Early History Worldwide

The rammed earth technique, also known as pisé, first appeared in Carthage on the coast of North Africa during the age of the Phoenicians in ca. 800 BC.

Hannibal, the Carthaginian strategist and military leader, built rammed-earth watchtowers on his expeditions to Rome, thus spreading the knowledge of this building technique throughout the Mediterranean region. The Romans took note of the pisé method, but preferred building with “puzzolan cement,” a mixture of earth, calcined lime, and volcanic pumices and tuffs (puzzolan) such as trass.

Already known during Roman times, rammed earth experienced another boost later on, this time from the direction of North Africa during the period of Islamic expansion that began in ca. 630 AD. Many rammed earth fortresses in southern Spain as well as the Berbers’ famous earthen kasbahs in Morocco date from that time. From the second century onward, Europe increasingly replaced unfired earth with building materials better suited to a colder, damper climate.

Earthen construction largely disappeared from traditional workmanship, although it remained in use in rural areas. It did not make a comeback as a commonly used building method until the mid-16th century, when rapid urbanization followed by the mass exodus from rural areas, especially in the 19th century, created a severe housing shortage.