PRE-HISTORIC
ARCHITECTURE
stone age
neolithic
neolithic
neolithic
neolithic
The Late Stone Age is a prehistoric period that
began around 11000 BC. This period is
characterized by technical and social change:
● Hunter-gatherers began to live in
settlements where they started
agriculture and held livestock
● Hierarchy, specialization, industrialisation,
trade
● Defensive walls, war, private property,
theft, law
● Religion develops, possible out of
worshipping of ancestors through to the
worship of a mother goddess to a
complete male pantheon later in the
Bronze Age
● Crop farming and cultivation first developed
then improved
● Previous reliance upon a more nomadic
hunter-gatherer technique was increasingly
replaced by a reliance upon agriculture
● Growth of settlements giving rise to towns,
and later cities and states whose larger
populations could be sustained by the
increased productivity from cultivated lands.
● Produce a crop yield which would be a
surplus to the immediate needs of the
community-traded with other communities
(giving rise to economy), and in general
allowed larger populations to be sustained
After man moved out from caves,
semi-nomadic existence in huts.
More permanent lifestyle due to:
● Domestication of animals
● Domestication of grain and soils
The early huts:
● Utilised easily available material-tree
branches, leaves, animal skin/fur and
bones, stones
● Were easy to construct
● Had a fireplace/hearth
● Were not permanent
A somewhat similar ‘design’ evolved- usually circular or
oval, or triangular. This was due to ease of construction,
and the practical position of the hearth in the centre
Some of these early habitats were
dug into the ground as protection
against animals and cold weather
● Evidence of ancient beliefs and
rituals
● Connection to sun (astronomy?)
and the surrounding landscape,
through the structures erected.
● Structures seem to become part
of this connection, or ritual
Menhirs
Free standing singular stones
● To mark a position
● To create an axis
● Burial?
Dolmens
● 3-4 stones arranged to form a
table- stone tables
● Evolutionary process of
ceremonial enclosure
construction- a burial chamber
● Wedge tomb
Passage Tombs
● Large, elaborate structures using
stones arranged to form a
passage to a burial enclosure
● Very deliberate and careful
placing of the structure
● Important axis and connection
with the sunrise/set at specific
times of the year
● Only the entry visible on the
ground
Calls for careful considerations and deep knowledge
of the site and the sun path.
Burial mounds, also known as ‘long barrows’ some of
which contained stone lined chambers.
The Newgrange Passage Tomb in Ireland
Built earlier..
Newgrange was constructed around 3200 BCE. This
means it is at least 600 years older than the Giza Pyramids
in Egypt, and 1,000 years older Stonehenge.
Built for an Ancient Irish King.
According to ancient mythology, the Tuatha Dé Danann
ruled Ireland and were said to have built Newgrange as a
burial place for their chief, Dagda Mór, and his three sons.
One of his sons, named Aonghus, is often referred to as
Aonghus of the Brugh. It is believed that he was owner of
the Brugh land, and that a smaller mound between
Newgrange and the Boyne was owned by the Dagda.
Calls for careful considerations and deep knowledge
of the site and the sun path.
Burial mounds, also known as ‘long barrows’ some of
which contained stone lined chambers.
[Link]
newgrange-through-the-ages/
This remarkable site was left untouched
until invaders found it in 1699. And, still, it
was not excavated until the 1960’s.
Archaeologists discovered that on the
winter solstice, sun rays pour into the
tomb and light up the ancient burial
chamber. This remarkable display makes
Newgrange the world’s oldest solar
observatory.
Perfectly aligned with the Winter
Solstice.
On the Winter Solstice, the light of the
rising sun enters the roofbox of
Newgrange and penetrates the passage,
shining onto the floor of the inner
chamber. The beam illuminates the inner
chamber of Newgrange for just 17
mystical minutes.
Skara Brae
Found on the Orkney Islands off the north of
Scotland, Skara Brae is a one of Britain’s most
fascinating prehistoric villages.
