unit 1 prehistoric age 2013

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE & CULTURE IUNIT-I-PREHISTORIC AGE

Learning outcome/Syllabus• Introducing concepts of culture and civilization • Paleolithic and Neolithic Culture • Art forms and evolution of shelter • Megaliths • Agricultural revolution and its impact on culture and civilization

THE BEGINNINGRelationship between Architecture & Human being:

• The first human generation lacked confidence in their own standing within the nature• As they moved about in search of tolerable climate and food, the special environments they gave shape

to were tentative and unobtrusive , an architecture in the pleats of the earth• The shelter, for most part, was there ready to be used, in the caves that had to be wrested from

predators (wild animals)• But whether shelter was natural or manufactured, the inhabitants transformed it into architecture

through purposeful use• And here a chief invention, fire, proven to be a great place-maker• It drove the wild beasts form the caves and kept them at bay, it made the home of the moment safe• The burning fire moulds an ambience of companionship…

• A station for the hunters to pause• Cook his game• Harden his tools• Communicate with his band of fellows

Prepared by V.Manimegalai, AP,SOA,AMACE 1

MAP SHOWING THE SITES OF PREHISTORIC EUROPE AND THE NEAR EAST


PERIOD• Occurred before invention of written records• Also called Stone Age period because of the absence of metal implements• Occurred from Human Habitation of earth to 9000 BC• Sub-Division of Period:

– Period can be further subdivided into Early (or Paleolithic) Stone Age and New (or Neolithic) Stone Age

– Early Stone Age- Up to 9000 BC– New Stone Age – 9000 BC to 3000 BC

HISTORYLocation:

• Not restricted to any particular geographical region• Occurred in different localities, • Usually close to sources of food, near rivers

Sources of information:• No written record from the prehistoric period • Information is gathered from scientific studies of prehistoric objects • Many academic disciplines are interested in studying human civilization- archeology, paleontology,

anthropology etc• The disciplines study prehistoric objects• They provide information about civilizations based on studies

OLD STONE AGE :(before 9000BC)• Nomadic, always on the move• Move about in search of food, water, and good climate• Got their food through food gathering, hunting and fishing • Usually move about in small bands of less than 15 persons

• Their lifestyle made them barely able to survive • Not much is known about their beliefs

EARLY STONE AGE ARCHITECTUREIntroduction:

• Nomadic people constantly on the move• Did not require permanent shelter or settlements• Dwellings consist of simple shelters



Examples:• Rock Shelter• Cave Dwelling• Temporary structures of plant and animal materials

Characteristics:• Stone tools noticeably improved(cutting knife, sharp and easy to grasp)• The frame of the huts was sealed against the draft by an exterior sheathing of animal skins• At the same time, the hunters’ dealings with nature became formalized into what can be seen

as religious observances• It was not only surviving day after day that mattered, they thought that death was mysterious

and frightening and might not constitute the end. This thought complicated the concept of architecture

• The role of the shelter was pushed beyond mere housing• The cave became the sanctuary. At its mouth the hunter might still live, but the dark inner

recesses came to be reserved for ceremonies of life and death and afterlife• The cave at Monte Circeo, a limestone hill south of Rome, contained a unique chamber where a

single battered skull was stood in a trench along the farthest wall, with stone arranged around it in an oval ring

• At La Chapelle-aux-saints in the Dordonge region od southwestern France, a burial had taken place. The dead man had been laid out in a shallow grave filled with tools and animal bones. On his chest a bison leg had been deliberately placed, perhaps as provision for the world he had slipped into

Introduction of art• The search for elemental beliefs led the hunters to use art as a tool of expression• It appears likely that, for the communities that produced the splendid cave murals, engravings

and sculpture, the image did more than stand for what it depicted• Ritual use had transformed caves into religious architecture, so art now made tangible a range

of meaning in these hidden sanctuaries of the earthROCK SHELTER

• Rock shelters and caves provided natural protection• Reconstructed image to the right shows the use of rock formation as shelter


The surface underneath the rock formation is used as a form of shelter


CAVE DWELLINGS• Caves were, however, more popular as dwelling• Caves used by Stone Age people have been found in many regions of the world• A good example is the cave at Lascaux in France

THE CAVE AT LASCAUX, FRANCEIntrodution

• Discovered on a September day in 1940 by five boys while rabbit hunting in the woods• The extensive overlapping of images and the uncertain limits of the cave imply that the cave was never

conceived as a finished thing• There was many generations of hunters each adding its own imprints to the existing design• The cave at Lascaux was a community project; and ‘in community’ the present fused with the past and

the future• Used about ten to twenty thousand years ago• Used by several generation of people• Entered through one entry to a large hall• From the hall, cave braches out into other spaces• Interior has elaborate paintings of animals and hunting scenes• The artwork celebrates the hunting life of the early stone age people

