Prehistoric Architecture Overview

Prehistoric Architecture

• Structures built before written history
• Early human shelters and monumental structures

Influencing Factors

• Geographical
• Geological
• Climatic
• Religion
• Historical
• Social and Political

Periods of Prehistoric Architecture

• Paleolithic Period:
  • Caves used as shelters.
  • Hunter gatherers
• Lascaux Cave:
  • Found in France.
  • Contains wall paintings and engravings.
  • Dates from 13,000-8500 BCE.
• Mammoth Bone Huts:
  • Found at Mezhyrich site.
  • Winter settlement of Paleolithic hunters.
• Khirokitia:
  • One of the earliest Neolithic villages.
  • Houses built in limestone.
  • Circular plan with varying diameters.
• Mesolithic Period:
  • Nomadic hunter-gatherers transitioned to more settled communities.
• Pit House:
  • Semi-subterranean dwelling partially dug into the ground.
  • Materials used: stone, mud bricks, wood, and thatch.
• Neolithic Period:
  • Settled agricultural communities.

Early Cities

• Jericho:
  • One of the oldest continually inhabited cities.
  • Hilltop city.
• Çatalhöyük:
  • Largest and most well-preserved Neolithic village.
  • Materials used: wood, stone, bone, and reeds.
  • Semi-permanent pit houses.

Types of Prehistoric Structures

• Megalithic Structures:
  • Menhirs: Monolithic standing stones, often aligned in parallel rows.
  • Dolmens: Table-like structures made of three or more standing stones, often with a horizontal lintel.
  • Stone Circles: Circular arrangements of standing stones.
• Longhouses: Large communal dwellings.

Kilclooney

• Utilized trabeation.

Trabeation

• Basic construction system for structures.
• Consists of posts (vertical uprights) and lintels (horizontal beams).

Examples of Prehistoric Architecture

• Tipi:
  • Portable conical tent made of skins, cloth, or canvas on a frame of poles.
  • Used by North American Indians of the Plains and Great Lakes regions.
• Hogan:
  • Round, cone-shaped, multi-sided, or square structures.
  • Walls and roof made of timber, packed earth, and stone.
• Trumulus:
  • Mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves.
  • Also known as barrows, burial mounds, or kurgans.
• Beehive Hut:
  • Dry-stone hut with a corbelled roof.
  • Often found in southwest Ireland.
• Trullo:
  • Round stone building with a conical roof.
  • Found in southern Italy, especially in Apulia.
• Igloo:
  • Dome-shaped dwelling made of snow, sod, wood, or stone.
  • Found in Arctic regions.
• Wigwam:
  • Hut or tent with a domed or conical roof.
  • Made by fastening bark, hides, or reed mats over a framework of poles.

Megalithic Monuments

• Stonehenge:
  • Megalithic monument consisting of four concentric rings of trilithons and menhirs.
  • Centered around an altar stone.
  • Believed to have been used by a sun cult or for astronomical observation.
• Göbekli Tepe:
  • Neolithic archaeological site in Turkey.
  • Famous for its large circular structures containing massive stone pillars.
  • Among the world's oldest known megaliths.
  • Materials used: wood, stone, and bone.