Socle (architecture)

In architecture, a socle is a short plinth used to support a pedestal, sculpture, or column.

In English, the term tends to be most used for the bases for rather small sculptures, with plinth or pedestal preferred for larger examples.

This was a typical building practice in ancient Greece, resulting in the frequent preservation of the plans of ancient buildings only in their stone-built lower walls, as at the city of Olynthos.

[2] A very early example is the two-storey fortified House of the Tiles at Lerna in the Peloponnese, built of mud-brick over a stone socle, with much use of wood, and clay for the floors and as stucco for the walls.

This dates to the Early Helladic II, of four thousand years ago.