Page 23 - Studio International - April 1974
P. 23
usually built of logs plastered with earth and sticks,
octagonal sub-structure in ceiling and entrance to
east. Igloos more hemispherical; constructed from
ice. In nature, mole hills (see photo) and ant hills
common.
`External habitat' mounds: for purpose of forti-
fication and/or elevation of living quarters for
symbolic reasons (acropolis, also see 3 and 4 below),
or to withstand natural weather hazards (Missis-
sippi Valley Mounds; geodesic domes; lunar
pressurized domes).
Geodesic Dome, American Pavilion, EXPO 67,
Montreal, by Buckminster Fuller
Photo : courtesy of Canadian Government Tourist
Bureau, New York
Formed by accumulation of kitchen refuse (2a),
where diets consisted of shell fish, and located in
numerous coastal regions. Began in Mesolithic
Period (c. s000 Bc) in Scandinavia and Portugal.
Some mounds have been used for storage of materials,
such as haystacks (2b) (photo) and sandpiles (2c) Mole hill, Macomb, Illinois
(photo), among others. The finer the composite
materials, the more horizontal the mound form
tends to lie on the ground plane (such as sand or dust).
Used to elevate position of worship. Characteristic-
ally applied during later phases of Mississippi Haystack, Macomb, Illinois
Valley cultures (3a), extending from tradition of
high mound and pyramid complexes of Meso-
america. Used in Toltec and Aztec (3b) cultures as
a worship form with steps to top. Mesopotamian
ziggurats of Sumerian ancestry (3c) are well-known
examples, although their rectilinear walls are
contrary to true mounds.
Sandpiles, Kansas
Most widely distributed type of man-made mound.
Common for burial (4a). Vary in shape, size, struc-
ture, and materials according to culture and location.
Egyptian burial concepts pertaining to the after-life
encouraged a development of an enduring mound
form which evolved from ordinary burial mounds,
to mastabas (4b), step pyramids (4c), and true
pyramids (4d) (photo). Like ziggurats, these mound
forms are not true mounds, due to flat walls and
rectilinear shape, and contained rooms and tunnels
that were not to be entered except during construc-
tion and interment procedures.
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