Questions and Answers
What is a record of man's effort to build beautifully?
History of Architecture
What are the materials used in the Paleolithic Period?
What is the cultural significance of early human shelters in the Paleolithic Period?
Early human shelters reflect the nomadic lifestyle of hunter-gatherers.
What is the meaning of the word 'Monolith'?
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What is the significance of the Neolithic Period in architecture?
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What is the characteristic of a Dolmen?
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What is the significance of Lascaux Cave?
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What is the characteristic of a Trilithon?
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What is the characteristic of the Pit house?
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What is the significance of Jericho?
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What is the characteristic of the Khirokitia?
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Study Notes
History of Architecture
- A record of human effort to build beautifully, tracing the origin, growth, and decline of architectural styles across lands and ages.
Historic Styles of Architecture
- Characterized by method and characteristics, manner of design prevailing at a certain place and time.
Prehistoric Architecture
- Structures built before written history, including early human shelters and monumental structures.
- Periods of Prehistoric Architecture:
- Paleolithic Period (Old Stone Age)
- Mesolithic Period (Middle Stone Age)
- Neolithic Period (New Stone Age)
- Bronze Age
- Iron Age
Influencing Factors
- Geographical
- Geological
- Climatic
- Religious
- Historical
- Social and Political
Paleolithic Period (Old Stone Age)
- Materials used: natural materials like wood, stone, bone, and animal hides.
- Shelters: caves and temporary huts.
- Cultural Significance: Early human shelters reflect the nomadic lifestyle of hunter-gatherers.
Mesolithic Period (Middle Stone Age)
- Materials used: woods, stone, bone, reeds, and animal hides.
- Shelters: semi-permanent houses and pithouses.
- Cultural Significance: Indicates a transition from nomadic to more settled.
Neolithic Period (New Stone Age)
- Materials used: stone, mudbrick, wood, and thatch.
- Types of Structures:
- Megalithic structures: menhirs, dolmens, stone circles
- Longhouses: large communal dwellings, typically elongated rectangular structures
- Cultural Significance: Reflecting the transition from nomadic to settled agricultural communities.
Early Cities
- As settlements became more permanent, hunters started farming communities, and new architecture was developed to represent communal and spiritual values.
Examples of Prehistoric Architecture
- Lascaux Cave (France, 13,000-8500 BCE): cave with wall paintings and engravings of Paleolithic humans.
- Mammoth Bone Huts (Ukraine, 20,000-5,000 BCE): a winter settlement of Paleolithic hunters.
- Pit house: semi-subterranean dwelling dug into the ground, supported by wooden posts.
- Menhir (Brittany, France): a single structure consisting of an upright stone or aligned with others in parallel rows.
- Kilclooney (County Donegal, Ireland): utilizes trabeation, with vertical supports called posts holding up horizontal elements called lintels.
- Göbekli Tepe (Turkey): a Neolithic archaeological site with large circular structures containing massive stone pillars.
- Stonehenge (England): a megalithic monument consisting of four concentric rings of trilithons and menhirs centered around an altar stone.
- Jericho (Jordan): one of the world's oldest continually-inhabited cities, with stone houses, plaster floors, and high walls.
- Khirokitia (Cyprus): the earliest Neolithic Village, with a complex architectural system built according to a preconceived plan, suggesting structured social organization.
- Çatalhöyük (Turkey): the largest and most well-preserved Neolithic Village, with rectangular flat-roofed houses packed together into a single unit, with no streets or passageways.
More Examples of Prehistoric Architecture
- Tipi: used by indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies in North America.
- Beehive hut: some of the oldest known structures in Ireland and Scotland, dating back to 2000 BCE.
- Trullo (Italy): traditional Apulian dry stone hut with a conical roof.
- Wigman (North America): a type of house used mainly by Algonquian people.
- Hogan (Ireland): stems from Irish roots and means "descendant of the young warrior."
- Tumulus: a group of barrows dating to the Neolithic period.
- Igloo: invented by the Inuit, a means for hunters to survive brutal winters in a vast area.
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Description
Explore the evolution of architectural styles across different lands and ages, from prehistoric to historic styles.