spolia means old objects, artifacts, and/or sculptural elements reused in a later work of architecture. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 94 out of 100.
Why “spolia” is a great word
SPOLIA — [Noun] Architectural fragments from an older, often ruined, structure deliberately and visibly integrated into a new construction. From Latin spolia, plural of spolium ("spoils, booty; originally, the hide or skin stripped from a killed animal"). Unlike recycling, which suggests utilitarian reprocessing, or pastiche, which implies stylistic imitation, spolia is a literal and symbolic appropriation, a physical grafting of history onto the present. It is the pagan column upholding a Christian altar, the marble face of a Roman emperor staring blankly from a medieval fortress wall, or the intricate frieze from a razed temple now serving as a mere doorstep—the new structure wearing the skin of the old, a testament to conquest, thrift, and the quiet cannibalism of time.
Etymology
Latin spolia (“spoils”).
noun
- Old objects, artifacts, and/or sculptural elements reused in a later work of architecture.“In the field of architecture the use of spolia began with Constantine.”