Editing Machicolation (section)

==Origins and Regional Prevalence==
[[File:Craigmillar machicolations.jpg|thumb|right|250 px|15th-century machicolations of [[Craigmillar Castle]] in Scotland]]

The oldest known buildings with machicolation are [[Ancient Rome|Ancient Roman]] fortifications of the [[Limes Arabicus]] dating from the 4th century AD.<ref>{{cite conference
| url = https://www.academia.edu/33553457
| title = Qasr Hallabat, Qasr Bshir and Deir el Kahf. Building Techniques, Architectural Typology and Change of Use of Three ''Quadriburgia'' from the ''Limes Arabicus''. Interpretation and Significance.
| last = Arce
| first = Ignacio
| date = 2008
| publisher =  Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
| book-title = Arqueología de la construcción II - los procesos constructivos en el mundo romano: Italia y provincias orientales
| pages = 455–481
}}</ref> The design was brought to Europe from the Levant following the [[crusades]] and became especially prevalent in Southern Europe.

Machicolations were more common in French castles than English, where they are usually restricted to the gateway, as in the 13th-century [[Conwy Castle]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=R. Allen |year=2004 |orig-year=1954 |title=Allen Brown's English Castles |publisher=The Boydell Press |location=Woodbridge |page=66 |isbn=1-84383-069-8 |doi=10.1017/9781846152429}}</ref> Within France, machicolation is more common on southern castles. One of the oldest extant examples of machicolation in northern France is at [[Château de Farcheville]] which was built from 1290 to 1304.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mesqui|first=Jean|title=Châteaux forts et fortifications en France|publisher=Flammarion|year=1997|location=Paris|language=fr|page=[https://archive.org/details/chateauxfortsetf00mesq/page/493 493]|isbn=2-08-012271-1|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/chateauxfortsetf00mesq/page/493}}</ref>
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