<P> In India the style was used originally for wooden construction, but later the technique was adopted for stone structures for decorated load - bearing and purely ornamented non-structural purposes . </P> <P> Post and lintel construction is one of four ancient structural methods of building, the others being the corbel, arch - and - vault, and truss . </P> <P> There are two main force vectors acting upon the post and lintel system: weight carrying compression at the joint between lintel and post, and tension induced by deformation of self - weight and the load above between the posts . The two posts are under compression from the weight of the lintel (or beam) above . The lintel will deform by sagging in the middle because the underside is under tension and the topside is under compression . </P>

Describe the structural support systems of the first architecture such as stonehenge