pre-historic architecture

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE 1
Walther N. Ocampo
Prehistory (Pre-literary History)

The period between the use of the

first stone tools by hominins c3.3 M
years and the invention of writing
systems

The end of prehistory therefore came

at very different dates in different
places
Stone Age Bronze Age Iron Age
 Stone Age

A broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools
with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface

The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 8700 BCE
and 2000 BCE , with the advent of metalworking

Paleolithic Chalcolithic
(Old Stone Mesolithic Neolithic
Age)
(Copper Age)
Lower Palaeolithic - Middle Paleolithic
c2.8 million BP-c50,000 BP

Genus Homo appears

Evidence of early human tools

Hunting-gathering

Control of fire by early humans

Anatomically modern humans (Homo

sapiens sapiens) appear in Africa
Out of Africa migration

Behavioral modernity
Cave dwellings
Upper Palaeolithic-Chalcolithic
c45,000 BP/43,000 BCE-c3000 BCE

Last Glacial Periods:

Last Glacial Maximum
Late Glacial Interstadial
Late Glacial Maximum
Humid Period begins in North Africa

Early agriculture (figs, wheat, barley)

Use of fibers to make baby-carriers, clothes, bags, baskets, and nets

Construction of different settlements
Catal Huyuk, Turkey, c5700 BCE
Copper Age walled city, Los Millares, Iberia
Jericho, Jordan
Protected by 5-foot-thick walls and at least one stone tower, 30 feet high and 33
feet in diameter
Amsa-Dong, S. Korea Shetland, Scotland

Sesklo, Greece Hagar Qim, Malta

Invention of cuneiform Stonehenge construction begins
Prehistoric Architecture

The architecture of constructions,

structures, and buildings of
the Prehistory period — the human
period before recorded history

Megalith

Large pre-historic stone that has been

used to construct a structure or
monument, either alone (monolith) or
together with other stones.

Erected between even before the

Neolithic period and through the
Chalcolithic period
 Menhir

A prehistoric monument consisting

of an upright megalith

Usually standing alone but

sometimes aligned with others

Carnac, Brittany
Lagatjar, France
Carnac Stones, France
Cairn, Carn

A heap of stones piled up as a

monument, tombstone, or landmark
Cairn of the Neolithic passage grave, Gavrinis Island, Brittany
Tumulus, Barrow, Kurgans, Burial Mound

An artificial mound or earth or stone, esp. over an ancient grave

Mound of Dissignac, Saint-Nazaire, France

Wayland's Smithy, a chambered long barrow, Oxfordshire
Maghrib, Morrocco
New Grange, Ireland
3200 to 2500 BCE
Newgrange passage tomb, Ireland, Neolithic Period
 Dolmen
Early Neolithic (4000–3000 BC)

A prehistoric monument consisting of

two or more large upright stones
supporting a horizontal stone slab,
found esp. in Britain and France and
usually regarded as a tomb

Dolmen at Ganghwa Island, South Korea

Trethevy Quoit Cornwall, UK, 3500–2500 BCE Kilclooney More, Ireland

Lancken-Granitz dolmen, Germany Dólmen da Aboboreira, Baião, Portugal

Cromlech

A circular arrangement of megaliths

enclosing a dolmen or burial mound
Avebury Circles
Avebury Circle
Third Millennium BCE

A Neolithic henge monument

containing three stone circles, around
the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, in
southwest England

The largest megalithic stone circle in

the world

By the Iron Age, the site had been

effectively abandoned
Stonehenge
Stonehenge, England
c2800-500 BCE

Most spectacular and imposing of

monolithic monuments

The focal point of the densest

concentration of Neolithic and Bronze
Age

Undergone in 4 periods of building

and use
Stonehenge I
c3000 BCE

About 91 m across

Ditch and bank: work began c2800 BCE

Probably a place of Neolithic

astronomical observations, worship,
and burials for about 7 centuries
Ditch: 2.1 m deep, 6 m wide

Bank: 1.8 m high

Heel Stone
 Heel Stone
Tertiary sandstone, 35 tons

Allows 250 men to transport and to erect it

24° angle of inclination

Aubrey Holes

Discovered by John Aubrey, (17C)

56 pits (56-day difference between
5 solar years and 5 lunar years)

1 m wide Ø, 4.9 m apart

Never held upright posts

Unknown purposes

Treated with chalks

The holes were immediately refilled

Re-used for burials of cremated

human bones (c2200 BCE)
Stonehenge II

Introduction of a new axis, a more

east than previous one

Addition of the avenue (510 m)

Addition of the bluestones

1.8 m apart
Came from Preseli Mountains,
135 miles from Stonehenge
Stonehenge IIIA
c2000 BCE
Sarsen Circle
Composed of 30 upright
stones in uniform height capped by
a horizontal ring of stone lintels

Sarsen Horseshoe
5 Trilithons or Central
Trilithons also accurately arranged

Sarsen stones from Marlborough

Downs, 20 miles to the north
Sarsen Circle

About 33 m in diameter

Originally comprised of 30 neatly

trimmed upright sandstone blocks
of which only 17 are now
standing

The stones are evenly spaced

approximately 1.0 to 1.4 meters
apart, and stand on average 4
meters above the ground
Diagrams showing how the sun’s rays (in grey) penetrate into the Sarsen Ring. Note
how the rays move over the surface of the trilithons progressively from sunrise
 Trilithon

Lintel: 7 tons, Post: 25 tons

With mortise holes and tenon joints

Lintels are wider above and were cut

to curves

Slight convex outline

Illusion of increased height
Effect of verticality

Trilithon
A structure consisting of two large vertical
stones (posts) supporting a third stone set
horizontally across the top (lintel)
Mortise and Tennon
Stonehenge IIIB

Y & Z Holes
59 holes in all
59 days in 2 lunar months

Bluestone Horseshoe
19 bluestones
19 cycles of the moon, crucial
for the prediction of eclipses
Excavation of two quarries in Wales by a UCL-led team of archaeologists and geologists
has confirmed they are sources of Stonehenge's 'bluestones'- and shed light on how they
were quarried and transported.
Stonehenge IIIC

Some bluestones in IIIB were re-used

in IIIC, some were shaped, and some
were jointed together

Bluestone Circle: 60 stones

Bluestone Horseshoe: 19 stones

The final arrangement of the
bluestones
Primitive Dwellings
Prehistoric Dwellings
sources of images
illustratedcuriosity.com britannica.com tripadvisor.com.ph
cambridge.org amusingplanet.com summitpost.com
researchgate.org english-heritage.org.uk pinterest.com
mozaweb.com sites.google.com la.utexas.edu
science.howstuffworks.com stonehengefacts.net seanet.com
ucl.ac.uk metro.co.uk

sources of videos
youtube channels

cosmic eye project

national geographic channel
american museum of natural history
royal scoiety
science online