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PREHISTORIC WORLD

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 Neolithic: the “new” Stone Age (8,000 – 2300 BCE),which marked the beginnings of monumental (extremelylarge) architecture

corbeled vault: a vault formed by the piling of stone blocks in horizontal courses, cantilevered inward until thetwo walls meet in an arch

 post and lintel: one of the earliest methods of architecturalconstruction in which two posts (sometimes called“uprights”) support a lintel (horizontal beam which restsacross the top)

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megalith: a large stone used in the construction of a prehistoric

structure

Cromlech: a circle of megaliths, as at Stonehenge

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Neolithic Jericho was protected by 5-foot-thick walls and at least one

stone tower 30 feet high and 33 feet in diameter. An outstanding

achievement that marks the beginning of monumental architecture.

Great stone tower built

into the settlement wall,

Jericho, ca. 8000-7000

BCE

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Corbeled vault of the mainchamber in the passage

grave, Newgrange, Ireland,ca. 3200-2500 BCE

The Newgrange passage graveis an early example ofcorbeled vaulting . The huge

stones (megaliths ) of thedome of the main burialchamber beneath the tumulusare held in place by their ownweight.

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Aerial view of ruins of Hagar Qim, Malta, ca. 3200- 2500

BCE

One of the earliest stone temples in the world is on the island

of Malta. The 5,000-year-old structure is remarkably

sophisticated for its date, especially in the combination of

rectilinear and curved forms.

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Stonehenge

(3100-2000 BC) 

Wiltshire,

England

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Aerial view (looking northwest) of Stonehenge, Salisbury

Plain, England, ca. 2550-1600 BCE. Circle is 97’ in diameter;

trilithons 24’ high.

The circles of trilithons at Stonehenge probably functioned as an

astronomical observatory and solar calendar. The sun rises over

its “heel stone” at the summer solstice. Some of the megaliths

weigh 50 tons.

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 Neolithic architecture

 Post and lintel construction

 Megaliths are 21 to 24 feet tall, including height of lintel, and

 buried four feet in the ground

Solar and lunar orientation

Stones dragged from far away to this site

Circle of megaliths embrace structure, enclosing it

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Inside circle of megaliths is a larger horseshoe-shaped group ofmegaliths which frame an “Altar Stone”

Horseshoe-shaped stones face midsummer sunrise over “HeelStone”

“Altar Stone” is a green sandstone taken from a mine in Wales,over 200 miles away

Heaviest stones 50 tons apiece, hauled by sledges (sleds)

Tools for building: ropes, levers, rollers, axes

Built in several phases over hundreds of years on a sacred siteon Salisbury Plain

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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Stonehenge_-_Wiltonia_sive_Comitatus_Wiltoniensis%3B_Anglice_Wilshire_%28Atlas_van_Loon%29.jpg

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Several

Phases

(stages) ofConstruction

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Stonehenge_plan.jpg

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Plan of Stonehenge in

2004. Tr ilithon lintels

omitted for clarity.

Holes that no longer, or

never, contained stones

are shown as open

circles. Stones visible

today ar e shown

coloured.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Stonehenge_plan.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Stonehenge_plan.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Stonehenge_plan.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Stonehenge_plan.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Stonehenge_plan.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Stonehenge_plan.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Stonehenge_plan.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Stonehenge_plan.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Stonehenge_plan.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Stonehenge_plan.jpg

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The lintels (horizontal monoliths) were fitted to one another using a

woodworking method, the “tongue-and-groove joint”

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Each stone had clearly been worked with the

final visual effect in mind; the pillars widen

slightly towards the top, in order that their

 perspective remains constant when viewed

from the ground. The lintel stones curve

slightly to continue the circular appearance of

the earlier monument. The inward-facingsurfaces of the stones are smoother and more

finely worked than the outer surfaces.

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Stonehenge

Sarsen

stones

trilithons

 bluestones

Lintels

Open end

Facing East

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were probably prototypes of the Pyramids in

Egypt and of the beehive huts in Wales,

Cornwall, Scotland , and Ireland

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BEEHIVE HUT

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Consisted of wooden huts built on piles in the

water for protection against attack 

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