Archeology of Architecture

La présente contribution vise à préciser les aspects géographiques et chronologiques liés à l’apparition, au développement et au déclin d’un type de construction en pierre sèche localement appelée « torre ». Ces édifices monumentaux, qui présentent une forme de tour tronconique, sont élevés selon un cahier des charges architectural précis, et trouvent leur strict équivalent en Sardaigne avec les milliers de nuraghi monotorre du Bronze ancien et moyen. La publication du détail du maigre corpus des torre de Corse, ainsi que la révision des données chronologiques fournies par les fouilles et les prospections opérées ces cinquante dernières années, seront également l’occasion de souligner l’importance prise par ces monuments dans l’évolution de la construction du discours archéologique depuis les années 1960 et les travaux de Roger Grosjean.

Il contributo analizza il rapporto tra il Comune di Genova e le maestranze specializzate di costruttori e lavoratori della pietra durante la fase di maggiore espansione territoriale nella Liguria occidentale. Questi ultimi, noti nella storiografia col nome di magistri antelami, già sul finire del XII secolo iniziano a mostrare le prime organizzazioni del lavoro tipiche della futura associazione corporativistica. I tratti caratteristici del loro lavoro (murature in opus quadratum, produzione di conci ben lavorati e spianati, con tracce di strumenti per la lavorazione omogenee in tutto il territorio) iniziano a comparire in modo significativo nel Ponente ligure solo a partire dal Duecento, circa un secolo dopo rispetto al capoluogo o ai centri della Liguria di levante ed esclusivamente in contesti legati a un dominio diretto genovese. La motivazione di tale fenomeno è riconducibile ad un uso apertamente politico dell'architettura monumentale da parte del Comune che emerge in modo incrociato sia dalle fonti scritte che dalle fonti archeologiche. La monumentalizzazione del paesaggio avviene contestualmente e in risposta alle ultime rivendicazioni di autonomia da parte dei centri cittadini e delle signorie locali durante gli anni di regno di Federico II.

The study focuses on the spread of the brick decoration in the late-medieval architecture of Chierese and Alto Astigiano land. The survey covered an area of 500 sq km and identified 37 defensive, civil and religious buildings in 17 towns. Of each building, settlement context, type, structural and formal evolution were analyzed, with special emphasis on the various repertoire of terracotta decorative elements and plaques (XIII-XV centuries). The work was closely linked to a computerized filing: in a large database specific data were merged for each record, accompanied by extensive graphic documentation on both architectures and their decoration. The classification of the decorative patterns is planned according to typological criteria in order to facilitate comparisons and define history and evolution. The graphic set, ranging from the relief of a single plaque to the representation of whole facades, is designed to provide the widest recording on their features. The research has revealed a number of evolutionary processes: starting from religious buildings, decorative patterns spread to defensive architectures, first in schematic and linear forms (the overfired brick diapering, linear frames etc.), and then, from fifthteenth century on, in the appearance in civil architecture of impressive decorations assembled on the basis of a rich repertoire of figurative molded plaques. The so-called "civilization of baked clay" centered around Chieri is found not to be apart from the artistic and cultural milieu of Northern Italy: close ties to the Lombard environment emerge, from which it draws building features and decorative patterns. Moreover, it shows to share ferments of renewal with the Gothic style flourishing beyond the Alps, due to contacts of the Chierese élites with the refined courts of Burgundy and Flanders. The surveyed repertory showed how Chieri and its land shared an international context, maintaining at the same time a marked originality in many of its achievements.

