The Ditch and the House. Construction Energetics in Early 7th-century BC Megara Hyblaia: A Preliminary Study.

List of Authors

  1. Frédéric Mège ,  
  2. Eleonora Delpozzo
Article Authors & roles Authors Peer review record Peer review Metrics
Cite

Abstract

Background: Megara Hyblaia, a Greek colony founded in the third quarter of the 8th century BC on Sicily’s eastern coast, exemplifies early Western Greek urbanism. By the early 7th century BC, Megara had likely reached its maximum intramural size of approximately 60 hectares. This study focuses on that formative phase to evaluate whether the community possessed the resources to undertake two key construction projects: the first city fortification and residential expansion. Methods: Archaeological evidence shows that residential structures spread across the Southern Plateau and toward the Archaic West Gate by the early 7th century BC. This urban spread correlates with the construction of the city’s earliest defensive structure, an “agger-wall”. The article investigates the feasibility of these projects using two case studies: the agger-wall and the house on plot 113W4. Using data from stratigraphic excavation, 3D modelling, Building Information Modelling (BIM), and architectural energetics, the study estimates construction time and labour requirements. Results The aforementioned methods allowed us to estimate the construction of the agger-wall defence line at 11478 p-d (person-day) and the building of the house on plot 113W4 at 187–196 p-d. These figures then need to be put into perspective with an estimated population of 404–538 individuals in the first quarter of the 7th century BC, of whom roughly half are considered fit for construction work and available for it for five to six months per year. Conclusions: In evaluating the feasibility of early construction projects at Megara Hyblaia, findings suggest that the second-generation population could have built both the fortifications and sufficient housing within a year, without disrupting agriculture or essential tasks. Thus, 7th-century BC inhabitants likely had sufficient workforce for fortifications and housing. This study also highlights the promise and limitations of BIM tools in reconstructing ancient architecture and informing future digital heritage research.

Corresponding author
Frédéric Mège
0000-0002-5265-6699
Grant information

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No 945361.

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Copyright
© 2025 Frédéric Mège (Corresponding Author, Co-Author); Eleonora Delpozzo (Co-Author) Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

First version published
Latest version published
Revised

Amendment

The title has been modified to better reflect the scope of the study and its preliminary nature. In the abstract, the Results section now focuses exclusively on describing the main outputs of the research. Three figures have been added to provide a clearer view of the site (Figure 1) and of the two case studies (Figure 2: the agger-wall; Figure 3: the house on plot 113W4). Additional details have been incorporated into the text and new footnotes regarding the construction techniques of both the fortification and the house, particularly in the sections “3D Modelling Workflow” and “The Ditch and the House”. Consequently, Table 1 (Architectural Energetics Calculations For the 7th-century BC Agger-Wall in Megara Hyblaia) has been supplemented with new references and data. Furthermore, the hypothesis concerning the use of local stone and the nature of the bedrock has been clarified. The study’s outcomes are now also contextualised through comparison with other relevant research on architectural energetics. Finally, the demographic estimates—especially the choice of the annual growth rate—are now supported by additional explanations.

Comments

Authors & roles

Frédéric Mège

Department of Humanities, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Venice, Veneto, Italy

Roles
Corresponding Author, Co-Author, Conceptualization, Data Curation, Funding Acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project Administration, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing
0000-0002-5265-6699

Eleonora Delpozzo

Department of Humanities, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Venice, Veneto, Italy

Roles
Co-Author, Formal Analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Software, Visualization, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing
0000-0003-4207-6284

Downloads over the last 12 months:

Cited by

via Crossref

View citing articles