Archeologists estimate it was built and occupied
between 3000BC and 2500BC, during the
Neolithic era.
This ancient settlement or village is older than
the pyramids and Stonehenge.
Rediscovered circa 1860s, and 1926 further
excavation.
Skara Brae houses
prehistoric, circular houses, built
from slabs of stone. Supported by
2.4m walls, the houses consist of
one single room, and are connected
by covered passageways
The people
Tools, crop remains and bones found at
Skara Brae show the villagers weren’t
only skilled hunters and fishermen —
they were expert farmers too. They
grew crops such as wheat and barley,
and reared sheep, cattle and pigs. They
were some of Britain’s first ever
farmers, in fact.
No weapons have been found at Skara
Brae and historians believe it was home
to a peaceful community. But what
archeologists have discovered is
jewellery, needles, buttons, ornaments,
well crafted pottery and dice,
suggesting they were creative people
who appreciated beauty.
● Most recognised and well-known of the
stone age era.
● Work started on it in 3100 BC and it was
continuously being built, used and
modified until 1100 BC- and amazing
period of 2000 years.
● The structure was part of the landscape
yet set off from it. It was an enclosure,
isolated from the world by successive
rings of stone, yet open to it through the
stone screens.
● Nobody know what it was built for,
perhaps a Druid Temple? Astronomical
calculator?
Stonehenge at Salisbury Plains
● Stonehenge’s plan is both centralized and
longitudinal, set into the central plan.
● Indeed, at the very center the participant
in the rites of Stonehenge experienced a
most profound connection with nature, for
the monument seems to have been
dominated by a powerful cult of sun
worship.
● From its center, on the summer solstice
the rising sun comes up exactly over the
apex of the Heel Stone.
The effort required to pull one of the massive stones erect was in itself a marathon effort, and then
raising the equally huge lintels onto the top of other stones required a great deal of planning and
foresight.
These illustrations of how the stones were raised and of how a lintel was placed are the most commonly
accepted theories of how these feats were achieved thousands of years ago.
BREAK
ANCIENT
CIVILIZATIONS
Q: What was before Egypt,
Greece, Rome?
ANCIENT
CIVILIZATIONS
MESOPOTAMIA
Where is
MESOPOTAMIA?
ANCIENT
CIVILIZATIONS
MESOPOTAMIA
Let’s watch
● Fertile land lying between the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers composing parts of Iraq,
Syria, and Kuwait.
● Home to some of the oldest major ancient
civilizations, including the Sumerians,
Akkadians, Persians, Babylonians and
Assyrians.
● The Sumerians are generally regarded as
the first group of people in Mesopotamia.
MESOPOTAMIAN
ARCHITECTURE
● Ziggurats were a form of temple,
pyramidal structure common to the
ancient Mesopotamia.
● The Mesopotamian ziggurats were not the
place of public worship or ceremonies but
instead were believed to be dwelling
places for the gods.
● Through the ziggurat the gods could be
close to mankind and each city had its
own patron god or goddess.
● Only priest were permitted inside the
ziggurat and it was their responsibility to
care for the gods and attend to their
needs. As a result the priest were very
powerful members of the Sumerian
society.
The Ziggurat
● It has also been suggested that the
ziggurats was a symbolic representation
of the primeval mound upon which the
universe had supposedly been created-
the ziggurat may have been built as a
bridge between heaven and earth.
● The temples of the Sumerians were
believed to be a cosmic axis, a vertical
bond between heaven and earth, and the
earth and the underworld, and a horizontal
bond between the lands.
● Built on seven levels the ziggurat
represented seven heavens and planes of
existence, the seven planets and the
seven-metal associated with them and
their corresponding colours.
The Ziggurat in the city of Ur
RECAP
NEOLITHIC
MESOPOTAMIA
Q: CONTRIBUTION TO THE HUMAN
CIVILIZATION & ARCHITECTURE?
THE END
