History of Architecture: Prehistoric and Ancient Architecture

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers concepts from the History of Architecture, including construction principles, types of prehistoric dwellings (built and natural), various megalithic structures like Dolmens and Cromlechs, and the earliest documented cities.

History of Architecture

The record of man's effort to build beautifully, which traces the origin, growth, and decline of architectural styles across different places and ages.

Historic style of architecture

A manner of design which prevailed at a certain place and time.

Factors affecting architectural style

The six influences that shape the development of architecture: History, Society, Religion, Geography, Geology, and Climate.

Post & Lintel Construction

One of the four great construction principles, characterized by vertical members supporting horizontal beams.

Arch & Vault Construction

One of the four great construction principles based on the use of arches and curved ceilings to span spaces.

Corbel or Cantilever Construction

A construction principle where structural members project from a wall to support a weight.

Trussed Construction

A construction principle utilizing a framework of members to create a rigid structure.

BC / BCE

Historical terms standing for Before Christ or Before the Common Era, representing the period before the birth of Jesus Christ.

AD / CE

Historical terms standing for Anno Domini ($‐‐$ in the year of our Lord) or Common Era, representing the period after the birth of Jesus Christ.

Homo luzonensis

A species identified from remains found in a cave in the Philippines in $2007$, estimated to have lived between $50,000$ to $67,000$ years ago.

Rock Caves

The earliest form of human dwelling, consisting of natural geographic formations used as defense against predators and weather.

Lascaux Cave

A network of caves near Montignac, France, containing over $600$ wall paintings and $6,000$ figures, estimated to be around $17,000$ years old and a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Built Shelters

Structures built out of natural materials, resulting from the domestication of plants and animals and nomadic hunting patterns.

Tipi

A portable Native American shelter made of animal skin upon wooden poles.

Clochan

A stone beehive-shape hut with a corbelled roof.

Igloo

An Inuit house made of blocks of ice or snow.

Hogan

A Navajo dwelling made of earth and logs, covered with mud, sand, and sods.

Trullo

A traditional rendered stone dwelling in Apulia, southern Italy, featuring square chambers roofed with conical vaulted roofs.

Wigwam

A Native American dwelling of round or oval shape, formed of poles overlaid with bark, rush mats, or animal skins.

Megaliths

Ancient stone monuments meant for sacred and spiritual celebrations, often arranged according to celestial cycles to predict seasons for agrarian purposes.

Menhir

A prehistoric monument consisting of a single, upright stone.

Grand Menhir Brisé

Once the largest menhir in the world located near Locmariaquer, France; it was $20$ metres long and weighed $350$ tons, but is now broken into four pieces.

Dolmen

A prehistoric monument consisting of two or more large upright stones supporting a horizontal stone slab or capstone.

Kilclooney More

A megalithic site in County Donegal, Ireland, known for its collection of court and portal tombs.

Goindol

The Korean term for Dolmen; Korea contains about $40,000$ of these, which is approximately $40\%$ of the world total.

Cromlech

A prehistoric structure consisting of a circular arrangement of stones or megaliths.

Stonehenge

A prehistoric megalithic structure on Salisbury Plain, England, featuring an outer ring of sarsen stones approximately $13$ feet ($4.0\,m$) high, weighing $25\,tons$, and an inner ring of bluestones.

Long Meg and Her Daughters

A Bronze Age stone circle near Penrith, England, consisting of $59$ stones in total, including a large stone named 'Long Meg' and smaller stones called 'daughters.'

Callanish Stones

A megalithic site of standing stones arranged in a cruciform pattern with a stone circle at its center.

Tumulus / Barrow

An artificial earth mound, also known as a kurgan, built over an ancient grave.

Newgrange

A grand passage tomb in County Meath, Ireland, built between c. $3200$ and $3100\,BC$, featuring a large circular mound and an inner stone passageway.

Stone Row

A linear arrangement of megalithic standing stones placed along a common axis or series of axes.

Carnac Stones

A megalithic site in Brittany, France, containing a vast collection of stone rows, menhirs, dolmens, and tumuli.

Nuraghe

The main type of ancient megalithic structure found in Sardinia, Italy, built during the Nuragic Age between $1900$ and $730\,BC$.

Fertile Crescent

The area between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, also called Mesopotamia, where settled farming first emerged in modern-day Iraq, Turkey, Syria, and surrounding regions.

Jericho

One of the earliest cities, located in the West Bank and recognized as the oldest fortified city in the world, developed between $10,000$ and $9000\,BCE$.

Çatalhöyük

An early settlement in southern Anatolia from c. $7400\,BCE$ to $5200\,BCE$ where there were no streets and houses were accessed via the roof for ventilation and entry.

Khirokitia

The first documented settlement with streets, located in Cyprus, composed of round structures with varied diameters.

Göbekli Tepe

A settlement in southeastern Turkey dating to around $9600-7300\,BCE$, significant for featuring one of the oldest known human-made religious structures, predating Stonehenge by approximately $6,000$ years.