Mechanical investigation on adobe samples belonging to the archaeological site of Arslantepe (Malatya, Turkey)

Arslantepe is located in the Malatya plain, in eastern Anatolia, an oasis surrounded by the Anti-Taurus Mountains, 15 km south-west of the Euphrates River, with the sub-elliptic eruptive rock mass of GelincikTepe to the northeast, from which building materials are still extracted today. It is built on lacustrine soils, formed by layers of sand and marly clays. The site is an artificial settlement mound, approximately 30 m in height and 4 ha in size. It was occupied without major interruptions from at least the fifth millennium B.C. to the Middle Age. This paper presents the results of an experimental analysis carried out in order to evaluate the mechanical properties of different types of adobe bricks extracted both from residential and monumental buildings. The tested adobe samples belong to a chronological period that ranges from the beginning of the fourth millennium and the end of the third millennium B.C. and they provide an initial understanding on the characterization of a constructive culture at the beginning of human civilization. The investigation permitted to establish a relationship among the mechanical and physical properties of the samples, the type of building that they belong and the raw material used.