Selinunte, Sicily, 1998

To make a Greek column shaft, cylindrical sections called "drums" are cut separately and then joined together from bottom to top. To attach one drum to another, a square wooden peg (empolion) is inserted into a hole (photo, left) in the center of a drum. Upon wetting, the wood swells and grips the stone securely. A small circular hole is drilled into the peg. An upper drum is prepared the same way. A short wooden dowel is inserted into the empolion on the lower drum. Finally, the upper drum is lowered onto this assembly (see illustration), and the two drums are ground together until their surfaces fit smoothly.