Entrance• The cave can be entered through a hole that was the result of the collapse of a bit of the limestone rock

forming the roof of the cave• The path is 20 meters wide and opens into the oval room, the so called hall of bulls

Hall of the Bulls• A dark ledge here and throughout the cave separates the lower level from the upper level which

includes the ceiling, and is covered by a thin coat of calcite on which the painting was applied . There was no painting below the ledge

The far end of the wall is taken up by a frieze of four immense bulls in thick black outline. The space, in fact, is not all together empty Here and all along the remaining walls of the rotunda there is a seemingly random arrangement of smaller

animals-horses, deer and bears The composition avoids a single favored focus, and no strict picture frames delineate groupings of images But there are accents we can detect and visual correspondences even where paintings have been superimposed

on others of different date


LEDGENo paintings

below the ledge


Axial gallery/Painted Gallery• The line of the hall breaks at two points one leading to the Painted gallery/axial gallery and the other

leads to lateral passage• The first opening is more or less on axis with the entrance, leads into a long gallery that ends in an

undecorated tunnel• The floor of this so called axial gallery slopes sharply downwards• At one particularly narrow point, a cow of slender build straddles the curved ceiling• At the farthest end just before entering the tunnel , a large painted panel shows three horses, one of

them stumbling backwards, all four legs in the air• The turn into the tunnel and the exaggerated height of the gallery at this point heighten the effect of

the fall


The space contained not only the images of bulls but also other living forms such as horses, deer's, bears etc… from various generations


Lateral passage & Nave• The second opening leads to the lateral passage. At its farthest end the cave forks one branch opens

out into a vast gallery, called the Nave or the main gallery, with a high vault like ceiling and a floor that slopes sharply downward towards the back

• The animals along the walls have darts depicted on their bodies, but there is no sign of physical pain or collapse


Entrance leading to the undecorated tunnel

A cow of slender built straddling at the curved ceiling



A single file of heads of deer in profile is painted just above the ledge

The protrusion of the dark ledge reads like a body of water through which the beautifully drawn herd is swimming

Antlered heads lifted against the current


The Shaft of the dead man and Apse• The place of honor belongs to the shaft of the dead man.• It lies in the second branch of the lateral passage• We come in and out of the passage and into the pouch of the cave called the Apse whose walls are

worn through heavy use and marked in every direction• There is a smooth stone at the far end; it forms a lip over a yawning hole crowned by a small dome• The bottom of the hole about 6m below the floor of the Apse• The shaft that leads down is too steep to negotiate un aided• Here, immediately at the base of the shaft is a small irregular room, there is a painting, the strangest

and most affecting of all• This classic confrontation of man and beast seems to sum up the world view of the prehistoric nomadic

hunter• The beast is a big wounded bison, the spear is lodged in its strong body; its entrails are coming out.• The hunter responsible himself is fatally hurt, he has fallen backwards, gored by the dread horns• He is a small stick figure with a bird’s head. Next to him on the ground, lie a bird headed staff and a

spear thrower


Heads of deer

Ledge

Narrow passageway leading to the Chamber of felines


• The hunter clearly is the loser in the confrontation. There is nothing pathetic about the beast, which stands proud and triumphant over him at the point of death

INTERIORS

• Question– Why did early Stone Age people adopt art as a tool of expression?

• Explanation can be found in constant struggle between life and death for survival• Art provides a means to explore the struggle

TEMPORARY STRUCTURESHut at Terra Amanta, France

• Early stone people constructed temporary shelters using available materials• One of earliest known example discovered in 1966 at Terra Amata in France• Dates back to 400,000 years• Oval in shape and constructed of tree branches• Terra amanta holds the oldest artificial structures of which we have evidence• The site was discovered in 1966 during construction at the cliff road to Monte carlo • It was a stone age camp, used for a number of years, it seems, always briefly during the late spring• In a cove by the beach, traces of some 20 huts were found, often disposed on top of one and other – on

a sandbar, on the beach itself, and on a dune


Big wounded Bison

Small stick figure of the hunter

Spear lodged in the strong body of Bison


• They were oval in shape and measured about 8 to 15 meters in length and 4 to 6 meters in width• Small bands of about 15 persons built and occupied them for limited hunting forays; the huts then were

left to collapse and new huts put up over them or else nearby, by next year’s party

