Mankind’s ability to leave the cave, raise a shelter of stones or reeds, and coat that shelter with an earthen plaster, enabled him to create the “cave” wherever he desired. Building permanent dwellings close to fresh water, upon a fortifiable position, or adjoining arable land, allowed extended families to gather, and the first cities to be born.
The very first plasters were earthen. Being simple mixtures of clay, sand and straw, they required no furnaces and dried with the sun. The mixture was cast as bricks and the same basic formula was used as the mortar and stucco. Earthen plasters such as cob and daub are still the most commonly used plasters worldwide.