The thesis analyzes the contribution of the buildings built for the World’s Fairs to the history of architecture structural typologies, defining these contributions, their importance and the fields where they're acknowledged, supporting the fact that these events have been Structural Experimentation Laboratories. The work focuses on typological and design aspects, ranging the period from the first World Fair held in 1851 to the year 2000. Numerous historical relations are established between Exhibition buildings and others besides these events, either precedents or sequels. This method places exhibition buildings in the technological context of their time and therefore proves justice to its value. The thesis not only aims to technical issues but also relates the structures of exhibition buildings to the different architectural trends based on technological exaltation or structural fantasy, taking also into account the main historical events in western world during the studied period. Additionally, there are many references to other un-built projects that took part in the several design competitions for these exhibitions that help to build up the idea of World’s Fairs as creative catalysts. The thorough documentary work and the rigorous analysis of all these documents delivers justice to the value of these buildings, otherwise in marginal consideration, and helps detect mistakes in classical publications on history of modern architecture. Also, this thesis reveals many written and graphic documents unpublished in contemporary editions.

La tesis analiza la aportación que han supuesto las estructuras de los edificios construidos con motivo de las Exposiciones Universales a la historia de las tipologías estructurales de edificación, determinando cuales han sido estas aportaciones, en que campos se han producido y su trascendencia histórica, fundamentando documentalmente el carácter de Laboratorio de Experimentación de Estructuras que han constituido estos acontecimientos. El trabajo se centra fundamentalmente en aspectos tipológicos y de diseño estructural, abarcando el período histórico comprendido entre la primera Exposición Universal, celebrada en 1851, y el año 2000. Se establecen relaciones históricas entre los edificios expositivos y otros ajenos a estos eventos, que han constituido antecedentes y secuelas de los mismos, metodología que permite el engranaje del edificio de exposición en el contexto tecnológico de cada época y, por tanto, su justa puesta en valor. La tesis no se centra únicamente en aspectos técnicos sino que también establece múltiples relaciones entre las estructuras de los edificios expositivos y determinadas corrientes arquitectónicas basadas en la exaltación tecnológica o en la fantasía estructural, valorando además la influencia de los principales acontecimientos del devenir histórico general del mundo Occidental en el período estudiado. Asimismo, se realizan numerosas referencias a proyectos no construidos, permitiendo apuntalar la idea de la Exposición Universal como catalizador de la creatividad estructural. El trabajo documental realizado y el análisis riguroso de dicha documentación han permitido poner en su justo valor algunos pabellones expositivos que han permanecido en una situación histórica marginal. La tesis saca a la luz abundante documentación tanto gráfica como escrita inédita en publicaciones contemporáneas.

This thesis is avaliable in hight resolución .pdf on the following links:
Esta tesis está disponible en .pdf de alta resolución en los siguientes enlaces:
http://openarchive.icomos.org/1705/
http://hdl.handle.net/2183/16523

Ogni realtà architettonica, è espressione dell’ambiente socio-economico in cui è stata concepita e ogni suo elemento riflette la volontà generatrice del sostrato culturale locale. Partendo da questo assunto, il presente volume affronta, mediante l’uso di nuovi strumenti di ricerca propri dell’archeologia del costruito, lo sviluppo delle architetture fortificate e dei contesti urbani nella “Lunigiana Storica”, sub-regione culturale collocata tra Toscana e Liguria, durante il medioevo. L’autore analizza in particolare il fenomeno della signoria dei vescovi di Luni, grande forza economica promotrice ed artefice dell’incastellamento e dell’organizzazione rurale della diocesi tra X e XIV secolo. Lo studio degli edifici storici, oggetto di questa ricerca, è affrontato mediante una strategia metodologica multidisciplinare costruita sull'impiego combinato di indagini proprie dell’archeologia e dell’edilizia storica quali l’analisi stratigrafica, tecnologica e crono-tipologica degli elevati, e i più recenti strumenti di rilievo fotogrammetrico e la ricostruzione tridimensionale.