• Space inside is organized for different uses• The hut was used by a band of people for limited hunting days• It is left to collapse after use and new huts built over by the next years hunting season • The digging was done with fire-hardened wooden spears; the pruning and trimming, with hand axes

made of pieces of flint or limestone• The hearth was in the middle, protected from the prevailing northwest wind by a screen of pebbles• The immediate area was free of litter, indicating that there the band must have slept• Further out from this social focus of the hut there were workspaces and, in one case, a kind of kitchen,

to judge from the large smooth stone that was marked by tiny scratches, most likely resulting from the cutting of meat

• In another hut, fossilized human excrement indicates a toilet areaOther examples

• Degradable materials means buildings cannot last long• Few have survived for us to study them• We can learn by looking at primitive societies of the modern age• Evidence show improvement in technology led to covering of buildings• Bambuti Hut


Made of saplings and branches set close together in the sand as a palisade

Braced on the outside by a ring of large stonesLarger post to hold up the roof

Workspace

Workspace

Workspace

Hearth


• The bambutti huts show evidence of use of leaves to cover hut

• The Tongus Hut– The Tongus huts show evidence of use of grass to make huts

• The Lapp Tent– The Lapp tenth shows the use of animal skins



• Mud Construction– Gradual improvement in technology led to mud construction and architecture

NEW STONE AGE:(9000 to 3000BC)• People stopped wandering and settled down in permanent settlements



• Discovered art of farming and animal husbandry• Discovery result of population pressure• Neolithic people acquired confidence in ability to tame and control nature• Period saw interest in natural cycles such as of weather and heavenly bodies e.g. that of the sun and

moon • Learnt to domesticate animals, farm and grow crops, make pottery and weave cloth• Skills were developed, marking start of civilization• Villages were established and grew, protected by walls• Introduction of basic social organization of society• People learnt to differentiate between spaces and places- Sacred versus everyday places• Architecture was born• Having fulfilled his basic need, Neolithic man sought to conquer fear of the unknown• Needed to understand forces of nature that both nourishes and destroys• Sought to understand the heavenly bodies and weather cycles• Sought to control nature through rituals and magic• Gradually introduced the idea of religion• Confusion about death and life after death led to introduction of tombs• Tombs are evidence of social differences in the society

New stone age Architecture• Architecture evolved when early Stone Age man became settled• Once settled, he learned to build permanent structures• Early dwellings were round beehive huts • Mud was popular material, though construction system varied by location and availability of

construction materials• Round huts evolved to rectangular form around 9000 to 7000 BC• Early villages were simple with no palaces, rich houses or non-residential buildings• Once settled Neolithic man sought to satisfy his spiritual needs• This led to the construction of monuments

Examples• Neolithic Dwelling and Settlement- Catal Huyuk • Megalithic Monuments

– Dolmen Tomb, Carnac France– Stone Alignment, Carnac France– Stonehenge, England

NEOLITHIC DWELLING & SETTLEMENTCatal huyuk

• Neolithic monument in present day Turkey• Occupied between 6300 BC to 5400 BC• Supported a population of up to 6000 people• It was the largest and most cosmopolitan city of its time



• It had an extensive economy based on specialized craft and commerce• The city was a trading center• The size of the city and its wealth are a product of its status as a trading center• ysically Catal Huyuk was highly organized with elaborate architectural features • Houses were packed in one continuous block punctuated by courtyards



• Houses were of one story mud construction• No streets in settlement and access to houses was through the roof• Movement from house to house through the roof• Houses had main rooms with in-built clay furniture, fire places and ladder to the roof• Many houses have cult rooms decorated with bull heads• Some houses appear to be shrines for worship



MEGALITHIC MONUMENTSIntroduction:• Monumental construction by Neolithic man particularly in Europe took the form of megalithic

monument• Megalithic means large stone• Megalithic construction involves setting up large stone blocks alone or leaning against each other• Sometimes post and lintel construction is usedMethod of megalithic construction:• Very similar to the Egyptian pyramids• Stone is quarried from rocks, transported by rollers pulled by people• Lever action is used to lift and place stone in position• The secret of the construction lies in abundance of labor, endurance of effort and availability of

unlimited timeCategorization of megalithic monument:• Tombs – also called Dolmen• Non funereal structures

– Single stones – Menhirs – Stones composed in groups – Henge Monuments

Menhirs:• Are single upright stones, known in Western France as " menhirs," (Maen, a stone, hir, high)

Dolmens & Cromlech’s:• (dol = table + maen = stone) and • Cromlechs (crom = bent + leac = flat stone) are often used as interchangeable terms.• Dolmen is the name sometimes applied to two or more upright stones supporting a horizontal slab.• These dolmens or cromlechs often stand within sacred circles of massive monoliths, supporting

horizontal slabs, as at Stonehenge.• It seems to be erected by primitive people for the worship of the sun.


