Prehistoric Influences: History PDF

PREHISTORIC INFLUENCES: HISTORY Pre – historic Period Paleolithic (20,00,000 BC) Neolithic (10,000 BC) Early Civilization (3,000 BC) Hunters and gatherers work as farmers priests and nobles Nomadic...

PREHISTORIC INFLUENCES: HISTORY Pre – historic Period Paleolithic (20,00,000 BC) Neolithic (10,000 BC) Early Civilization (3,000 BC) Hunters and gatherers work as farmers priests and nobles Nomadic Live in permanent villages Merchants and artisans Simple tools and weapons Use domesticated plants and Peasants Use of fire animals Slaves Spoken language Large villages Rise of cities Burial of dead Increased status for males Organized governments Belief in a spiritual world Creation Warriors assert power over others Job specification of cave paintings More personal possessions Growth of social disease New technologies System of writing Trade Complex religion The success of the human race was largely due to the development of tools – made of stone, wood, bone Humans spread from Africa into Southern Europe, Asia Could not settle far north due to the cold climate From Siberia by foot into North America From Southeast Asia by boat into Australia Before 9000 BC, nomadic life of hunting & food gathering By 9000 BC, farming and agriculture was practiced Fertile soil and plentiful food Animal domestication for work, milk, wool People wanted to settle down, live in communities First villages in the Middle East, South America, Central America, India and China Some people needed not farm, so they spent time on other work - pot-making, metal-working, art and… architecture! RELIGION No organized religion The dead are treated with respect - burial rituals and monuments ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER MATERIALS Animal skins, wooden frames, animal bones CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM Existing or excavated caves Megalithic, most evident in France, England and Ireland DECORATION Caves paintings in Africa, France and Spain Sculpture EXAMPLES MENHIR A single, large upright monolith Serves a religious purpose Sometimes arranged in parallel rows, reaching several miles and consisting of thousands of stones Carnac, France DOLMEN Tomb of standing stones usually capped with a large horizontal slab  CROMLECH Enclosure formed by huge stones planted on the ground in circular form Stonehenge, England (2800 – 1500 BC) Most spectacular and imposing of monolithic monuments Outer ring, inner ring, innermost horseshoe-shaped ring with open end facing east Largest stones weigh 45 to 50 tons, came from Wales 200 km away Stones transported by sea or river then hauled on land with sledges and rollers by hundreds of people, raised upright into pits, capped with lintels Genuine architecture - it defines exterior space A solar observatory - designed to mark the sun's path during sunrise on Midsummer Day TUMULUS or PASSAGE GRAVE Dominant tomb type Corridor inside leading to an underground chamber PRIMITIVE DWELLINGS Mostly had one room The development of more complex civilizations led to division of the room into smaller ones for eating, sleeping, socializing In places where no industrial revolution has occurred to transform building methods and increase population density, houses show little difference from primitive ones Natural or Artificial Caves Beehive Hut Trullo - dry walled rough stone shelter with corbelled roof Wigwam or Tepee - conical tent with wooden poles as framework Hogan - primitive Indian structure of joined logs - Covered with rush mats and an animal skin door Igloo - Innuit (Eskimo) house constructed of hard-packed snow blocks built up spirally Nigerian hut - with mud walls and roof of palm leaves Iraqi mudhif - covered with split reed mats, built on a reed platform to prevent settlement Sumatran house - for several families, built of timber and palm leaves, the fenced pen underneath is for livestock