The art of dry stone walling concerns the know-how related to\nmaking stone constructions by stacking stones upon each other, without using\nany joining material. In a narrower sense, the art of dry-stone walling refers\nto building using broken stones with minimum alternation or no alteration at\nall. As a broader sense, the art of dry-stone walling may include stacking of stone\nplates and slabs, construction of buildings using the dressed stone, but\nwithout any joining material. This art has been used along the Adriatic coast\nand in the Mount Dinara region of Croatia ever since the prehistory until\ntoday. The geographical spread of the\ndry-stone walling, its technical perfection and the importance for the\ncommunity are related to the density of population and economic activities, as\nwell as the method and means of transformation of the karst with the purpose of\nagricultural production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the areas of bare karst, the dry-stone walling is an\nirreplaceable manual technique used for building of shelters, paths and\nobstacles, especially for the adjustment of stone terrains for agricultural\nactivities. The largest part of of the building process belongs to the first\nand, in terms of labour, the most intensive phases of occupying new plots of\nland \u2013 when building fences, cleaning the land from stone, making terraces, and\nsimple stone shelters. In a later phase of the exploitation of such locations,\nthe art of dry-stone walling is used for maintenance and repair of buildings,\nstorage of the surplus stone extracted from the land in land-processing,\nfunctional readjustments and similar. The most skilled bricklayers are\nrecognised and appreciated in their communities, and the degree of their\nspecial and professional skills depends on the circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n