AR8101 HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE

AND CULTURE I

UNIT I
WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS THRO RIVER VALLEY
CIVILIZATION

• Response to culture and context in building shelter in the Neolithic

period.
• R. Nile and the architecture of Egypt with relevant examples.
• Urban form in the Indus Valley and the Tigris and
Euphrates basin and relevant examples of architecture.

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 CIVILIZATION
• The process by which a society or place reaches an advanced stage of
social development and organization.
• People who live together in Cities / Settlements.They have similar
 Culture  Traditions Advanced Development
 Art • Advanced scientific and artistic
 Beliefs knowledge
 Language etc.
Conditions led to CIVILIZATION
• A place suitable for Farming – Water and Fertile Soil
• A place with plenty of Sunshine and Water Supply – Rivers and Seas
• A proper connectivity for trade and Commerce – Rivers, Roads, Seas
FEATURES -CIVILIZATION
• A Government System • Religious Beliefs
• Writing System / Language • Artistic and scientific
• Different Occupations achievements Ar.Pathmavathi
 CULTURE
• Culture is a complex on whole which includes Knowledge, Beliefs,
arts, morals, laws, customs and any other capabilities and habits
acquired by man as a member or society.
• Culture is an integral part of our existence.
• It differs from Person to Person.
CHARACTERISTICS - CULTURE
• Building of Houses .
• Food Production .
• Preparation of Clothes .
• Language etc.,
ELEMENTS - CULTURE
• Language
• Value
• Social Collectives
• Cultural Integration
• Norms
• Religions and Beliefs
• Status and Roles Ar.Pathmavathi
PREHISTORIC AGE timeline
• Occurred before the invention of written Records.
• Called as “STONE AGE” – absence of Metal Implements.
• Occurred from Human Habitation of earth around 2.6m yrs ago ( 12,000years ago
approx.)

• Paleolithic • Mesolithic • Neolithic

Or Or Or
Old Stone Age Middle Stone Age New Stone Age
• 12000 years ago • 11000 Years Ago • 9000 Years Ago

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 OLD STONE AGE PALEOLITHIC AGE
• "Paleolithic" means "Old Stone Age" and begins
with the first use of stone tools.
• The Paleolithic is the earliest period of the stone
age.
• Throughout the Paleolithic, humans generally
lived as nomadic hunter-gatherers

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MIDDLE STONE AGE MESOLITHIC AGE

• The "Mesolithic," or "Middle Stone Age" • 10,000 – 4,000 BC

was the period in the development of
human technology between the Paleolithic
and Neolithic periods of the Stone Age.
• The Mesolithic is characterized in most
areas by small composite flint tools –
microliths and micro burins, fishing
tackles, stone adzes and wooden objects,
• Mesolithic material culture is
characterized by
greater innovation and diversity than is
found in the Paleolithic.

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MIDDLE STONE AGE PALEOLITHIC

• They developed simple tools

and spoken language.

• In the Lower Paleolithic period,

the human tools are simple
stone choppers.
• Hand axes are the typical tool
of these early hunters and
food-gatherers. Ar.Pathmavathi
MIDDLE STONE AGE PALEOLITHIC

• The systematic burial of the dead, the music, early art , and the use of
increasingly sophisticated multi-part tools are highlights of the Middle
Paleolithic - 2 million B.C. to 10,000 B. C.
• People lived in small hunting and gathering groups of about 20 to 30
people.
• They were nomads- moving from place to place following animals and
the ripening of different fruits, nuts, grains, and vegetables.
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 NEW STONE AGE NEOLITHIC AGE

• Neolithic means "New Stone Age."

• This was a period of primitive technological and social development
• “The Neolithic period” saw the development of early villages,
agriculture, animal domestication , tools and the onset of the earliest
recorded incidents of warfare.

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 NEW STONE AGE NEOLITHIC AGE
• The Neolithic Revolution is the transition from hunting and gathering
to agriculture.
• This transition is also a change from a largely nomadic lifestyle to a
more settled, agrarian-based one, with the onset of the domestication of
plants and (later) animals.
• Agriculture gives humans more control over their food supply, but they
also need to settle and occupy a territory and create larger social groups.

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 NEW STONE AGE NEOLITHIC AGE
• Neolithic Revolution- Nomadic
Paleolithic people began to learn to
farm and domesticate animals
• This produced a surplus of food,
growth in populations, and the
settlement of people in one area
• This led to the growth of the first
Villages

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 MEGALITHICS
• Large stones-to construct a structure/monument , either alone or
together with other stones.
• Utilizes an interlocking system without the use of mortar or cement.
• Megalith also denotes an item consisting of rocks hewn in definite
shapes for special purposes.
• They were used as portal tombs, passage graves and gallery graves.

MEGALITH OF CARNAC STONE HENGE,ENGLAND Ar.Pathmavathi