Local architectural heritage is an expression of a long-lasting circle of traditions and oral knowledge fostered from one generation to another and revealed through simple or complex architectural realities. It is also a manifestation of economic and social impact on the landscape. Given this assumption, this volume, by means of new building archaeology research approaches, debates the development and the organisation of the fortified architectures, settlements and centres during the medieval age in the historical area of Luni (Lunigiana), a sub-cultural region that stands between Tuscany and Liguria (Italy). The author portrays a complete and summarized picture of the development of the power of the bishopric in the Luni area, promoter of the seigniorial territorialization and castle-building, between the 10th and 14th centuries. The study of the historical architectures adopts a multifaceted methodology that combines building archaeology such as wall stratigraphic relationships, building phases, type-chronology of the architectural elements, and masonry techniques analysis together with more recent dense image modeling and 3D reconstruction techniques

"[ES] Se presenta la Memoria Técnica resultante de los trabajos arqueológicos desarrollados en el marco de la redacción del Plan Director de las Fortalezas Transfronterizas del Tramo Bajo del Río Miño. Estos trabajos consistían en la realización de una prospección arqueológica superficial previa a la redacción de dicho Plan Director, cuya finalidad era la de conseguir un mayor y mejor conocimiento arqueológico de los inmuebles y sus entrornos inmediatos, así como de los Bienes Patrimoniales que pudieran estar relacionados con las infraestructuras de dichas fortalezas. Sin embargo, además de los resultados de estos trabajos y las propuestas de actuación sobre estos bienes, se recogen aquí también los resultados de todos los trabajos realizados, en el marco de esta redacción, con anterioridad a esta prospección, como son la organización del archivo de Jaime Garrido y el vaciado de la información existente en los Servicios de Arquitectura y Arqueología de la Dirección Xeral de Patrimonio Cultural de la Consellería de Cultura, Comunicación Social e Turismo.
[EN] This text consists of the final report of the archaeological works carried out within the development of the Management Plan for the Cross-boundary Frortresses in the Lower Miño river. Those works consisted of a superficial survey in advance to the design of the aforementioned Plan. The aim of the survey was to gather an indepth archaeological characterization of the fortresses and their immediate surroundings, and to collect additional information regarding any further cultural features related to them.However, in addition to that, we also present here the results of a series of previous works concering the organization of a series of documentary archives related to the fortresses, those of Jaime Garrido and the Architecture and Archaeology Services of the Galician Heritage Service, Board of Culture."

Num contexto cada vez mais actual de uma prática arquitectónica que se baseia no restauro e reabilitação do edificado, a análise estratigráfica apresenta-se como uma metodologia de trabalho indispensável mas ainda desconhecida em muitos meios.
Propomo-nos, no âmbito devidamente contextualizado do restauro e
reabilitação arquitectónica do Palácio de Valflores, apresentar esta metodologia de trabalho. Será pertinente abordar os vários momentos da mesma, desde o seu aparecimento em Itália, à sua evolução por Espanha até ser aplicada em Portugal.
Abordaremos as questões mais teóricas da sua aplicação e das suas ferramentas de trabalho, apresentando paralelamente um conjunto de casos de estudo que servem como primeiro contacto do leitor com esta metodologia.
Num contexto da prática da arquitectura, não bastará somente escrutinar este método mas também demonstrar a sua aplicação mais profunda num caso actual - o Palácio de Valflores.
Dessa forma, concluiremos o nosso estudo com a análise tipológica e
arquitectónica deste edifício, dando a conhecer os trabalhos em curso no mesmo apresentando ainda um pouco da análise estratigráfica que se tem desenvolvido em Valflores no âmbito de um trabalho mais vasto de investigação em Arqueologia da Arquitectura.

""The Chiesa Madre of S. Maria Assunta at Laurenzana (PZ, Basilicata, Italy) was a middle-age church, named in medieval documents Sancta Maria de Plataeis; the first mention is in Suebian age, under the emperor Friedrich II Hoenstaufen; a new building phase was at XVI-XVII century, with the expansion on North side. The third phase was in second part of XVIII century.
The life of the church was accompanied by the burial use of the underground rooms, under the floor of the building; the particular burial condition have helped the natural mummification of the deads. Many damages were caused by the earthquake of 1980.""

Architecture archeology: a way to  understand and preserve historical buildings.

