Pointed huts

Nature and geological origin

We are faced with two large geological groups rich in dry stone structures:
1. from the Upper Jurassic to the Lower Cretaceous (-195 to -100 million years ago), these are the large beds of hard limestone found around Marseille, in the lower Durance, on the Vaucluse and Verdon plateaus, along the Ventoux-Lure axis.
2. In the Miocene (- 20 million years ago), it is the molasse that we find going up the Rhône to Crest and the Durance to Ganagobie. It provides a material that is quite easy to rough out and even to recut to make lintels, jambs, cornerstones, etc.

Why these pointy huts...

We can speak, regarding this popular architecture, of an architecture of necessity: that of clearing stones from poor land to make it suitable for cultivation. These stones that we eliminate, rather than throwing them into piles haphazardly, might as well be piled up in good order.
From there to construction, there is only one step that our ancestors took easily. With the rejected stones, we build enclosures, low walls to shelter or delimit plantations, supports for terraced cultivation (the "bancaus"), warrens, huts to store tools, shelter, and even sleep. And what's more, this material is free... And then, it has already given men so much work to sort it that it would be a shame to waste it. And, what's more, it is solid; so...

History

In Provence, dry stone construction can be traced back to the end of the Neolithic period and the Bronze Age. The enclosures of pre-Roman oppida are made of dry stone.
Various texts from the Middle Ages mention "huts" in places where we find many pointed huts today.
Initially, these constructions were exclusively poor dwellings compared to the lime-bound rubble buildings which had real windows and a paved or tiled floor. Then, little by little, this dry stone dwelling evolved and became more elaborate. The simple shed could become a real farm with several buildings, stairs to access the different levels, a cobbled courtyard. Ovens, sharpening pits, and beehives were also built.

Its use continued even with the advent of industrial society since at the beginning of the 20th century, we find the use of dry stone in the supports of Bridges and Roads.
The techniques were enriched by the arrival of foreign workers, bringing new knowledge and different traditions.



Construction technique

An average shed in the Forcalquier region weighs between 30 and 50 tonnes, which represents between 2 and 300 stones.
Two stone facings are built (one exterior, the other interior) between which a block (or filling) is made. This block will be all the more carefully carried out if the roof has a steep slope. The essential thing, when building the walls, is to respect the ratio between the size of the stones and that of the building, in particular their width (to cross them well) and their length (to anchor them well in the mass of the construction).
Corbelled domes do not require formwork. The stones are laid horizontally. Each row extends beyond the previous one by little more than its own thickness, except for the last rows. Because the stones are carefully crossed, the rows become interlocked. The faster the dome is narrowed, the bolder it is. Conversely, the more it rises like a sugar loaf, the stronger and easier it is to build.
Corbelled cradles are more difficult to build. This requires a greater load at the rear to prevent the two vaults from colliding with each other when they reach a certain height, as this type of construction does not have the effect of horizontal wedge-like action. For wider cradles, pieces of wood are even used, thrown from one half-vault to the other and left in place once the construction is completed (they then serve as storage frames at height or as a floor for intermediate floors).

Some essential rules for construction

Only good stones should be used, whose strength has been tested by long exposure to the sun and frost. The flat face of the stone, corroded and covered with roughness, is found underneath to rivet it to the one it covers. All stones must be laid flat. A stone laid vertically would, with the weight of the construction, be transformed into schist which would disintegrate.

It is the small side of the stone (the head) that is visible from the outside of the facing, the rest being inserted into the wall. The best is to place, at regular intervals, "headers", large stones that make up the entire thickness of the wall.
Once placed, the stone must not move in any of the six directions: it must neither go up nor down, nor go to the right or left, forward or backward.
The stones must be married in the work, that is to say that the joints which separate them must not overlap and thus form "sabers".
When there is a space to fill, you should not stuff it with shrapnel but choose stones whose shape matches that of the void to be filled.
It is necessary to take into account the thrusts, and to do this give as much "fruit" as possible to the exterior facing, that is to say that the walls must not be vertical and parallel but rise slightly obliquely towards each other.

To go further:

Dry stone in Provence by Pierre MARTEL and Pierre COSTE.
Poetic Journey of the Shepherd Albert by Hubert Blond by Hubert BLOND
These publications are on sale at the Intercommunal Tourist Office of the Pays de Forcalquier & Montagne de Lure.