Calculating the Building Volume: Time, Labor, & Socio-Political Organization

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SUMMARY

The forum discussion focuses on calculating the building volume and labor requirements for a structure based on different sociopolitical organizations and population sizes. The building's volume is approximately 400,000 cubic feet, requiring specific calculations for basketloads, mud bricks, and stone blocks. The discussion outlines the labor contributions from various population structures, including complex chiefdoms, Neolithic towns, and state civilizations, detailing the percentage of labor owed to leaders and the distribution of work among the population. Key calculations involve determining the number of construction materials needed and the total worker-hours required for completion.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of volume measurement in cubic feet
  • Basic knowledge of labor allocation in sociopolitical contexts
  • Familiarity with construction materials: basketloads, mud bricks, stone blocks
  • Ability to perform division and multiplication for volume and labor calculations
NEXT STEPS
  • Research methods for calculating building volume using different materials
  • Explore labor economics in ancient societies and their impact on construction
  • Learn about the historical context of sociopolitical organizations in prehistory
  • Investigate modern construction techniques and their efficiency compared to ancient methods
USEFUL FOR

This discussion is beneficial for students of archaeology, historians studying ancient construction methods, and anyone interested in the intersection of labor, society, and architecture in prehistoric contexts.

davemoosehead
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Homework Statement



Our class exercise in World Prehistory was to figure out the volume of the building we were in and answer the following:

How many a) basketloads, b) mud bricks, c) stone blocks would it take to build structure?
How many worker-hours would it take?
How many days/months/years would it take, given varying levels sociopolitical organization and population size?

Levels of sociopolitical organization and population size:
A. Complex chiefdom: population size 1000. Each adult owes 10% of his or her labor to the chief.
B. Neolithic town: population size 3500. Each adult owes 10% of his or her labor to the leader.
C. State/civilization: population size 100,000. 20% of the population is slaves of the state. 20% of the population is royal or noble and does not work. The other 60% pays taxes to support the state, but owes no labor.

Basketload: one cubic foot, requires 2/5 worker hour to collect, transport, and set.
Mud brick: 10x14x6 inches, requires 1/3 worker hour to manufacture, transport, and set.
Stone block: 1 cubit by 2 cubits, by 3 cubits, requires 4 worker hours to cut, transport, and set.
Structure is solid inside, no airspace.
Modern 8-hour work day, work estimate need not include, support workers, only actual builders.
For all populations, assume 40% ofthe population is adults.

Homework Equations



cubit = 1.5 feet

The Attempt at a Solution



The volume of our building was approximately 400,000 cubic feet
Volume of brick things: Mudbrick: .5 feet cubed; Stone block: 20.25 feet cubed
 
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So how many bricks or stones does it take to build the building? Clue: It involves a division. Once you get that, we can work on the other parts of the problem.
 
The volume of our building was approximately 400,000 cubic feet
Volume of brick things: Mudbrick: .5 feet cubed
So, how many mudbricks go into a pyramid?
 

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