Transmission of Architectural Knowledge through Agricultural Practice

This paper explores an example of cultural transmission from Neolithic to modern times in central and southern Italy: the passing on of architectural knowledge through agricultural practice. Excavation and analysis of wattle and daub buildings from the Stentinello period (6th and 5th millennia B.C.) of Calabria and observation of their 20th-century counterparts prompted study of the continuation of this architectural tradition. Several constructional components have multiple utility in rural life and may have become enmeshed in cycles of general farming practices. For example, willow shoots used to tie together wooden wall frames were used in later times to tie grape vines, fasten branches when grafting, and make baskets. The mud employed as daub also served historically as a plaster to cover tree grafts and beehives of woven withies. Furthermore, plants used as temper in architectural daub could be added to clay that covered tree grafts. The study presents new data from art history, classical and historical literature (both agricultural manuals and fiction), and ethnography to understand how new generations learned constructional skills through frequent farming activities and helped to keep a building method alive.