History of Architecture: Early Cultures

These flashcards cover the key vocabulary and architectural concepts from early human history, spanning the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Ice Age, and Bronze Age.

Architectural History

The study of architecture as it changed through various cultures and landscapes, recording the forms, purpose, and evolution of buildings.

Pre-history

The period before people recorded history in writing, spanning from approximately $2.5$ million years ago to $1200$ BC.

Paleolithic

Also known as the Old Stone Age ($500,000$ BC), characterized by nomadic hunter-gatherers living in small bands and using basic stone or bone tools.

Mesolithic

Known as the Middle Stone Age ($15,000$ BC), this period saw the first attempts at settlement near fresh water and the construction of shelters from perishable materials.

Neolithic

The New Stone Age ($10,000$ – $3,000$ BC), marked by a shift to agriculture, animal domestication, and the emergence of permanent villages.

Lascaux Cave

A famous network of caves in southwestern France containing prehistoric art estimated to be $20,000$ years old.

Dolni Vestonice

An Upper Paleolithic site ($28,000$–$24,000$ years ago) in southern Moravia featuring planned layouts of semi-permanent dwellings made from mammoth bones.

Magdalenian Tents

Portable, circular or oval shelters used by late Upper Paleolithic semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers, represented by stone rings or post holes.

Wattle Walls

A construction method using interwoven sticks or branches, often covered with clay, commonly used in Mesolithic hut construction.

Bambuti Hut

A type of primitive temporary shelter that utilized leaves to cover the structure.

Tongues Hut

Primitive huts made with overlapping layers of organic materials that resembled tongue-like flaps or shingles.

Lapp Tent

A prehistoric temporary shelter characterized by the use of animal skins as a covering material.

Igloo

A circular snow house built by the Inuit from blocks of snow laid in concentric circles of diminishing size to form a dome.

Mongolian Yurt

A portable, circular tent designed with no corners to allow even heat distribution, traditionally used by nomadic herders in Central Asia.

Mudbrick

Sun-dried bricks used as an early building material for permanent walls in Neolithic cities like Jericho and Mehrgarh.

Megaliths

Large-scale permanent stone structures, such as single stones or grouped blocks, used as symbols of community and ritual.

Dolmen

A megalithic tomb arrangement, meaning 'stone table,' consisting of a large capstone placed on top of two or three upright stones.

Menhirs

Tall, upright monolithic stones erected during the Neolithic period, which could reach heights of over $20$ meters.

Stonehenge

A Neolithic monument in Wiltshire, England, constructed between $3100$ and $2000$ BCE, featuring a sarsen circle and an altar stone.

Trilithons

Five pairs of upright stones with horizontal lintels arranged in a horseshoe shape at the center of Stonehenge.

Henge

A circular earthwork enclosure consisting of a ditch and an outer bank, often associated with ritual gatherings.

Catal Hoyuk

The largest and most cosmopolitan Neolithic city ($7400$–$6000$ BCE), characterized by windowless buildings accessed via rooftops.

Jomon Culture

An early prehistoric Japanese culture known for pit-dwellings and 'cord-marked' pottery patterns.

Bronze Age

A period beginning around $3300$ BCE characterized by the use of copper-tin alloys and the emergence of planned cities with grid-patterned streets.

Ziggurat

Stepped temple towers built of mud brick in Mesopotamia, serving as religious monuments and symbols of centralized authority.