Site IDs

Site: Chauvet Cave

• Location: Ardèche, France

• Date: 30,000 BCE

1. A cave complex featuring some of the earliest known cave paintings, depicting animals and abstract symbols.

2. Likely painted by Paleolithic hunter-gatherers.

3. Used for ritual or ceremonial purposes, possibly to invoke protection or success in hunting.

Site: Göbekli Tepe

• Location: Southeastern Turkey

• Date: 11,000 BCE

1. A prehistoric Neolithic sanctuary with massive stone pillars arranged in circular formations.

2. Built by early hunter-gatherer groups, long before the advent of settled agriculture.

3. It may have served as a religious or ceremonial center, symbolizing the importance of spiritual life to early humans.

Site: Çatalhöyük

• Location: Southern Turkey

• Date: 7400 BCE

1. A large Neolithic settlement with densely packed mud-brick houses.

2. Constructed by early agricultural communities.

3. It was built as a permanent residential site for early farmers, representing one of the first argo-pastoral and permanent living examples.

Site: Ur

• Location: Mesopotamia (Southern Iraq)

• Date: 3800 BCE

1. An ancient Sumerian city-state with monumental architecture, including temples and palaces.

2. Built by the Sumerians, one of the world’s earliest civilizations.

3. A political, religious, and economic hub of Mesopotamia, serving as a response to the extreme environment of the Tigris-Euphrates and a simultaneous emergence of cities and social hierarchy in Mesopotamia.

Site: Ziggurat of Ur-Nammu

• Location: Ur, Southern Iraq

• Date: 2100 BCE

1. A massive stepped pyramid made of mud-brick, dedicated to the moon god Nanna.

2. Commissioned by King Ur-Nammu of the Sumerians.

3. Built as a religious structure to honor and provide a link between the people and their gods.

Site: Chang’an

• Location: Han Dynasty, China

• Date: 200 BCE

1. A planned ancient Chinese capital, organized in a grid pattern and guarded by gates.

2. Built by the Han Dynasty, influenced by Confucian and Daoist tradition.

3. It was designed as the political, economic, and cultural center of the empire, symbolizing imperial control.

Object: Yingzao-Fashi

• Location: China

• Date: 1000 CE

1. The oldest extant architectural treatise on Chinese construction methods and materials.

2. Written by Li Jie, a Song Dynasty official and architect, heavily influenced by Confucianism and Daoism.

3. Created to standardize building practices across the empire by specifying units of measurement, design standards, building elements and structural patterns.

Site: Forbidden City

• Location: Beijing, China

• Date: 1400 CE

1. A vast imperial palace complex with ceremonial, residential, and political buildings.

2. Built by Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty, implemented teachings of Yingzao-Fashi, Confucianism, and Daoism.

3. Served as the seat of Chinese emperors and symbolized the central power of the state.

Site: Necropolis at Giza

• Location: Giza, Egypt

• Date: 2200 BCE

1. A large funerary complex featuring the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx.

2. Built by various pharaohs of the Old Kingdom, including Khufu and Khafre.

3. Constructed as monumental tombs for pharaohs, designed to ensure their journey to the afterlife.

Could also be an image of a Sphynx through a hole

Site: Mortuary Complex of Djoser

• Location: Saqqara, Egypt

• Date: 2600 BCE

1. A step pyramid complex that includes temples, courtyards, and ceremonial buildings.

2. Built by the architect Imhotep for burial of Pharaoh Djoser.

3. Created to serve as a tomb for Djoser and to demonstrate the pharaoh’s divine status.

Site: Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut

• Location: Deir el-Bahari, Egypt

• Date: 1400 BCE

1. A terraced temple complex built into cliffs, featuring colonnades and ramps.

2. Commissioned by Queen Hatshepsut, one of Egypt’s only female pharaohs.

3. Served as a funerary temple for Hatshepsut and as a symbol of her authority and divine right to rule. Became an area for gathering, rather than a place representative of one person (unlike Djoser).

Site: Athenian Agora

• Location: Athens, Greece

• Date: 400 BCE

1. A large open space used for assemblies, markets, and public buildings.

2. Built by the citizens of Athens and the democratic government.

3. It was the center of political, commercial, religious, and social life in ancient Athens.

Site: Parthenon

• Location: Acropolis, Athens, Greece

• Date: 400 BCE

1. A temple dedicated to the goddess Athena, featuring Doric columns and elaborate sculptures.

2. Constructed under the leadership of Pericles, designed by Ictinus and Callicrates.

3. Built to honor Athena and as a symbol of the power and cultural supremacy of Athens—sculptures in the pediment echo this.

