The authors discuss the possibility that temple podia structures are not always clearly attributable to ritual motives but could also, particularly in the case of grid-structure podia, be designed to provide a ‘seismic shield’ by offering resistance to external stresses. They use the Late Republican Temple B at Pietrabbondante (in the Central Apennines, a high seismic risk area) with its criss-cross network of internal podium walls as a test case. By employing techniques derived from research into seismic metamaterials and simulating Rayleigh surface waves in their modelling, the indications are that the temple’s podium foundations reduce the amplitude of horizontal displacement by 50%.
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