Abstract
This article presents a study system and register results of surface exploration which combined with documents and scientific analysis, are employed to acknowledge and assess historical buildings of complex .building chronology, as part of the basic postulates of the Architecture Archeology as a discipline. It is about archaeometric  and stratigraphic researches that have bee n carried out for some years within the framework of the program  "Integrated Architectural Assets Conservation and Restoration" of the University of São Paulo Cultural Preservation Center (CPC-USP), with the participation of researchers and students from different areas.
This study category provides  a solid set of indicative  physical data about objects which, beyond their dating reference, lead to important understanding about building and artistic material, techniques and procedures used in the past. What happens is that stratigraphic systematic produces data which are apparently heterogeneous and  hard to interpret for professionals unaccustomed to prospective practices. This article presents a case study of Casa de Dona Yayá (Yayá's House), in São Paulo, and aims to define and employ time indicators which, intertwined, can shed light upon the building history of a studied architecture. To highlight specificities and boundaries of every stratigraphic virtual unit coming from such indicators, we resort to computer technology to portray a system of graphic synthesis supported by tridimensionality, considered more adequate to architectonic representation.

Augustodunum, civitas Aeduorum, fondée à l’époque augustéenne, fut dotée de quatre portes urbaines : la porte d’Arroux et la porte Saint-André qui sont les mieux conservées, la porte Saint-Andoche dont il ne reste qu’une tour de flanquement et la porte de Rome, depuis longtemps disparue. L’étude stratigraphique du bâti des portes et la réflexion sur le fonctionnement du chantier de construction des portes urbaines d’Autun constituent le cœur de ce travail. Par ailleurs, antiquaires, voyageurs et artistes ont laissé depuis le XVIème siècle de nombreux témoignages de leur visite des portes romaines d’Autun. Ce fonds documentaire considérable, constitué de sources écrites et iconographiques, n’avait jusqu’alors pas été étudié de manière globale. Il a fallu mettre en série les sources textuelles afin de comprendre la part des emprunts aux travaux antérieurs. Un travail semblable de critique des représentations iconographiques des portes urbaines a également été effectué. Complément indispensable de l’étude stratigraphique des élévations conservées, l’étude de cette documentation ancienne a permis de proposer une hypothèse de restitution de l’histoire longue des portes d’Augustodunum de leur construction à nos jours. Le dernier volet de ce travail a consisté à replacer les portes d’Autun dans la série des portes urbaines monumentales de l’Occident romain construites entre le IIème siècle av. J.-C. et le IIème siècle ap. J.-C. mais aussi à présenter de nouvelles propositions de restitution du projet architectural, du plan des portes et de l’organisation interne de leurs tours de flanquement.

Augustodunum, civitas Aeduorum, roman city founded under the reign of Augustus, was equipped with four roman city gates : the gate of Arroux and the gate of Saint André, both well preserved, the gate of Saint Andoche which sole remaining part is a flanking tower, and the gate of Rome, destroyed long ago.
The heart of this study lies in the stratigraphic reading of those gates structure and in thoughts about the building site of Autun’s city gates operating process.
Moreover, since the 16th century, antiquaries, travelers and artists have described in many ways their visits to the roman city gates of Autun. These accounts constitute a major documentary collection of written and iconographical sources that had never been studied as a whole before. A classification of written sources was necessary in order to understand the borrowings from previous works. A similar work of critical study has been realized for the iconographical representations of the gates.
As an essential complement of the stratigraphic reading of remaining elevations of the gates, the ancient archeological documentation study was indispensable to propose a restoration hypothesis of Augustodunum’s city gates long term history from their construction time to nowadays.
The last section of this study aims to locate Autun’s city gates in the series of monumental city gates built in Western Roman Empire between the 2nd century BC and the 2nd century AD. Furthermore, that section presents new propositions for the restoration of the architectural project, of the gates plan and of the inner organization of these gates flanking towers.

