In architecture a corbel or console is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal sticking out from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight. It is a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall. A console, by comparison, is a piece applied to the structure. A piece of structural wood projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger" in the UK. The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels support a projecting wall or parapet, has been used since Neolithic, or New Stone Age, times. 