Corbel arch

Corbel Arch

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Corbel arch

A corbel arch (or corbeled / corbelled arch) is an arch-like construction method which uses the architectural

Architecture

The term architecture can refer to a process, a profession or documentation.As a process, architecture is the activity of designing and construction buildings and other physical structures by a person or a computer, primarily to provide shelter....
technique of corbel

Corbel

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Corbel arch

Basic principle of corbeled arch design.	Comparison of (right) a corbel arch and (left) a generic "true" stone arch Arch An arch is a structure that Span a space while supporting weight . Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture, but their systematic use started with the Ancient Rome who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures....

A corbel arch (or corbeled / corbelled arch) is an arch-like construction method which uses the architectural

Architecture

Corbel

In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger"....
ing to span a space or void in a structure, such as an entranceway in a wall or as the span of a bridge. A corbel vault uses this technique to support the superstructure of a building's roof.

A corbel arch is constructed by offsetting successive courses of stone at the springline of the walls so that they project towards the archway's center from each supporting side, until the courses meet at the apex of the archway (often capped with flat stones). For a corbeled vault covering the technique is extended in three dimensions along the lengths of two opposing walls.

Although an improvement in load-bearing efficiency over the post and lintel

Post and lintel

Post and lintel is a simple construction technique, also called "post and Beam ", where a horizontal member is supported by two vertical posts at either end....
design, corbeled arches are not entirely self-supporting structures, and it is sometimes termed a "false arch" for this reason. Unlike "true" arch

Arch

An arch is a structure that Span a space while supporting weight . Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture, but their systematic use started with the Ancient Rome who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures....
es, not all of the structure's tensile stresses caused by the weight of the superstructure are transformed into compressive stress

Compressive stress

Compressive stress is the stress applied to materials resulting in their compaction . When a material is subjected to compressive stress, then this material is under physical compression....
es. Corbel arches and vaults require significantly thickened walls and an abutment

Abutment

An abutment is an end support of a bridge superstructure.Abutments are used for the following purposes:* to transmit the reaction of superstructure to the foundation ....
of other stone or fill to counteract the effects of gravity, which otherwise would tend to collapse each side of the archway inwards.

Use in historical cultures

Maya civilization

Corbeled arches are a distinctive feature of certain pre-Columbian

Pre-Columbian

The pre-Columbian era incorporates all archaeology of the Americas in the history of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the Americas continents....
Mesoamerica

Mesoamerica

Mesoamerica or Meso-America is a region and cultural area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Honduras and Nicaragua, within which a number of pre-Columbian society flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and 16th centuries....
n constructions and historical/regional architectural styles, particularly in that of the Maya civilization. The prevalence of this spanning technique for entrances and vaults

Vault (architecture)

A Vault is an architecture term for an arched form used to provide a space with a ceiling or roof. The parts of a vault exert a thrust that require a counter Friction....
in Maya architecture is attested at a great many Maya archaeological sites, and is known from structures dating back to the Formative

Mesoamerican chronology

Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into a number of named successive eras or periods, from the earliest evidence of human habitation through to the early Colonial period which followed the Spanish colonization of the Americas....
or Preclassic era. By the beginning of the Classic era (ca. 250 CE

Common Era

Common Era, abbreviated as CE, is a designation for the calendar system most commonly used in the Western world, and also internationally, for numbering the year part of the calendar date....
) corbeled vaults are a near-universal feature of building construction in the central Petén Basin

Petén Basin

The Pet?n Basin is a geographical subregion of Mesoamerica, located in the northern portion of the modern-day nation of Guatemala, and essentially contained within the department of Pet?n ....
region of the central Maya lowlands.

Ancient Greece

The ruins of ancient Mycenae

Mycenae

Mycenae , is an archaeology in Greece, located about 90 km south-west of Athens, in the north-eastern Peloponnese. Argos is 6 km to the south; Corinth, 48 km to the north....
feature many corbel arches and vaults, the "Treasury of Atreus" being a prominent example.

Ireland

The Newgrange

Newgrange

Newgrange is one of the passage tombs of the Br? na B?inne complex in County Meath, one of the most famous prehistoric sites in the world and the most famous of all Ireland prehistoric sites....
passage tomb has an intact corbel arch supporting the roof of the main chamber, dating from about 3000BC.

India

Before the true arch was introduced by the Romans, the arches in Indian buildings were trabeate or corbelled. The tomb of Sultan Ghari is an example of a corbelled arch from 1231 AD, located in New Delhi, India.