Subject:
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Re: 2000 year old Lego!
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.people, lugnet.fun
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Date:
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Mon, 2 Oct 2000 20:15:53 GMT
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Viewed:
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432 times
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Steve Bliss wrote:
>
> Interesting. The book, "The World of LEGO Toys" has an item (I think with
> a picture) about a similar surface, from an ancient Greek ruin. The item
> says that this surface was used on the underside of the entryway roof. So
> the ancient Greeks had to look up to see it.
This is a standard part of any building which is built in the style of
the "Doric order", including many temples and other structures in
ancient Greece.
The techical term for these "upside-down LEGO studs" is "guttae." You
can find out more about them at the following Perseus article:
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0004:id%3Dguttae
You can see them in th following pictures:
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/image?lookup=1990.27.0633
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/image?lookup=1990.27.0600
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/image?lookup=1992.12.0146
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/image?lookup=1987.09.0285
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/image?lookup=1987.09.0284
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/image?lookup=1987.09.0274
Note that studs-down building was not a major part of Greek
architecture. These guttae were just a small part of the Doric order
(unimportant enough that they were left out of at least a couple of
Doric entablatures). By the classical period, Greek architects no
longer knew exactly why the Doric order was the way it was, and weren't
sure what the guttae were for. Some people thought they represented the
pegs used to hold together wooden beams, back when they built temples
out o wood. Others thought they represented water dripping off the
building. In any case, guttae were not used in the later Ionic order.
> Maybe the Romans were copying?
Yes, they most certainly were. :) Although the Romans tended to prefer
the Ionic order, they did build a number of Doric structures.
--
Tim Buchheim
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: 2000 year old Lego!
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| (...) a picture) about a similar surface, from an ancient Greek ruin. The item says that this surface was used on the underside of the entryway roof. So the ancient Greeks had to look up to see it. Maybe the Romans were copying? Steve (24 years ago, 2-Oct-00, to lugnet.people, lugnet.fun)
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