La pedra en sec. Materials, eines i tècniques tradicionals a les illes ...

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Definition
Building a second face in the inside of
a terrace wall.
Description
Secondary faces, which are not
always to be found in terrace walls,
are built with stones that are not much
dressed save for those at the top, the
only part which remains visible and
which may project out of the ground
to heights ranging from a few centimetres
to more than a metre. The
height of this second wall and the terrace
wall's outside face are usually
the same although on other occasions
the second wall is only made up
of a few courses of stones. The space
between the outside wall and the second
wall and between the second
wall and the land is filled with carefully
placed rubble.
One of the conditions laid down by
Eusebi Estada for the construction of
the walls on the Lluc-Inca road in
1BB4 was that building the two faces
of the wall so that they were independent
of each other was forbidden;
instead the whole of the width of the
walls had to built at the same time so
that the stones would be securely
fastened together.
The fact that this component increases
the strength of terrace walls means
that they are especially appropriate
for places where the terrace walls
have to withstand the force of water. In
addition to increasing stability, some
oversized second walls act as stone
storage facilities when there is too
much stone.
Another function is to delimit the terrace
wall to ensure that it is not damaged
by agricultural work and to serve
as a filter which prevents soil being
deposited in amongst the rubble and
thus hindering proper drainage.
Occasionally some terraced field
walls have secondary walls which are
higher than the terrace itself and are
used as paths.
Tools required
Small stone hammer, large stone hammer,
two-handled basket, triangular
hoe, levelling line.