Lykische Grabarchitektur - Vom Holz zum Stein?

The stone funeral architecture of Lycia (5 th /4 th century B.C.) in the south-western part of contemporary Turkey shows elements in shape and form of an earlier wooden architecture. The substantial selection of free-standing graves, with varying significance for the reconstruction theory, is described for Limyra or Lycian in varying intensity and detail (66 graves in total). This selection includes graves in Lycian (29 graves) and Greek (11 graves) forms, as well as sarcophargi (29 graves). 29 of the graves were measured for the first time in order to document the status quo threatened by distrucrion. The identification of autochthone Lycian details significant for the reconstruction and the development of a special Lycian wooden construction system support the thesis that existing Lycian stones are permanent copies of the transient wooden constructions. The actual reconstruction of experimental buildings in Limyra gives an impression of what Lycian wooden architecture would have been like. The resulting solutions allow freedom in interpretation due to the abundance of possible characteristics. This book is a basis for discussion to substantiate the thesis proven by constructional experiments and to highlight open issues. The essential point is to derive a wooden construction system from the findings in the necropoles. The proposal of a special pin construction is shown in theory and practice: The original wooden buildings consist of beams and pillars of one or several pieces. Their junctions are shaped so that they can be connected in such a way by following the three dimensions to form a stable spacial unit. Splitting the construction units into several pieces facilitates the unbroken extension of the single buildings independently of the length of the timber. On the other hand, the elasticity of the connections can resort in distortion of the whole construction (i.e. during earthquakes). Knowledge of disciplines influencing architecture, like structural engineering and the building physics as well as statements about building material and contemporary and antique construction techniques, verify the constructive genesis of Lycian stone architecture. The examination of formal and constructive outline principles shows that the measuring of complete buildings as well as the construction details is not directly transferable from the stone tombs to the original wooden buildings. The accumulation of integral proportions and the proof of a foot measure in the Lycian tomb architecture is interesting, because both are indices for formally composed construction concepts. Looking to the future and the possible continuation of the subject in an urban dimension, a concrete impression of Lycian construction culture should be sought and developed by using potential relics from antic settlements in Limyra built with the Lycian junctions in a wooden construction and the subsequent possibility of adding the elements.