Cyclopean masonry

The most famous examples of Cyclopean masonry are found in the walls of Mycenae and Tiryns, and the style is characteristic of Mycenaean fortifications.

[2] The term comes from the belief of classical Greeks that only the mythical Cyclopes had the strength to move the enormous boulders that made up the walls of Mycenae and Tiryns.

Pliny's Natural History reported the tradition, attributed to Aristotle, that the Cyclopes were the inventors of masonry towers, giving rise to the designation "Cyclopean".

"Cyclopean", the term normally applied to the masonry style characteristic of Mycenaean fortification systems, describes walls built of huge, unworked limestone boulders which are roughly fitted together.

[8] Apart from the Tirynthian and Mycenaean walls, other Cyclopean structures include some beehive tombs in Greece and the fortifications of a number of Mycenean sites, most famously at Gla.

In Italy, polygonal masonry is particularly indicative of the region of Latium; scholars including Giuseppe Lugli have carried out studies of the technique.

[11][12] Some notable sites that have fortification walls built in this technique include Norba, Signia, Alatri, Boiano, Circeo, Cosa, Alba Fucens, Palestrina,Terracina and Santa Severa.