which still stands. Its mud dome was eventually blanketed by
bricks without the use of mortar.
Although it is known that Indians used wood for build-
ing many structures, superseding the use of mud in the north
early in recorded history, little is known about the ancient
wooden structures because they did not survive long enough.
Heavy rains and humidity made wood rot quickly. Still, a
little is known about early wooden buildings from surviving
temples carved in stone. In about 150 b.c.e., in the Western
Ghats mountain range along the west coast of India, rock
carvers expanded caves that initially had been homes for reli-
gious ascetics, creating spectacular temples and monasteries.
Th e ceilings of some of these temples are arched, and repre-
sentations of wooden beams have been carved into them. Th e
carvings show many small wooden beams fi tted together to
form arches, resembling a technique used in ancient China
at that time. Iron axes with fl at edges were used for the initial
dressing of the stone, and fi ne tools of iron and stone were
used for carving images.
Th e Indians used the post-and-crossbeam technique, in
which two or more posts are set in the ground in a row and
beams are laid across their tops to bear the weight of a roof
or higher fl oor while leaving openings that could be fi lled
by walls or doors. When building with bricks or small stone
blocks, they used the corbeling technique to create openings
in free-standing stone structures, such as towers. A corbeled
opening is an arch shaped like an upside down V of steps, in
which blocks are set with one end projecting outward and the
other end held in place by the weight of blocks piled on it. Be-
cause they have no mortar to hold them together, the blocks
are prone to shift ing from the eff ect of earthquakes or erosion
of their foundations, sometimes causing the structures to col-
lapse. When building tall stone structures such as gateways,
Indians fi rst constructed an outer framework of bamboo that
crisscrossed to make squares up which workers could climb.
Corbeling without mortar created problems for ancient
builders that they did not fully solve. Most of Indochina and
Indonesia imitated Indian building techniques. In the region
of modern Cambodia, the Funan kingdom of the fi rst through
sixth centuries c.e. imitated Indian construction techniques,
but their tall brick buildings would fall down. Later Funan
and Angkor (802–1432 c.e.) builders in the region of modern-
day Cambodia used sand to even out the foundations of their
buildings, but water would wash away the sand, and towers
would tilt and eventually crumble. Th ey tried to solve that
problem by hollowing out stones at the bases of buildings and
inserting timbers buried in the ground to stabilize tall struc-
tures, but in the wet climate the timbers would rot, and the
walls and towers would fall. Th ese ancient builders and those
in Java tried using dowels of iron for holding stones in place,
but they required maintenance; iron would rust and fall apart
and then so would walls.
In China, around 4000 b.c.e., the Yellow River culture
built homes that were circular, with timber walls shored up
on the outside by mounds of dirt and conical thatched roofs
that peaked in the middle. Th is basic structure spread to
much of eastern Asia, and circular houses were still being
built on the island of Honshu in the 200s c.e. As the Yellow
River culture encountered cultures from the south and north,
building protective structures became as important as build-
ing homes. During the Shang Dynasty (ca. 1500–ca. 1045
b.c.e.) towns were surrounded by walls of tamped dirt. On
the northern frontiers, during the Zhou Dynasty (ca. 1045–
256 b.c.e.), some small feudal provinces built long walls to
deter nomadic northern tribes from invading. In 214 b.c.e.
the emperor Shi Huangdi began to have these various walls
connected into the Great Wall. Th e inner part of the wall was
fi lled with debris, while stones were laid for the outer parts of
the wall. Th is technique became common for building forti-
fi cations in China.
Even though the Great Wall is justifi ably renowned, the
great genius of Chinese architecture came not in the build-
ing of the wall but rather in creating techniques of construc-
tion that could be applied to monumental structures and to
tiny homes and that were versatile enough to be adapted to
diff erent building materials according to availability. Th us,
in northen China golden loess from desert areas was used
for bricks, which were combined with wood to build struc-
tures; in central China stone would be combined with wood;
and in southern China stone would be combined with bam-
boo as well as wood. All builders followed basic practices
developed by the time of the emperor Shi Huangdi: Foun-
dations would be excavated and fi lled with unhewn stone,
bamboo or timber frameworks would be created for workers
to climb, posts would be set in the foundation to bear most
of the weight of the structure, and walls would bear little or
no weight.
Th e posts would oft en have to bear immense weight, es-
pecially from roofs tiled with earthenware. On the top of a
post, Chinese workers would place struts, usually of wood,
that spread out upward like upturned legs; on their ends
would be laid crossbeams or more struts spreading out, and
the pattern would be continued as high as needed to reach the
bottom of the fl oor above or the roof; the eff ect was to draw
the weight of a building into the posts. Th is method resulted
in buildings that had posts throughout their interiors, oft en
set close together; provided the posts were sturdy, builders
could place almost anything they wished onto a structure,
which resulted in majestic pagodas, imposing palaces, shops,
and houses for rich and poor.
Th e ancient Chinese used corbeling for their arches.
Th is resulted in sometimes awkward public works, espe-
cially bridges, which tended to have tall, steep arcs that were
very hard for people and carts to traverse while burdened.
Even as the Great Wall was being built, Chinese engineers
were borrowing from the technique of post and crossbeam
to lay sturdy stone bridges. Th e stone beams were as long
as 70 feet and weighed as much as 200 tons; these beams
were smoothed with iron axes, dragged to riversides, lashed
across several boats abreast, and fl oated into place during156 building techniques and materials: Asia and the Pacific