Page:History of Art in Phrygia, Lydia, Caria and Lycia.djvu/87

 ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PHRYGIA PROPER. 71 other and built up so as to form a curvilinear skeleton ; upon this are laid square posts as compactly as they can be laid (Figs. 43, 44). 1 The configuration of the soil is very peculiar ; for it is neither of the nature of the lowlands, nor can it be called alpine. The whole region from Kumbet to Seid el-Ghazi, Khosrev Pasha Khan, and Eski Kara Hissar, is a succes- sion of valleys with flat flooring, from 100 to i coo m. wide, dip- ping with slight varia- tions from north to south. The valleys are separated one from the other by thick formations of rocky masses, 40 to 50 m. in height ; now sloping upwards to a narrow ridge, now terminating in table- lands of some ex- /T ^. x ' &*&%&&&#& tent (Fig. 45). By reason of the crumbling away of the rock above, their base is a chaotic wilderness of boulders heaped up in confusion FIG, 43. Wooden house near Kumbet. M. E. Guillaume. After FIG, 44. Wooden hut near Kumbet. After M. E Guillaume. to a considerable height. The ground is undulating throughout, and the rocks rise up into low hills, connected with, albeit they do not belong to, the snow-capped mountains extending far away. Trees of fine growth spring out of the clefts of the rocks. Here 1 Vitruvius, in his chapter entitled " Origin of Domestic Architecture," describes this mode of building of general acceptance in Asia Minor, notably at Colchis, in the following words : "Four sets of trees, two in each set, of the length required for the width of the house, are laid parallel to each other on the ground. They are met contrariwise at the extremities by other trees, whose length is equal to the space between the horizontal trunks, so as to form a kind of rough frame. This is then placed upon the perpendicular beams, which form the corners of the house and serve as supporting pillars. Planks are laid across as near to each other as they can be laid," etc. (II. i. 4). In reality the system has always been in vogue wherever a plentiful supply of timber is to be had ; for example, in Lycia and towards the Euxine.