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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