Ostrów Lednicki and Giecz are two of the most important centers of the Polish state in the 2-nd half of the 10 th century. In both sites the remains of residential complexes have been discovered. Both consist of a central planned chapel abutted to a rectangular building on the same axis. In both cases the chapel is situated on the east side of the building, divided into small rooms. On the opposite, west side of the whole complex there is a square room, possibly an aula. Taking the idea of composition into consideration we can say that the aula counterbalanced the central chapel. In this whole symmetrical layout we can follow a modular rhythm, which unites both sacral and representational parts of the complex.

Rammed earth is one of the most known traditional construction techniques, commonly used in urban and rural buildings in São Paulo State between 16th and 19th century. Strongly associated with regional cultural heritage, this technique was the nodal point of architectural history studies from 1950’s to 1990’s, when several scholars aimed to comprehend its diffusion, sometimes conciliated with experimental interventions of recovery. The analysis and recent critical review of these interventions have been pointed out the inattentiveness and conjunctural excesses of the past to claim for retrospective project methodologies approaches that ought to be more aware about international preservation premises of restoration discipline. Nowadays, the focus lays on precise documentation of material constitution of these buildings, which can lead, on a conservative basis, towards the diagnosis of interaction processes of different materials on the same surface and, on formal and architectonical orientation, towards the comprehension of what has been added, removed or altered through time. Based on these premises, this article exposes principles of study, methodology and procedures used for the vertical archaeological record of a rammed earth wall at old Paraíso Ranch Granary, in Campinas. Classified by the city, state and federation, the building was preserved by its last owner, Antonio da Costa Santos, architect and former mayor that gave to it their contemporary architectural value through undocumented conservative interventions. Using principles related to building archaeology field, we sought to organize a proposal for documentation that assesses the conservation of architectonical structures combined to the hypothesis orientation of “authorial” construction maintenance through time. This work aims to disseminate adequate ways of architectural record of rammed earth buildings in São Paulo to make available consistent documentation methods coherent to contemporary preservationist demands.

Of High Middle Ages origins, the Castle of Leiria has undergone different structural changes, mostly striving to adapt to the military defense evolutions.
In the present study, the military structures of the castle’s sector A (núcleo A), one of the three areas into witch the fortress is traditionally divided, have been under stratigraphic and artistic analysis, allowing to determine the constructive sequence of several erected sets and therefore attempt its chronotypological attribution.
Thus, different construction moments were defined.
Object of much research, divergent as to the methods but consistent in the desire to reveal its secrets, the Castle of Leiria already relies on a long and devoted historiography. To the many diferent narratives developed over more then a century we propose to add, with the present study, new arguments and so, hopefully, cast a new light upon the old walls of the Castle of Leiria.

This paper contains part of the results gathered from the first architectonic study of the Castle of Leiria’s military structers, conducted within a master's dissertation in Art History, from the University of Coimbra, combining Archaeology of Arquitecture and Art History. Among the several defensive structures of this castle, the so called último reduto (last stronghold), a small fortress within the castle itself, would reveal a complex and diachronic construction, unlike any other in the Castle of Leiria. In spite of it’s aparent modest architecture, awarding it classifications such as “conservative project” or “unfinished project”, it is demontrated how the último reduto, resulting of a four constructive phases sequence, is in fact an advanced project, a completely gothic defensive sistem, althow contained within a romanesque castle.

Located in the old medieval outskirts of Coimbra, a residential building has traditionally been named "medieval house”, due to its architecture, consistent with what was in vogue in Portuguese cities of the late medieval period. However, the opening of parietal archaeological surveys in the building revealed techniques, materials and construction systems that were used right until the eighteenth century.
The archaeological interpretation and the art-historical analysis of the architecture of the “medieval house” of Coimbra offer a unique opportunity to reflect on some architectural paradigms. Comparing it with other buildings and with iconographic sources, its chronotypology was analyzed and the diachrony of the constructive models adopted in this house demonstrated. Questioning its chronological epithet, the persistence of certain habits and constructive archetypes were explored, as well as the tension between private and public spaces, deepened by living and working in the same place.

