Early Dwellings and Upper Paleolithic Period

Early Dwellings

• Early human dwellings varied significantly across different periods and regions.
• The Paleolithic period (2,000,000-12,000 BP) saw the use of tools like axes, choppers, spears, scrapers, knives, and chisels made of wood.
• Early humans also used baskets and bags, and drilled wood for constructing shelters, boats, and other structures.
• They learned to control fire.
• Later in the Paleolithic period, dwelling materials evolved to incorporate mammoth tusks, leg bones, and skulls.
• Boats were developed for fishing, allowing for a wider variety of foods in their diet.
• They became nomadic, moving from Africa to Asia, Southern India, Malay Islands, Australia, Japan, China, Alaska, and North America.
• Harpoons were invented for hunting.
• The Upper Paleolithic period saw further innovations like nets, bolas, spear throwers, bows, arrows, and pottery.

Upper Paleolithic Period

• Domestication of animals occurred.
• Artistic expression emerged in the form of cave paintings, Venus figurines, animal carvings, and rock paintings.

Mesolithic Age

• The climate warmed.
• Agriculture was introduced.
• Settlements were established near water sources.

Neolithic Age (10,000)

• Humans began settling permanently, engaging in agriculture and animal husbandry.
• Pottery for food storage developed.
• Early village life, religion, and art forms emerged.
• Mud brick houses coated with plaster became common.

Prehistoric Houses

• Mammoth houses (20,000-14,000 BP) were found in Ukraine, France, Siberia, and Germany.
• Shelters, or huts, were built for family living (Scotland).
• Pit houses (also called Kivas) involved digging into the ground to create the dwelling with posts holding the roof for thermal efficiency.
• These were prevalent in ancestral Pueblo and Fremont, among other cultures in the Southwestern United States and areas of South America.

Lake Dwellings

• Dwellings were built on platforms supported by pilings driven deep into the mud, surrounded by heavy stones.
• A framework of tree trunks formed the platform, on which homes were built.
• Often had a beaten clay floor.

Cliff Houses

• Structures were built directly into mountain cliffs.
• Rooms were carved into soft rock.
• An example is Mesa Verde, Colorado.

Oppida/Oppidum

• These were fortified settlements.
• Earthworks, instead of stone, were the primary building material used to protect them.

Hearth Houses

• These were common in cold regions—small huts with one to two rooms and hearth in the center.

Courtyard Houses

• A central courtyard was a characteristic feature of these structures.

Spiritual, Memorial, and Megalithic Structures

• Megaliths were large, monumental stones.
• These constructions were made of carefully interlocked stones without mortar.
• They revealed an understanding of astronomy and a desire for artistic expression, as seen in sites like Stonehenge in Salisbury, England.

Dolmens

• These are portal tombs, consisting of three or more upright, unshaped stone slabs supporting a large capstone.
• Found in prehistoric sites such as Gochang, Hwasun, and Ganghwa in Korea.
• Located in India at Moral Pari in Mallachanan, Tamil Nadu, and also in Marayoor, Kerala.

Stone Balls

• These were found in Costa Rica, and are spheres of stone that show significant engineering skill.