ARCH 2311: History of World Architecture I - Vocabulary and Slide List

Vocabulary flashcards covering architectural terms, Stone Age periods, and Ancient Near East works from the ARCH 2311 slide list.

dolmen

A prehistoric tomb made of large upright stones, capped with a horizontal stone, and originally buried under an earth mound.

henge

A circle of upright stones or posts.

megalith

A large stone.

menhir

A prehistoric monument in the form of a large, upright stone.

palimpsest

A surface that is written or drawn upon, and then cleared and reused, often leaving trace remnants of the previous work.

trabeation

Construction using upright posts and horizontal lintels, not arches or vaults; also known as "post-and-beam" or "post-and-lintel" construction.

wattle and daub

Building materials used for making walls, consisting of "wattle" or thin branches weaved between upright stakes, and reinforced by applying "daub" or a plaster-like substance over the wattle structure.

in situ

Latin, "in place" (as in, still located in its original place).

lithos

Greek, "stone".

Paleolithic Period

ca. 40000-10000 BC

Mesolithic Period

ca. 10000-8000 BC

Neolithic Period

ca. 8000-3500 BC

Cuneiform tablet recording the allocation of beer

Possibly from Iraq, ca. 3100-3000 BC

White Temple and Ziggurat

Uruk (Warka, Iraq), ca. 3500-3000 BC

Female head of Inanna (?)

From Uruk, marble, ca. 3200-3000 BC

Votive statues, from the Square Temple, Eshnunna (Tell Asmar, Iraq)

Iraq, gypsum, ca. 2750 -2500 BC

lithos

Greek, "stone".

Paleolithic Period

ca. 40000-10000 BC

Mesolithic Period

ca. 10000-8000 BC

Neolithic Period

ca. 8000-3500 BC

Reconstruction drawing of a prehistoric hut

Terra Amata, near Nice, France, ca. 400,000 BC

Woman holding a bison horn (Venus of Laussel)

From Laussel, Dordogne, France, painted limestone, ca. 25000-20000 BC

Painted caves at Lascaux

Dordogne, France, ca. 15000-13000 BC; discovered 1940

Carnac alignments

Brittany, France, ca. 4250-3750 BC

Dolmen Menga

Antequera, Andalusia, Spain, ca. 2500 BC

Stonehenge

Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England, ca. 2900-1400 BC

Avebury

Wiltshire, England, ca. 3250-2600 BC

Çatal Höyük

Konya Plain, Anatolia, Turkey, ca. 6500-5700 BC

Cuneiform tablet recording the allocation of beer

Possibly from Iraq, ca. 3100-3000 BC

White Temple and Ziggurat

Uruk (Warka, Iraq), ca. 3500-3000 BC

Female head of Inanna (?)

From Uruk, marble, ca. 3200-3000 BC

Votive statues, from the Square Temple, Eshnunna (Tell Asmar, Iraq)

Iraq, gypsum, ca. 2750 -2500 BC