The study of Maturana-Verástegui Palace has enabled us to understand the complex construction evolution of a building which, in perfect symbiosis with the historic past of the family which lived in it, was gradually transformed in a series of alterations until it became the structure we see today. Nevertheless, one of the most surprising results
of the study was the discovery that the palace was built on the ruins of two former properties, which burned down during the first half of the 15th century and whose construction dates back to the gradual occupation of the site during the 13th century.
The good state of conservation of the burned-down remains presented a unique opportunity for us to learn not only about the construction techniques used in the city from the 13th century onwards, but also about the different activities carried out inside a building dating from that period. In this sense, industrial activities seem to have played a key role, since the ground floor contained a forge specially designed to manufacture weapons (non-firearms).
However, we should not forget the everyday activities of the family which lived and worked inside the building, since a fabric washing zone was discovered, and it was even possible to distinguish the pottery and metal implements located on each of the floors, a finding which is of great importance for the study of the cultural material of the era.

Resum.
En el present treball es formula una proposta teòrica de cadena operativa d'un edifici navetiforme. Es descriuen les diferents fases del procés constructiu, que englobarien des de l'elecció del lloc i dels materials constructius fins a la realització dels acabats de l'estructura, passant per l’obtenció i transport dels materials, així com l'anivellació del terreny i la construcció dels elements estructurals. També s’analitzen les diferents tècniques usades en cadascuna de les etapes. A continuació, es realitza la seva aplicació pràctica als casos del navetiforme Alemany (Calvià, Mallorca) i del navetiforme I de Closos de Can Gaià (Felanitx, Mallorca).
Resumen.
En el presente trabajo se formula una propuesta teórica de cadena operativa de un  edificio navetiforme. Se describen las diferentes fases del proceso constructivo, que englobarían desde la elección del lugar y de los materiales constructivos hasta la realización de los acabados de la estructura,  pasando por obtención y transporte de los materiales, así como la nivelación del terreno y la construcción de los elementos estructurales. También se analizan las diferentes técnicas usadas en cada una de  las etapas. A continuación se realiza su aplicación práctica a los casos del Navetiforme Alemany (Calvià, Mallorca) y del navetiforme I de Closos de Can Gaià (Felanitx, Mallorca).


Abstract.
In this study a theoretical proposal about the operative chain of a navetiform building is formulated. The different parts of the building process are described. These include the choice of site and building materials, the making of the final elements of the structure, including also the obtaining and transportation of materials, the levelling of the terrain and the construction of the structural elements. The different techniques used in each of these stages are analysed. Following this, a practical application to the navetiform Alemany (Calvià, Mallorca) and the navetiform I at Closos de Can Gaià (Felanitx, Mallorca) is made.

REVISTA PARC - PESQUISA EM ARQUITETURA E CONSTRUÇÃO
Editorial PARC#4 V3
PATRIMÔNIO ARQUITETÔNICO - DA ARQUEOLOGIA AO PROJETO DE RESTAURO: QUESTÕES CONTEMPORÂNEAS
ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE - FROM ARCHAEOLOGY TO THE RESTORATION PROJECT: CONTEMPORARY ISSUES
Editoras: Regina Andrade Tirello e Maria de Magalhães Ramalho

Download pdf completo | Download full text
http://revistaparc.fec.unicamp.br/concrete5/

Se presentan los resultados de varios proyectos desarrollados entre 2003 y 2019, centrados en el proceso de fortificación de la frontera galaico-portuguesa con motivo de la Guerra de la Restauração (1640-1668). La primera consecuencia fue la construcción de una red defensiva fronteriza que modernizó la red de castillos medievales, generando un nuevo paisaje que materializó los principios de la fortificación abaluartada. Las ciudades sufrirán una importantísima transformación que modificará radicalmente su planta, los sistemas de
acceso a ellas e incluso la vida de sus habitantes. Este texto muestra cómo analizamos arqueológicamente la materialidad de estas transformaciones, la arquitectura, los cambios producidos en el territorio o la red de relaciones que se establece entre las entidades construidas,
lo que nos ha permitido comprender el sistema defensivo que se gestó en la frontera a partir de 1640 y siguió transformándose en los siglos posteriores hasta que esta defensa deja de tener sentido.

