Ceramic building material

Ceramic building material, often abbreviated to CBM, is an umbrella term used in archaeology to cover all building materials made from baked clay. It is particularly, but not exclusively, used in relation to Roman building materials.

It is a useful and necessary term because, especially when initially found in archaeological excavation, it may be difficult to distinguish, for example, fragments of bricks from fragments of roofing or flooring tiles. However, ceramic building materials are usually readily distinguishable from fragments of ceramic pottery by their rougher finish.

See also
  • Adobe – Building material made from earth and organic materials
  • Antefix – A terminal block for the covering tiles of a roof
  • Architectural terracotta – Fired clay construction material
  • Brick – Block or a single unit of a ceramic material used in masonry construction
  • Brickwork – Masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar
  • Clay – A finely-grained natural rock or soil containing mainly clay minerals
  • Cob (material) – Building material made from subsoil, water, and fibrous organic material
  • Imbrex and tegula, also known as Roman roofing tiles – Overlapping roof tiles used in ancient Greek and Roman architecture
  • Mudbrick – Unbaked earth used as building material blocks
  • Palmette – A decorative motif based on the fan-shaped leaves of a palm tree
  • Pilae stacks – Tiles used to support a floor over a hypocaust
  • Roman brick – A style of brick used in Ancient Roman architecture
  • Tile – Manufactured piece of hard-wearing material

Further reading
  • Brodribb, Gerald (1987). Roman Brick and Tile. Stroud: Alan Sutton. ISBN 0-86299-363-6.
  • Warry, P. (2006). Tegulae: Manufacture, Typology and Use in Roman Britain. Oxford: Archaeopress.
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