Archaeotectural Alternatives

Abstract

AbstractThe cone-on-a-cylinder model of roundhouse is incapable of extension beyond a maximum diameter determined by maximum length of rafter. By contrast, the split roof with central tower is limited only by the maximum height that can be achieved by the tower. Roundhouses seldom show evidence of partial repairs, which suggests rebuilding took place only periodically, when the roof thatch required replacement, or perhaps generationally. Multi-ringed houses suggest a different superstructure, possibly involving turf as a roofing material. One variant of roundhouse is the oval house, drawing apart the two semi-circles with a medial ridge, as in the Roman Iron Age houses of Cornish ‘rounds’. A major variant on the roundhouse theme are figure-of-eight houses, notably documented archaeologically and historically in the early historic period in Ireland. Further variants include ‘shamrocks’ and cellular houses of the Later Iron Age in Northern Britain. The penannular ridge-roof model, advanced many years ago and generally now overlooked, conceptually linked round and rectangular plans. In the early Roman period the aisled hall likewise can be viewed as the counterpart of roundhouses in the social use of space, despite apparent contrasts in plan. Strict typology may thus inhibit interpretation.