This paper expounds the results of the stratigraphic analysis of some of the most emblematic areas of the castle, mostly the space located over the Vera Cruz Chapel. These works were a commission from the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha heritage services and allowed us to know the exact position and dimensions of the primitive Mudéjar entrance which existed in the southeast wall of this last room and to identify the oldest structures remaining in these spaces.

Durante la ejecución del Plan Director para la Restauración de la Catedral de Santa María de Vitoria-Gasteiz se efectuó una detallada diagnosis de las patologías que afectaban al edificio y se dispuso un conjunto de prescripciones para la recuperación integral y puesta en valor del conjunto.
En el Plan Director1 se dedica un apartado propio al tratamiento de los edificios anexos. Esto se debe a que el equipo técnico pudo apreciar la complejidad y dificultad para establecer un límite entre las construcciones y la Catedral, así como la incongruencia que suponía aislar la futura restauración del resto de las construcciones. Es por ello por lo que se propuso una recuperación integral del contexto urbano en el que se enmarca la catedral. En este contexto se integran, lógicamente, las edificaciones adosadas a la pared oriental del templo. Concretamente la manzana de casas nº 4 del Casco Histórico, delimitada al este por la calle Cuchillería, al norte por el cantón de Santa María y al sur por el de San Marcos.

The aim of this paper is to establish a historical line from the first architectural application of structural elements made of industrial iron for roofs and multi-storey buildings to the first application of portal frame in a multi-storey building. With this in mind, the Crystal Palace built for the 1851 Great Exhibition held in London is revealed as the point of inflexion in the transition from metallic lattice typology, which is stabilized by perimeter masonry walls, to modern portal frame applied to the multi-storey building. Historical connections are detected in this transition giving value to some buildings which have remained on the side lines of the conventional architectural historiography. We can therefore expand on the traditional historical focus of the achievements of the Chicago School, highlighting and historically connecting prior events.

El objetivo del presente artículo es el de establecer la línea histórica que conduce desde la aplicación arquitectónica de los primeros elementos estructurales de hierro industrializado en edificios de varias plantas y cubiertas hasta la aplicación primigenia del pórtico rígido autoportante en un edificio de varias plantas. En este recorrido, el Crystal Palace de la Exposición Universal de Londres 1851 se revela como un elemento clave que articula la transición desde la tipología de entramado metálico estabilizado por muros perimetrales de fábrica hasta la moderna formalización del pórtico rígido autoestable aplicado al edificio en altura. Asimismo, se detectan las conexiones históricas existentes en dicho proceso, poniendo en valor edificios que han permanecido al margen de la historiografía arquitectónica convencional. Ampliamos, por tanto, el foco histórico centrado tradicionalmente en los logros de la Escuela de Chicago destacando y conectando históricamente los acontecimientos anteriores.

Esta memoria forma parte de una investigación realizada por el ex Grupo de Investigación en Arqueología de la Arquitectura (UPV/EHU) en 2008-09 sobre la evolución constructiva del Palacio Maturana - Verástegui ubicado en la ciudad de Vitoria- Gasteiz (Álava- País Vasco)

THE FIRST OPENED CARAVANSERAI, RABAT (RIBAT)
OF CENTRAL ASIA
Aultepe is one of the well-studied monuments of the early middle ages of Central Asia. The
excavation author S. K. Kabanov, based on the data obtained suggested that it was the ruins of
a castle of a local landowner. Many Central Asian architecture experts supported the author’s
findings on the purpose of the monument. After these studies, for many years Aultepe was
considered a reference monument of the early middle ages, with which newly discovered
monuments were compared. But large-scale archaeological excavations conducted in recent
years in Central Asia have provided new materials on the architecture of the region. These
data allowed us to turn again to the conclusions of the author. Until today, many scholars of
the history of architecture, the emergence of caravanserais, ribat or rebates associated precisely
with the spread of Islam in Central Asia. New studies of the materials of the monument to
Aultepe made it possible to put forward the assumption that the construction of caravanserais,
discounts or ribates dates back to an earlier time. Most likely, the origins of the discounts and
caravanserais, who played an important role in the development of trade in the middle ages,
reflect the increased role of the Great Silk Road. The article also raises the question of the
origins of the tradition of building discounts in Central Asia, which played an important role
in the development of trade on the Great Silk Road.
Key words: Aultepe, Central Asia, castle, discount, caravanserais, trade routes, architecture,
sufa, castle, fortress wall, tower, platform, dwellings, storage, “pakhsa”, mud bricks;

