Architectural History Quiz 1 Key Works and Terms

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key architectural works, archaeological sites, structural terms, and construction techniques for Quiz 1.

“Bone Huts”

Paleolithic structures located in Mezhyrich, Ukraine, dating to 20,000-15,000 BCE.

Cult buildings, Gobekli Tepe

Early megalithic sanctuary buildings located in Turkey, dating to 11,000-9,000 BCE.

Catalhoyuk

Large Neolithic proto-city settlement located in Southern Turkey, dating to 7400-6000 BCE.

Banpo

Neolithic village site located in Shanxi Province, China, dating to 5000-4000 BCE.

Skara Brae

Stone-built Neolithic settlement located in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, dating to ca 3000 BCE.

Passage Tomb, Newgrange

Prehistoric megalithic passage tomb located in Ireland, dating to 3000-2500 BCE.

Stone Circle, Stonehenge

Prehistoric monument composed of a circle of upright megaliths located in England, dating to 3000-1500 BCE.

Dolmens, Maesan Village

Megalithic burial structures located in Maesan Village, Korea, dating to 1000-500 BCE.

Temple Compound (Ziggurat of Ur) and Housing

Sumerian religious complex and residential fabric located in Ur, Mesopotamia (Iraq), dating to 2100 BCE.

Citadel (Great Bath), Water System and Housing

Urban settlement features including advanced water drainage and a public bath, located in Mohenjo-Daro, Indus Valley (Pakistan), dating to ca 2500 BCE.

Mortuary Complex of Djoser (Stepped Pyramid)

Early Egyptian funerary complex designed with a stepped pyramid located in Saqqara, Egypt, dating to ca 2650 BCE.

Pyramid Complex (Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure)

Old Kingdom monumental tomb group located at Giza, Egypt, dating to ca 2600-2500 BCE.

Temple of Amon-Ra

Massive New Kingdom religious sanctuary located in Karnak, Egypt, dating to ca 1525 BCE.

Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut

Terraced rock-cut funerary temple situated at Deir el Bahari, Egypt, dating to ca 1480 BCE.

Worker Housing and Tombs, Deir el-Medina

Ancient planned village for artisans and craftsmen located in Egypt, dating to ca 1500 BCE.

Post and beam (post and lintel)

A primary structural system where upright vertical members (posts) support horizontal cross pieces (beams or lintels).

Arch (corbelled and true)

A curved structural opening spanning a space; corbelled arches employ progressively overlapping, cantilevered horizontal masonry courses, while true arches are built from wedge-shaped voussoirs radiating toward a central keystone.

Megalith

A very large, monumental stone used singly or in groups in prehistoric architecture and tombs.

Relief

A sculptural carving technique where the forms project from a flat background surface.

Half-timbering

A building method using exposed, load-bearing timber frameworks with spaces between filled by non-structural materials such as brick, plaster, or wattle and daub.

Adobe

A building material made from sun-dried mud, earth, clay, and an organic binder such as straw.

Pisé

Rammed earth construction made by compacting moist earth and clay into temporary wooden formwork.

Wattle and daub

A composite construction method where a woven lattice of wooden strips (wattle) is coated with mud, clay, or dung (daub).

Menhir

A tall, single upright prehistoric standing stone.

Dolmen

A megalithic tomb characterized by two or more upright support stones capped by a large, flat horizontal stone.

Table versus checkerboard types

The classification of Korean dolmens; table-type (northern style) dolmens feature elevated capstones resting on upright slabs forming an above-ground chamber, whereas checkerboard-type (southern style) dolmens place a large capstone low over small supporting stones covering an underground pit.

Tumulus

An artificial mound of earth and stones raised over an ancient grave or burial chamber (also called a barrow).

Ziggurat

A monumental, stepped pyramidal platform erected in ancient Mesopotamian city-states to support a temple at its summit.

Fired brick versus sun-dried brick

Sun-dried bricks dry naturally in the sun and remain susceptible to weathering and water damage, whereas fired bricks are baked in a kiln to gain high structural strength and moisture resistance.

Buttress

A masonry projection or exterior support built perpendicular to a wall to provide additional lateral stability.

Temenos

A designated sacred enclosure or walled precinct set aside for a temple, religious compound, or deities.

Citadel

A fortified, defensible fortress or elevated stronghold designed to command and protect a city.

Corbelling

A masonry technique of setting successive horizontal courses of stone or brick slightly inward until they meet at the crown to span a void.

Mastaba

An ancient Egyptian tomb of flat-topped, rectangular shape with sloping inward-facing sides covering an underground burial shaft.

Pyramid

A monumental masonry structure featuring triangular outer surfaces converging toward a single point, built prominently as royal tombs in Egypt.

Colonnade

A long, continuous sequence of columns placed at regular intervals supporting a roof or entablature.

Ashlar masonry

Smoothly finished, finely cut, square-cornered blocks of stone laid in regular horizontal courses.

Pylon

A monumental gateway entrance to an Egyptian temple characterized by two broad, tapering, trapezoidal towers flanking a central portal.

Hypostyle hall

A large interior hall or room whose roof is supported by dense rows of columns.

Clerestory

An elevated row of windows in an upper wall section rising above lower adjoining roofs that admits natural daylight into an interior hall.

Obelisk

A tall, slender, four-sided stone pillar that tapers upward and terminates in a pyramidion.