Site: Roman Forum

• Location: Forum Romanum, Rome, Italy

• Date: 0 CE

1. A large public space with temples, government buildings, and markets; however, more systematized than Agora.

2. Built by various Roman leaders, with contributions from Julius Caesar and Augustus.

3. Served as the political, religious, and social center of ancient Rome.

Site: Maison Carrée

• Location: Nîmes, France

• Date: 0 CE

1. A well-preserved Roman temple in the classical style, featuring Corinthian columns.

2. Built by Marcus Agrippa, heavily influenced by Greek architecture as seen by the columns and pediment.

3. Dedicated to the adopted sons of Emperor Augustus to honor their memory.

Site: Al-Khazneh

• Location: Petra, Jordan

• Date: 100 CE

1. A rock-cut temple or tomb with a pediment and Corinthian columns.

2. Likely built by the Nabataeans, an Arab trading kingdom, likely influenced by Greek architecture.

3. It served as a tomb or ceremonial space, symbolizing the wealth and cultural influence of Petra.

Object: De Architectura

• Location: Rome, Italy

• Date: 100 BCE

1. A ten-book treatise on architecture, covering everything from urban planning to temple design.

2. Written by Vitruvius, a Roman architect and engineer.

3. Created to preserve knowledge of Roman building practices and to promote the principles of order, proportion, and symmetry in architecture.

Site: Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine

• Location: Forum Romanum, Rome, Italy

• Date: 300 CE

1. A massive civic building used for legal proceedings and other public events.

2. Originally commissioned by Emperor Maxentius and completed by Constantine.

3. Built to symbolize imperial power and serve as a multifunctional public space.

Site: Palazzo Rucellai

• Location: Florence, Italy

• Date: 1400 CE

1. A Renaissance palace designed with classical, geometric elements, with all three orders of columns, ascending from Doric, Ionic, then Corinthian.

2. Designed by architect Leon Battista Alberti, influenced by Renaissance uniform and symmetrical geometry and founded in Vitruvius’ De Architectura.

3. Built to reflect the wealth, status, and classical education of the Rucellai family.

Site: Church of Santa Maria Novella

• Location: Florence, Italy

• Date: 1400 CE

1. A Gothic and Renaissance church, featuring a façade with classical proportions and geometric patterns.

2. Designed by architect Leon Battista Alberti, influenced by Renaissance uniform and symmetrical geometry and founded in Vitruvius’ De Architectura.

3. Built as a major religious center in Florence, reflecting the city’s artistic and intellectual developments.

Site: San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane

• Location: Rome, Italy

• Date: 1600 CE

1. A small Baroque church defined by undulation and sense of movement, but ultimately structured by strong geometric order.

2. Designed by architect Francesco Borromini, influenced by Renaissance innovation, while still maintained strong symmetry and geometry, and founded in Vitruvius’ De Architectura.

3. Built as a church for the Spanish Trinitarians, symbolizing the innovative spirit of the Baroque period.

Site: La Venta

• Location: near Veracruz, Mexico

• Date: 900 BCE

1. An ancient Olmec city with ceremonial platforms, mounds, and colossal heads that became earliest evidence of Olmec urbanization.

2. Built by the Olmec civilization.

3. Likely used as a major religious center, demonstrating the Olmecs' influence and architectural skill.

Site: Teotihuacan

• Location: Valley of Mexico

• Date: 200 CE

1. A large pre-Columbian city with pyramids, palaces, and residential areas known as the City of the Gods

2. Built by an unknown Mesoamerican civilization (pre-Aztec) that implemented the talud-tablero design.

3. Served as a political, cultural, and religious center, influencing later Mesoamerican cultures like the Aztecs and Olmecs.

Site: Chichen Itza

• Location: Yucatán, Mexico

• Date: 800 CE

1. A large Mayan city with monumental pyramids, temples, and ball courts.

2. Built by the Mayan civilization.

3. It served as a major ceremonial center and political capital in the Maya world.

Site: Tenochtitlan

• Location: Mexico City, Mexico

• Date: 1300 CE

1. A massive Aztec capital city with temples, palaces, and causeways built on an island in Lake Texcoco.

2. Built by the Mexica (Aztecs).

3. It was the political and religious center of the Aztec Empire, symbolizing their dominance in Mesoamerica.