The Roofing and Plan of the House of the Tiles, Lerna.

The best known of the "corridor houses" of the EBA is the House of the Tiles at Lerna, in the Argolid, Greece. It was preceded by the similar Building BG, which lay directly beneath it on a different orientation. In the course of my study of the architecture and stratigraphy of Lerna III (Early Helladic II), I have worked out a reconstruction of the timber roofing method used for the House of Tiles, based on evidence recovered in the excavations and on the differennces in plan between the two buildings. Improvements and refinements in the system can be seen in the House of Tiles, both in the framing of the roof and in the use of efficiently produced ceramic tiles, lighter than other finer tiles used on other earlier buildings. The fragments of tiles with surviving traces of plaster have also provided clues for the roofing. The plan of the House of the Tiles itself, with its two staircases, and its setting facing an open plaza or square, and within enclosure walls, suggest interpretations for the use of the building and its importance in the life of a late EBA II community.