En este trabajo presentamos dos sitios arqueológicos situados al interior de la Sierra del Cajón en la provincia de Catamarca, y ocupados en el Periodo Tardío (ca. 1000-1430). Ambos forman parte de la Localidad Arqueológica de Pichanal, ubicada en la quebrada homónima. Su estudio nos provee información que permite ampliar el conocimiento de sitios emplazados en los cordones serranos interiores entre 2700 y 2800 msnm. Luego de sintetizar las tareas de campo realizadas en la Localidad Pichanal, nos proponemos caracterizar a los sitios 3 y 4 partiendo de los resultados obtenidos de los análisis realizados. En el sitio 3, se confeccionó el croquis, se estudiaron los fragmentos cerámicos recuperados superficialmente y en excavaciones estratigráficas. En el caso de Pichanal 4 se examinó la cerámica del sitio y se llevó a cabo un análisis espacial de la cerámica superficial. Asimismo, se elaboró el plano, se determinó la técnica constructiva utilizada y se analizaron las muestras de sedimentos recuperadas. A la luz de estos resultados, discutimos la vinculación posible entre ambos sitios, planteando una relación complementaria en base a una economía pastoril.

Anna maria Stagno, Casa rurale e storia degli insediamenti. Un approccio geografico per l'archeologia dell'edilizia storica. .. 23 Giuseppe clemente, Toponomastica e agiotoponomastica: strumenti, metodi e casi di studio per la conoscenza archeologica del territorio .

The Church of S. Giovanni Battista Decollato at Mensano (Siena), has a basilica plan with a central nave and two side-aisles, each terminating in an apse. Inside there are eight massive monolithic columns, with classicizing capitals carved with allegorical subjects. The building has undergone several transformations over the years of building activity. Traditionally ascribed to Maestro Bonamico Pisano, who was involved in the actual construction of Pisa Cathedral, and in the execution of the pulpit of Volterra Cathedral, the capitals are without doubt the most interesting decorative elements in the Church: a rare, if not unique, example of Pisan Romanesque sculpture in the Elsa Valley.  The church is an emblematic example of minor (secondary) historical heritage, and is a key representative of religious architecture of the time. It is even more significant in view of its proximity to the old Via Francigena.

The church is on the small hilltop town of Mensano, a medieval Senese outpost in the far western sector of the Upper Elsa Valley.
Geological studies identified an active landslip affecting the slope immediately behind the apse section, while suggesting deep-lying damage and cracks in the ground, which indeed can be seen in the walls of the building.
An accurate investigation was carried out on Pieve, which consisted of classic metric, material and morphological phases. In particular attention was taken to the survey of the cracking framework, which has highlighted a serious cinematism in progress.
At the same time a numerical analysis was carried out which confirmed the low degree of seismic vulnerability of the monument.

  The case of the Mensano’s Pieve is an emblematic example of minor (secondary) historical heritage, and it is a key representative of ancient religious architecture.
The countless medieval baptistery churches across Italy are increasingly suffering from gradual abandonment. The causes of this are to be found in the recent global economic crisis, which, in Italy, have led to a drastic cut in the resources normally set aside for basic maintenance, at least.
But “minor” does not mean “less important”, because, as in the case of Mensano, these works are often true architectural and artistic jewels. Not protecting them, or doing only little to protect them, is a very serious mistake, especially in view of the high degree of seismic activity in Italy, specifically in areas close to the monument in question.