

  • Wooden support beams driven into the ground, woven wooden sticks around the beams, then filled in with a clay/manure mixture

Ashlar masonry

The use of large square stone blocks in architecture/construction

Ictinus and Callicrates

Architects of the Parthenon in the 5th c. BCE greece

• Written about in Vitruvius’s work

Demetrias of Ephesus

A slave associated with the temple of Diana (Artemis) - who completed the temple of Artemis at Ephesus after the first builders couldn’t

• Written about in Vitruvius’s work

Apollodorus of Damascus

architect for the emperor trajan - 1st c. CE

• designed the forum of trajan, temple of trajan, and trajans column

• Is said to have been executed for insulting the following emperors (Hadrians) designs

Arsenal of Philon at Athens

4th c. BCE - a naval arsenal in the port of Athens

• meant to hold the rigging and other equipment of the naval ships

• is discussed in a marble inscription

Forma Urbis Romae

3rd c. CE - map of the city of Rome

• very large

• Probably decorative and not functional, but still reflects the city plan at that time period

• Only fragments of the map survive

Polygonal masonry

• Harder to fit together, but easier when chipping/forming the stone blocks

• Makes for a solid wall as none of the joints line up (so it has no weak point)

Tripaston

The “triple-haul” crane

• decsribed by vesuvius

• Wooden supports balanced with cables

• Two guys twisting an axle which pulls the rope down

• The stone gets attached to the rope, and brought up by the men twisting the axle

Pulleys

used to help lift heavy stones in cranes more easily

• Two-pulley system ("gun tackle") cuts in half the force needed to lift a given weight

• A double block and tackle system reduces the force to 25%

• Adding rope segments that run between pulleys continues to reduce the force needed

Lewis bolt/holes

Methods/tools of fastening a stone block to cranes

• Tennon and rope - You leave a little nub of stone when chiselling to wrap rope around

• Forceps - Small holes cut into the sides of stone so forceps could attach and lift

• Lewis bolts - Angled pieces with a bolt attached to top of rock

Rustication

masonry techniques used in classical architecture giving visible stone surfaces a rough finished texture - looks old and historical

Anathyrosis

Masonry technique used to connect the joints of stone blocks without mortar

• Finely smoothed only around the edges of the stone face, creating a tight-fitting frame

Treadwheel crane

Uses people in a wheel to create the force to lift the stone blocks

• shown in the Relief of the Mausoleum of the Haterii; 1st c. CE, Rome

Imbrex and tegula

Overlapping roof tiles used in ancient Greek and Roman architecture as a waterproof and durable roof covering

• mainly made of fired clay - terracotta

Parthenon building process

5th c. BCE Athens

We can reconstruct the building processes of the Parthenon- because Athens was a democracy with traditions of carving inscriptions in stone

• Public accounting describing what was purchased and who is being paid to do construction work

• Amount of money spent = on the left side

• Description of what was being paid for = on the right side

Entasis

The “stretching” of a column - a convex bulge in the columns

• Not much evidence to support the optical illusion theory - briefly mentioned by an ancient author

• More likely that this was just due to aesthetic purposes

• Used in the parthenon

Arch

Corbel arch:

• Starting from the bottom, the stones are smaller, getting longer towards the top (e.g. Treasury of Atreus)

• 
  

A true arch relies on the compressive strength of stone as a building material (e.g. Falerii Novi); allows for larger openings

Pont Du Gard

• An aqueduct that is three rows of arches, very tall and long

• made of limestone without mortar - held together based on compressive force

• 1st c. CE

Barrel vault

Barrel vault - a room covered by an arch (the roof)

Opus caementicium

Concrete

• Started to emerge around 2nd. Century BCE

• Lime mortar (Lime and sand)

• could add pozzolana to strengthen it

 

Pozzolana

a volcanic ash with silica that is used to strengthen and make concrete waterproof

•  forms extremely hard cement

• will harden even though it is underwater; does not need to dry

Vitruvius

1st c. BCE

• military engineer,

• wrote the De Architectura ("Ten Books on Architecture") dedicated to Augustus, the first Roman emperor

Lime process and kiln

Lime is the most complicated material within concrete; it needs to be processed

• Limestone or marble can be used by heating it to 900 degrees C.

• The product is chemically changed  (quicklime); it loses its CO2 and is left with CaO

• It is then rehydrated to form cement

Kiln = A pit in the ground lined with stones; Often found built into the hillsides

Opus incertum

stone facing that is not evenly placed - no pattern

• used in concrete walls

Opus reticulatum

diamond shaped stone faced concrete

Opus testaceum (a.k.a. opus latericium)

Stone brick faced concrete

Annular vault

Concrete can be used to create curves

• Annular = curved

Annular barrel vault = a barrel vault that also has a curve to the concrete

Groin vault

• The groin vault : allows the illusion of a larger open space

• Two barrel vaults that intersect - creating an open space in the center

• used in the baths of caracalla

Pantheon

Rome, rebuilt in the 2nd C. CE

• means "all the gods”

• Monolithic columns

• Concrete dome: the largest dome until the 15th c.

• An oculus (hole) in the top of the ceiling - lets natural light in

  • Is only able to be done through the use of concrete

• Coffered ceiling inside

• The building materials get lighter in weight as it gets to the top

• 40-foot monolithic granite columns from egypt ; was originally supposed ot have 50 ft columns

Cistern

 

• Water is often collected by rainfall

• Large storage tanks were often built right into the bedrock in the ground

• Lined with waterproof mortar (concrete)

Qanat

Shaft-and-gallery tunnel that uses gravity to bring aquifer (ground-) water to settlements or fields at a lower ground elevation

Useful in hot, arid regions near hills or mountains - keeps water cold underground

Origin in Achaemenid Persia

Aqueduct

• Spring or river-fed artificial channels (sometimes cut as tunnels or built up with bridges) using gravity to transport water from a distance

• Athenian aqueduct built by Pisistratus (late 6th c. BCE) = Ceramic pipe (but not pressurized), partly in a tunnel

• Common for pipes to have the makers mark - the person who constructed the pipes

Segments of ceramic piping with a hole on the top

• The hole =  for cleaning, for easier construction of the pipes, and for sealing pipes together

• The hole would have a cap plugging it, to prevent things from getting in the water

Greek Fountain Houses

Often monumentalized and highly decorated

• Mainly women or slaves going to collect water

• Jars were brought to collect water from the fountains

Behind a columned façade would be the basin of water - which filled due to the spout that always ran (could not turn off water)

Inverted siphon

• Pressurized: requires closed pipe of sufficient strength (lead or metal)

• Height difference (hydraulic gradient on diagram above) required for pressure to overcome friction in the pipe

• If there is one crack in a pipe, than the whole thing wouldn’t work - too much effort

Stilling basin

manage the flow of the water in aqueduct pipes (reducing the speed of the flow to preserve the lining of the pipes)

• a chute cut into the ground, to reduce the speed of water continuing on

Dropshaft

 used for aerating the water int he aqueducts, collecting the silt in the water, and dissipates some of the kinetic energy of the water

Frontinus

1st c.CE

• Successful general and politician, becoming consul three times

• wrote a work called De Aquaeductu (On Aqueducts)

Important insight on urban network, which is archaeologically less well known

Castellum aquae

The water distribution center

• Pompeii 1st c. CE

• Inside the building, water is divided into 3 main pipes, where the water then gets transported to different areas of the city

• Was pressurized (due to lead pipes), not just relying on gravity