Horizontal cap stone

Upright stone slab


Dolmen tomb, Carnac, France:• Dolmen Tomb Carnac is a burial structure• Consist of two upright stones slabs supporting a horizontal cap stone• All are held together by their weight• The remains of a dead person is place in the chamber formed by the stone blocks• The entire structure is covered with a mound of earth• Stone age people built tombs because of the belief that dead people needed shelter

Stone Alignment, Carnac, France:


Upright stone slab

Horizontal cap stone


• In Carnac is found a unique stone monument- the stone alignment• The structure consist of more than 3000 large stones of local granite lime lined up for several

kilometers• The structure runs east by north east in ten to thirteen rows towards a circle• As objects in space, the height and mass of the stones made them visible from a distance and

encourage movement towards them• The structure affords an intermediate experience between openness and enclosure, between

boundless space and a wall • The structure represents the first instance of a principle of organizing space



Settlement wall, Jericho: 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


Passage grave, Newgrange, Ireland: The Newgrange passage grave is an early example of corbelled vaulting. The huge stones (megaliths) of

the dome of the main burial chamber beneath the tumulus are held in place by their own weight.

Hagar Qim, Malta: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.

Stonehenge, Salisbury, England:


Corbelled vault

Corbeled vault of the main chamber in the passage grave, Newgrange, Ireland, ca. 3200-2500 BCE

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


• Neolithic ritual monument located in Salisbury England• Most celebrated Monument in England• Most important prehistoric structure in Europe• Well preserved monument• Subject of a very lively controversy and theories about its function • The plan of Stonehenge is arranged in the form of concentric circles• At the center is an altar• Around it five trilithons • Beyond trilithons a circle of blue stones from Wales, 200km away• Beyond blue stones, an outer monumental circle of large rectangular blocks capped by continuous

lintel • Beyond the monumental circle are 56 movable marker stones in the Aubrey holes

• The whole monument is isolated from the landscape by a trench• A long avenue cut through trench to trilithons


Sarsen stones trilithons

bluestones

Lintels

Open endFacing East-Altar

trilithons


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

Stonehenge-Function:• Cremation / burial site• Astrological observatory• Solar calendar• Sacred site• The Stonehenge appears to be a sacred place• The actual function of the structure is still not clear• There are two viable theories:

– Structure mirrors cosmic eye of lunar goddess and outer circle is an elevated walkway for rituals

– An Astronomical computer for the prediction of the eclipse of the sun and moon• Whatever the case, function is in some way connected with the cosmos• Why is the Stonehenge a remarkable monument?Three possible reasons:• It was not constructed to meet any practical need of the people• The level of accuracy in its construction• The uniqueness of its geometry and form

Stonehenge, Construction:• Neolithic architecture• Post and lintel construction• Megaliths are 21 to 24 feet tall, including height of lintel, and buried four feet in the ground• Cromlech • Solar and lunar orientation• Stones dragged from far away to this site


Altar

Trilithons

Bluestones

Monumental circle


• Circle of megaliths embrace structure, enclosing it• Inside circle of megaliths is a larger horseshoe-shaped group of megaliths which frame an “Altar Stone”• Horseshoe-shaped stones face midsummer sunrise over “Heel Stone”• “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 site on Salisbury Plain• The lintels (horizontal monoliths) were fitted to one another using a woodworking method, the

“tongue-and-groove joint”

Who built it?

Various people have attributed the building of this great megalith to Neanderthals (early man), the Danes, Romans, Saxons, Greeks, Atlanteans, Egyptians, Phoenicians, Celts (druids), King Aurelius Ambrosious, Merlin (the wizard), and even Aliens!

A giant helps Merlin build Stonehenge. From a manuscript of the Roman de Brut by Wace in the British Library (Egerton 3028). This is one of

the oldest known depictions of Stonehenge.

One of the most popular beliefs was that Stonehenge was built by the Druids. These high priests of the Celts were said to have constructed it for sacrificial ceremonies. While there are still some who believe they were the ones who built it, carbon-dating research has

proven that Stonehenge was built before the druids entered this land. The Celts came from Ireland, much later than the building of Stonehenge.



The bluestones were thought for much of the 20th century to have been transported by humans from the Preseli Hills, 250 kilometres (160 mi) away in modern day Pembrokeshire in Wales.

A newer theory is that they were brought from glacial deposits much nearer the site, which had been carried down from the northern side of the Preselis to southern England by the Irish Sea Glacier.

