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A mudbrick is an unfired brick made of clay, or mud mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw.

In warm regions with very little timber available to fuel a kiln, bricks were generally sun dried. This had the result that their useful lifespan is reduced to around thirty years. Once a building collapsed, new bricks would have to be made and the new structure rebuilt on top of the rubble of the decayed old brick. This phenomenon is the primary factor behind the mounds or tells on which many ancient cities stand.

Adobe is a type of mudbrick also used today to save energy and is an environmentally safe way to insulate a house.

The Great Mosque of Djenné, in central Mali, is the world's largest mudbrick structure.

Ancient world

The earliest use of mudbricks was in the Near East during the aceramic Neolithic B period. The Sumerians used sun-dried bricks in their city construction; typically these bricks were flat on the bottom and curved on the top, called plano-convex mudbricks. Some bricks were formed in a square mould and rounded so that the middle was thicker than the ends.

In Minoan Crete at the Knossos site there is archaeological evidence that sun-dried bricks were used in the Neolithic period (e.g. prior to 3400 BC).

Mudbricks were used to some extent in pre-Roman Egypt, and mudbrick use increased at the time of Roman influence.

See also

• Rammed earth

References

1. Mogens Herman Hansen, A Comparative Study of Six City-state Cultures, Københavns universitet Polis centret (2002) Videnskabernes Selskab, 144 pages ISBN:8778763169
2. C. Michael Hogan, Knossos, The Modern Antiquarian (2007)
3. Kathryn A. Bard and Steven Blake Shubert, Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt, 1999, Routledge, 938 pages ISBN:0415185890

• Mudbrick is still used today, as seen here in the Danube Delta
• Mud clay and straw are mixed and pressed into moulds
• When filled the mould is moved on step to make the next brick
• The rows of bricks are left to dry in the sun

External links

• Earth Architecture - A website whose focus is contemporary issues in earth architecture.
• EARTHA : Earth Architecture and Conservation in East Anglia- British organisation that focuses on the proper maintenance and conservation of earth buildings in a region of the UK that has a long history of building with mud. Very experienced experts are contactable and there are regular demonstrations in the area.
• Video showing mud brick making - Mud brick building and biolytic sewerage in South Africa.

• Bricks
• Appropriate technology