ABSTRACT
Carefully constructed brick masonry walls, built using earthen mortar are common in vast areas of Italy (where they coexist with the most widespread lime mortar masonry) at least until the middle of the nineteenth century. Studies on earthen mortar masonry, though in an embryonic state, already show significant differences compared to the more studied raw earth buildings. This kind of masonry was spread in Italy (particularly in the Marche region, Sardinia and along the alluvial valley of the Po river: however the use of local materials and the technological refinement achieved by craftsmen produced heterogeneous applications, also depending on the period. In particular, in Cremona, the mixture of earth, sand and quicklime is well documented and a first catalogue has implemented a basic knowledge of the different types of construction and damages, which currently is largely missing.
