The Molly Cotton Lecture

The study of Etruscan and Roman earthen architecture is traditionally limited to a few sites where traces of such perishable materials is preserved, especially after burning, however the use of raw earth for walling was a widespread technique in Italy. There are two main problems when discussing ancient earthen architecture: firstly, the definition of the technology (wattle-and-daub, rammed earth and mud-bricks) and secondly the components, which in literature are often misleading. There are substantial differences between the techniques and their structural functions that will be discussed in detail, using ancient sources, archaeological evidence and new scientific compositional analysis.