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Matmata
(Tunisia). Dwelling consisting of a pit courtyard dug out of
clayey soil. The rooms overlooking the courtyard have underground
connections with others of the same kind.
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Matera,
the Ofra valley. The excavation and the closure of the apertures
by means of a tufa wall and the construction of a barrel-vaulted
structure, called lamione, are the different types of construction
which can be observed.
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Petra (Jordan). The carved sandstone rock contains hypogeal rooms arranged throughout the whole height of the rock. The different levels are connected with each other by means of external stairs carved out of the wall.
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Cappadocia (Turkey). The troglodyte settlement is dug out of the rock. Water harvesting and the collection of guano produced by the pigeons enable productive gardens to be arranged at the foot of the built-up area on the protected valley floor that is free of buildings.
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Troglodyte
dwelling of Salillas de Jalon (Spain).
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Map
of the courtyard hypogea beneath piazza Vittorio Veneto in Matera.
The site was transformed and stratified over time, starting from
a natural dolina on the edges of the gravina (C) which received
water coming down from the slope above. The dolina was gradually
equipped with bell-shaped cisterns (A), open-air courtyards (1,2,3)
from which radial tunnels branched out, up to the cistern called
'Palombaro lungo' (B). The site was definitively rearranged in
the 18th century, before the water systems were ultimately abandoned
and the area was covered and transformed into a square.
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Courtyard
hypogeum of Matmata (Tunisia): a) plan, b) cross section.
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The
Sasso Barisano in Matera.
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Planimetry
of the Chinese village on the Loess highland that shows the large
population density thanks to the pit-courtyard habitat.
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Troglodyte
pit-dwelling on the Loess highland along the Yellow River: a)
cross section, b) plan.
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Troglodyte
pit-dwelling in Shaanxi: a) cross section, b) plan.
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Troglodyte
pit-dwelling of the Yellow River (China): a) plan, b) cross section.
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