What Is Pre-Historic Architecture?

PRE-HISTORIC
ARCHITECTURE
HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
RESEARCH WORK 1
WHAT IS PRE-HISTORIC ARCHITECTURE?
The definition of prehistoric architecture is, quite literally, pre-history. In other words
from a time before mankind was capable of recording its history in writing. This makes
the prehistoric era one that is very difficult to define, dating back tens of thousands of
years. For an era that is so vast it’s difficult to recognize any real themes in its
architecture, but there are a few key forms and concepts that pre-date any known
civilization, and were significant enough that they would influence key in the centuries
and millennia to come.
The Prehistoric age is divided into: The Stone Age divided into:
Paleolithic: 2.5 million - 10000 BC
Stone Age: 2.5million BP-3000BC
Mesolithic: 30000 - 9000BC
Bronze Age: 3000BC-900BC Neolithic: 9000 - 3000BC
Iron Age: Started from 12th -9th century BC

I STAGES IN THE CULTURAL EVOLUTION OF MAN
I. Stone Age
The Stone Age marks a period of prehistory in which humans used stone
tools .
3-Stage Chronology:
a. Paleolithic or Old Stone Age

o used stone and bone as
instruments
o livelihood from hunting & food
gathering
o learned to make fire
o lived in caves & rock shelters
b. Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age

o fashioned stone tools like the bow
o made body coverings from animal hides
o made the canoe for fishing
o built huts from bones, animal hides, reeds & grass
c. Neolithic
Once human beings settle down to the business of agriculture, instead of hunting
& gathering, permanent settlements become a factor of life & story of architecture
can begin.
o polished stone tools for grinding, cutting & chopping
o development of pottery
o agriculture (wheat & barley) & domesticated animals
o sew clothing from animal hides using
o fish bones as needles
o built huts of stones & mud with thatched roofing
o practiced burial rituals & built tombs
2
II. Bronze Age
most advanced metalworking with copper.
III. Iron Age

cutting tools and weapons were mainly made of iron or steel.
I PREHISTORIC STRUCTURES
 Megalith
is a large stone used to construct a structure either

alone or together with other stones, utilizing an
interlocking system without the use of mortar or
cement.
 Dolmen/Cromlech
Dolmens and Cromlechs : (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.
 Roof tomb structures, simple

chambers of stone slabs .
 covered with cap-stone
 Celtic word means table stones
 At least contains three vertical stone slabs supporting massive
horizontal roof slab
3
 Stone Circle
Stonehenge is one of the most famous sites in the

world & composed of earthworks surrounding a
circular setting of large standing stones.
The Stonehenge site and its surroundings were added to the UNESCO’s list of World
Heritage Sites in 1986.
 Stonehenge Plan
Archaeological evidence indicates that the

Stonehenge served as a burial ground from its
earliest beginnings.
 Stone Row
a stone row or stone alignment is a linear

arrangement of upright, parallel megalithic standing
stones set at intervals along a common axis or series
of axes, usually dating from the
later Neolithic or Bronze Age. Rows may be
individual or grouped, and three or more stones
aligned can constitute a stone row.
4
Monolith or Menhir
 -freestanding stone columns

 -Erected vertically
 -Set in circular patterns or parallel
rows
 -Marking a spot for some ritual
purpose
 -Celtic word means: long stone
Barrow/Tumulus
a tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over

a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial
mounds or kurgans, and may be found throughout much of the world.
A cairn, which is a mound of stones built for various purposes, may also
originally have been a tumulus.
5
I PREHISTORIC DWELLINGS
Lake dwellings
The "prehistoric pile-dwelling (or stilt house) settlements in and around the Alps"
have been officially recognized as cross-border UNESCO World Heritage sites.
These pile-dwellings are the very first underwater archaeological sites to be
inscribed.
Tent
are a continuation and an evolution of earlier structures that were originally built
using animal hide, animal bones and tree branches.
6
Cliff Dwellings
cliff dwellings are dwellings formed by using niches or caves in high

cliffs, with more or less excavation or with additions in the way of
masonry.
7
I REFERENCES:
 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_row
 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tumulus#:~:text=A%20tumulus%20(plural
%20tumuli)%20is,originally%20have%20been%20a%20tumulus.
 https://www.bavaria.by/experiences/city-country-culture/unesco-world-
heritage/prehistoric-pile-dwellings
 https://www-turas-tv.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.turas.tv/2018/07/a-brief-
history-of-tents/amp/?
amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQFKAGwASA
%3D#aoh=16006208425625&csi=1&referrer=https%3A%2F
%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https
%3A%2F%2Fwww.turas.tv%2F2018%2F07%2Fa-brief-history-of-tents
%2F
 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menhir#:~:text=A%20menhir%20(from
%20Brittonic%20languages,a%20group%20of%20similar%20stones.
 History of Architecture 20th edition Sir
 Banister Fletcher, Architectural Press, 1996.
 Pre-historic Architecture PowerPoint
 Arch. Ma. Vicenta Sanchez, UST College of Architecture
 Various internet articles related to the topic.
 Google images.

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PRE-HISTORIC

WHAT IS PRE-HISTORIC ARCHITECTURE?

Iron Age: Started from 12th -9th century BC

a. Paleolithic or Old Stone Age

b. Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age

III. Iron Age

is a large stone used to construct a structure either

Dolmens and Cromlechs : (dol = table + maen

Dolmen is the name sometimes applied to two or

 Roof tomb structures, simple

Stonehenge is one of the most famous sites in the

Archaeological evidence indicates that the

a stone row or stone alignment is a linear

 -freestanding stone columns

a tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over

cliff dwellings are dwellings formed by using niches or caves in high

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