Doric Foot and Metrological Implications of the Ancient Theatre of Makyneia, Western Greece
Understanding the length and subdivisions of ancient length units is necessary for Archaeology, Architecture, and engineering, among other fields. These metrological units derive from anthropocentric concepts (fathom, cubit, foot, finger, etc.) and hence their metrological characteristics are variab...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-08-01
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| Series: | Metrology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8244/2/3/23 |
| _version_ | 1797464502528114688 |
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| author | Stathis C. Stiros |
| author_facet | Stathis C. Stiros |
| author_sort | Stathis C. Stiros |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Understanding the length and subdivisions of ancient length units is necessary for Archaeology, Architecture, and engineering, among other fields. These metrological units derive from anthropocentric concepts (fathom, cubit, foot, finger, etc.) and hence their metrological characteristics are variable and unknown for various ancient civilizations. The Roman length units are well determined, but the ancient Greek units are not. A rule sculpted in a metrological relief recently permitted the recognition of the Doric foot as having a length of 327 mm, but the broader use and divisions of this length unit remain unknown. In this article we present evidence of use of the Doric foot from the modeling of an ancient, atypical small theatre of the 4th–3rd century B.C., at Makyneia, on the western Greece mainland. It was found that this structure was designed using the Doric foot and its division in 24 (or even 12) digits. This result from a small provincial town indicates that the Doric foot was in broad use in architectural and engineering works of the ancient Greek World, and this result may be used to solve various problems of that era. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T18:09:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8d3d18caf6a2438a9be69a811b10ee5b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-8244 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T18:09:02Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Metrology |
| spelling | doaj.art-8d3d18caf6a2438a9be69a811b10ee5b2023-11-24T09:15:17ZengMDPI AGMetrology2673-82442022-08-012338739310.3390/metrology2030023Doric Foot and Metrological Implications of the Ancient Theatre of Makyneia, Western GreeceStathis C. Stiros0Department of Civil Engineering, Patras University, 26500 Patras, GreeceUnderstanding the length and subdivisions of ancient length units is necessary for Archaeology, Architecture, and engineering, among other fields. These metrological units derive from anthropocentric concepts (fathom, cubit, foot, finger, etc.) and hence their metrological characteristics are variable and unknown for various ancient civilizations. The Roman length units are well determined, but the ancient Greek units are not. A rule sculpted in a metrological relief recently permitted the recognition of the Doric foot as having a length of 327 mm, but the broader use and divisions of this length unit remain unknown. In this article we present evidence of use of the Doric foot from the modeling of an ancient, atypical small theatre of the 4th–3rd century B.C., at Makyneia, on the western Greece mainland. It was found that this structure was designed using the Doric foot and its division in 24 (or even 12) digits. This result from a small provincial town indicates that the Doric foot was in broad use in architectural and engineering works of the ancient Greek World, and this result may be used to solve various problems of that era.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8244/2/3/23metrology in antiquitylength unitsArchaeologyfootcubitancient theatre |
| spellingShingle | Stathis C. Stiros Doric Foot and Metrological Implications of the Ancient Theatre of Makyneia, Western Greece Metrology metrology in antiquity length units Archaeology foot cubit ancient theatre |
| title | Doric Foot and Metrological Implications of the Ancient Theatre of Makyneia, Western Greece |
| title_full | Doric Foot and Metrological Implications of the Ancient Theatre of Makyneia, Western Greece |
| title_fullStr | Doric Foot and Metrological Implications of the Ancient Theatre of Makyneia, Western Greece |
| title_full_unstemmed | Doric Foot and Metrological Implications of the Ancient Theatre of Makyneia, Western Greece |
| title_short | Doric Foot and Metrological Implications of the Ancient Theatre of Makyneia, Western Greece |
| title_sort | doric foot and metrological implications of the ancient theatre of makyneia western greece |
| topic | metrology in antiquity length units Archaeology foot cubit ancient theatre |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8244/2/3/23 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT stathiscstiros doricfootandmetrologicalimplicationsoftheancienttheatreofmakyneiawesterngreece |