Description

The Greeks in their architecture made use of wood, clay, stucco, stone, and sparingly of metal, glass and other substances. It is useless to discuss which of these materials is to be ranked as the earliest or most fundamental. As far back as we can trace their history, the Greeks employed all of these materials, and they never altogether dispensed with them. But while we may not hope to trace the evolution of Greek architectural forms from the exclusive employment of any one material, it is necessary that we should consider what materials the Greeks had at their disposal and how they made use of them, before we study their architectural forms, decoration and the character of their monuments.