CYCLOPEAN

MASONRY (from the

See also:

• CYCLOPES (KUKXW9rer, the round-eyed, plural of Cyclops)

Cyclopes, the supposed builders of the walls of

See also:

• MYCENAE

Mycenae)  , a term in architecture, used, in conjunction with Pelasgic, to define the rude polygon& construction employed by the Greeks and the Etruscans in the walls of their cities . In the earliest examples they consist only of huge masses of rock, of irregular shape, piled one on the other and trusting to their great size and weight for cohesion; some-times smaller pieces of rock filled up the interstices . The walls and gates of Tiryns and Mycenae were thus constructed . Later, these blocks were rudely shaped to fit one another . It is not always possible to decide the period by the type of construction, as this depended on the material; where stratified rocks could be obtained, horizontal coursing might be adopted; in fact, there are instances in Greece, where a later wall of cyclopean construction has been built over one with horizontal courses .