What is marble? A Cycladic figurine from Ancient Greece in marble, once realistically painted. What is marble made out of? Marble is metamorphic limestone . That is, marble is a metamorphic rock [...]
A block of limestone Starting with seashells Limestone is a kind of sedimentary stone that is very common all over the world. This kind of stone forms out of the shells of [...]
Parthenon frieze (Athens, Greece, 440s BC): What is a frieze? Definition of a frieze A frieze (pronounced FREEZE) is a long narrow band of sculpture that runs along the architrave [...]
History of cement: An underground mithraeum in the Roman port town of Ostia History of cement Cement is a very hard kind of rock that people make themselves. People all over [...]
Roman baths of Cluny in Paris - barrel vault Making an arch into a roof Once you've built an arch, you know how to make a doorway or a window [...]
A block of tufa from Caere with an Etruscan inscription on it. Tufa (some people call it "tuff") is a kind of limestone that is very common in Italy. Tufa [...]
Is travertine marble? No. The travertine is the white stone in between the bricks (This is from the Colosseum in Rome) Is travertine marble? Travertine is a kind of sedimentary [...]
Transept of Rouen cathedral (France, 1200s AD) Transepts were part of medieval Christian churches. Most churches were shaped like a cross, to remind people about Jesus' crucifixion, and the transept [...]
A thatched roof on a mud-brick house in West Africa When did people start to thatch roofs? Most houses in ancient Europe, Asia, and Africa had thatched roofs. People have [...]
A bit of plaster left on the wall of a Punic house from Carthage People used plaster to cover the bare stone or mudbrick on the walls of houses, both [...]