Chemical tests on teeth from an ancient burial near Stonehenge indicate that this person in this grave grew up around the Mediterranean Sea. The bones belong to a teenager who died 3,550 years ago and was buried with a distinctive amber necklace. While findings are preliminary, experts hope to find out more…

At least twenty-five of the Aubrey Holes are known to have contained later, intrusive, cremation burials dating to the two centuries after the monument's inception. It seems that whatever the holes' initial function, it changed to become a funerary one during Phase 2. Thirty further cremations were placed in the enclosure's ditch and at other points within the monument, mostly in the eastern half.

Fragments of unburnt human bone have also been found in the ditch-fill. Stonehenge is therefore interpreted as functioning as an enclosed cremation cemetery at this time, the earliest known cremation cemetery in the British Isles.

The Art of Stonehenge: 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-facing surfaces of the stones are smoother and more finely worked than the outer surfaces.



Graffiti on the sarsen stones. Below the graffiti are ancient carvings of a dagger and an axe.



Several Phases of construction



BUILDINGS AND OTHER ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS:• Prehistoric buildings can be categorized into three groups

– Dwellings and settlements– Funereal and Religious buildings– Ritual structures

Dwellings and settlements:• Residential building and settlements varied between early and new Stone Age periods• Early Stone Age:

– Always on the move– Used temporary structures – Provided basic shelter and protection for short periods of time

• New Stone Age – Established permanent dwellings and settlements- Catal Huyuk, Jericho– Improvement in house form including change to rectangular rooms– Introduction of multi-room houses– Introduction of non-residential buildings- for work, storage & rituals– Open village layouts with streets– Increase in number and size of villages

Funereal and religious building:• Funereal and religious buildings were introduced during new Stone Age• Funereal Buildings

– Were structures such as tombs used for rituals and burial for the dead– Example we studied is the Dolmen Tomb

• Religious Buildings – Evidence of the first practices of religion– buildings used for rituals related to worship and religion– Example is found in the shrines that we saw embedded within Catal Huyuk

Ritual building:• Buildings whose functions are not entirely certain• Usually associated with ritual ceremonial activities • Activities may be related to religion• Examples are the Stone alignment Carnac and the Stonehenge, England

MATERIAL, CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM AND TECHNIQUE:• Most popular construction materials were wood and tree saplings, leaves, grasses, adobe, animal

skins and stones• Availability of material and construction technology varied between locations• Materials and construction technology also varied between the early and new stone age periods• Early Stone Age

– Used simple easily available materials– Usually of plant and animal materials such as wooden poles, grasses, leaves, and animal skins– Construction system was also simple



– Usually involves digging holes, putting wooden poles in holes and burying them– The poles are tied together to create the shell of the building– The shell is covered with grasses, leaves or animal skins and there is no evidence of the use

of technologies to modify the interior of the hut• New Stone Age

– More diversified construction materials– Adobe and Stone most popular materials for houses– Large stone was used for monuments– Construction method also improved over time– Significant improvement in Adobe construction with time– In Stonehenge is also evidence of ability to quarry, shape, transport and join large stones to

create monuments– No evidence of the technology to modify interior conditions

PRINCIPLES OF ARCHITECTURAL ORGANIZATION:• Possible to categorize principles that give form to architecture of period into two:

– Principles and forces that determine form of dwellings and settlements– Principles and forces that determine the form of monuments

Dwellings & settlements:• Two forces shaped the form of Dwellings and settlements- functional need and available construction

materials and technology• Early Stone Age

– Primary requirement is for temporary structure– No desire to invest in construction of dwellings– Constructed dwellings using available materials with form directly reflecting natural objects

• New Stone Age – Became settled requiring permanent dwellingswhich also required durable construction– Desire to improve dwellings and settlements to meet needs – Desire resulted in change in form of house, introduction of furniture and differentiation of

space– Also account for improvement in village form including introduction of streets and to

improvement in construction technology Monuments:

• Function was not an important issue in monuments• Product of desire to achieve higher emotional and spiritual needs• Also a symbol of the achievement of society• Understanding monument requires understanding meaning to its creators• Monuments also display an understanding of architectural principles including:• Role of geometry in organizing architectural form• The differentiation of space for different activities and uses• Principles of locating objects in space and of channeling movement• Principles of space enclosure, including difference between boundless space and full enclosure• Monuments represent the first instance of a principle of organizing space


unit 1 prehistoric age 2013

Documents

stone age period

paleolithic stone age

bc new stone age

stone tools

studies old stone age

architecture human

prehistoric period information

sources of food