House of the tiles

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The House of the tiles is an Early Bronze Age archaeological site in Lerna, Greece. It is notable for several architectural features that are advanced of its time, notably its roof covered by baked tiles which gave the building its name.^[1] The building belongs to the so-called corridor house type.^[2]

The structure stems from the Early Helladic period II (2500-2300 BC) and is referred to as a palace or administrative centre, although it has also been suggested it was the common property of the townspeople.^[3] The exact function remains unknown due to a lack of small finds indicating uses of the building.^[3]

The 'House' has a stairway leading to a second stories, and a tiled roof,^{[1] [4]} which became common in Greek architecture only in the 7th century BC,^[5] although tiled roofs are also found in the early Helladic site of Akovitika^[6] and later in the Mycenaean towns of Gla and Midea.^[7] Debris found at the site contained thousands of terracotta tiles having fallen from the roof.^[8] The walls of the House of the tiles were constructed with sun-dried bricks on stone socles.^[1]

Carbon-14 dates indicate that the place was finally destroyed by fire in the 22nd century BC.^[8] Not long after the destruction, the place was cleared in a such a way as to leave a low tumulus over the site.^[8]

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