Comprehensive Study Guide to Prehistoric Architecture and Course Overview

Overview and Curriculum Frame of Architecture History

• Main thematic fields and sequence across architectural history study modules:

  • Module 1: Antiquity and Classical Foundations

  • Pre-history: Early human shelter, megalithic constructions, transition to permanent settlements.

  • Egyptian Architecture: Focus on Mortuary Temples, Cult Temples, Mastabas, Pyramids, and Tombs.

  • West Asiatic Architecture: Architectural traditions of the Sumerian, Assyrian, and Persian empires.

  • Greek Architecture: Mycenaean Period, Dark Age, Archaic Age, Classical Age, and Hellenistic Period.

  • Roman Architecture: Founding Period, Period of Kings, Republican Rome, and Imperial Rome.

  • Module 2: Western European Evolution and Modernity

  • Western Architecture & Church Architecture: Early Christian, Medieval, Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque, Rococo, Renaissance, and Revival styles.

  • Modern Architecture: Functionalism, Expressionism, International Style, and Contemporary movement.

  • Module 3: Non-Western, Regional, and Indigenous Architecture

  • Islamic Architecture: Arabian, Moorish, Saracenic, Persian, Moghul, and Ottoman traditions.

  • Architecture of Asia: Indian, Malaysian, Himalayan, Khmer, Indonesian, Thai, Burman, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese architectural systems.

  • Pre-Columbian Architecture: Mayan, Aztec, and Inca civilizations.

  • Sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania, and Austronesia.

  • Module 4: Philippine Architecture

  • Vernacular and Pre-Colonial Architecture: Regional typologies across Cordillera (Luzon), Lumad (Visayas and Mindanao), Moro Architecture of Muslim Mindanao, and the Bahay Kubo.

  • Spanish Colonial Period: Religious architecture, domestic and secular architecture, and the evolution of the Bahay na Bato.

  • American Colonial Period: Domestic, civic, and secular architectural styles.

  • Modernism to the $21\text{st}$ Century: Search for national identity and contemporary trends in the Philippines.

• Fundamental questions guiding the study of architectural history:

  • Why do we need to study the history of architecture?

  • What are the primary factors and contexts (environmental, material, cultural, technological) to consider when analyzing architectural development over time?

Chronological Timeline of Early Architectural Eras

• Chronological parameters for early architectural developments:

  • Pre-Historic Architecture: Extends from $2.5\text{ Million BCE}$ up to the emergence of written language (approx. $3,000\text{ BCE}$).

  • Egyptian Architecture: $3,050\text{ BCE} - 476\text{ AD}$

  • West Asiatic Architecture: Concurrent with early Mesopotamian and Persian civilizations.

  • Classical Architecture (Greek and Roman): $850\text{ BCE} - 476\text{ AD}$

Prehistoric Architecture: Fundamental Concepts

• Definition of Prehistoric Architecture: Refers literally to architecture constructed during prehistory—the period prior to human capability to record history in written documents. Dates back tens of thousands of years.

• Early Spatial Organization and Living: Early Paleolithic human groups began actively modifying their natural environments by creating semi-permanent or temporary shelters.

• Mammoth Bone Huts: Early human habitations built using woolly mammoth bones as structural framing elements.

  • Ranged in diameter from $13\text{ ft}$ to $33\text{ ft}$.

  • Frequently contained centralized internal deposits of ashes and charred animal bones, indicating the spatial integration of a domestic hearth.

Prehistoric Chronological Epochs

• Primary Archaeological Ages:

  • Stone Age: $2.5\text{ Million} - 3,000\text{ BCE}$

  • Bronze Age: $3,000\text{ BCE} - 900\text{ BCE}$

  • Iron Age: Started from the $\text{12th} - \text{9th Century BCE}$

• Subdivisions of the Stone Age:

  • Paleolithic (Old Stone Age): $2.5\text{ Million} - 10,000\text{ BCE}$

  • Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age): $30,000 - 9,000\text{ BCE}$

  • Neolithic (New Stone Age): $9,000 - 3,000\text{ BCE}$

Paleolithic Era Architecture ($2.5\text{ Million} - 10,000\text{ BCE}$)

• Caves:

  • Represent the oldest and most widespread primitive form of dwelling.

  • Defined as natural subterranean geological voids or underground spaces large enough to accommodate human occupation and afford basic environmental shelter.

  • Notable site: Lascaux Cave, France (contains extensive cave paintings and early spatial habitation evidence).

• Huts (Terra Amata, France):

  • Early seasonal hut habitations located near shoreline environments in southern French cities.

  • Plan layout was oval in geometry, measuring $8\text{ m} - 15\text{ m}$ in length by $4\text{ m} - 6\text{ m}$ in width.

  • Wall structures were erected using timber stakes driven into the ground, stabilized at the perimeter base by ring arrangements of stones.

  • Structural support was provided by stout vertical posts aligned along the central axis.

  • Floors consisted of accumulated organic material, soil, and ash layers from fire usage.

• Molodova Structures:

  • A more sophisticated, highly engineered form of paleolithic shelter.

  • Constructed with a wooden structural frame encased in animal skins, held firmly in place by a rough oval arrangement of heavy mammoth bones.

  • Internal area enclosed up to $13$ separate hearths, indicating complex multi-family or communal living.

• Dolní Věstonice Structures:

  • Constructed using a outer boundary palisade wall of mammoth bones and tusks driven directly into the earth.

  • Interstitial gaps in the bone framework were packed tightly with brushwood, foliage, and cut turf.

  • Serviced as an open-to-the-sky seasonal summer structure.

• Mezhirich Structures:

  • Substantial mammoth-bone dwellings characterized by a foundation wall constructed from interlocking mammoth lower jawbones (mandibles) and long bones, capped at the top edge with complete skulls.

  • Roof structural framing consisted of woven timber branches overlaid with interwoven mammoth tusks.

• Lean-tos (Leantos):

  • Single-sloped wall shelters erected directly against a pre-existing natural cave rock wall face.

  • Defined at the floor perimeter by a rectangular stone outline measuring $12\text{ m} \times 4\text{ m}$.

  • Constructed using vertical posts supporting an inclined curtain wall and roof membrane composed of animal skins.

  • Often organized internally into two distinct spatial compartments, each provided with its own entry door on the longer side.

• Tents:

  • Portable lightweight timber pole frame structures covered with animal skins.

  • Outer membrane skirts were weighted down against wind lift using continuous lines of rounded stones/pebbles.

  • Interiors featured paved stone flooring and open-air hearths.

  • Advanced iterations utilized reindeer antlers to anchor, tension, and secure skin coverings.

Mesolithic Era Architecture ($30,000 - 9,000\text{ BCE}$)

• Etymology: Derived from Greek words Mesos (meaning Middle) and Lithos (meaning Stone).

• Socio-Cultural Context:

  • Represented a transitional cultural blend between two distinct emerging societal structures coexisting according to local environmental conditions: Pastoral Societies and Horticultural Societies.

  • Continued upper paleolithic artistic modes, including cave paintings, rock carvings, and wall engravings.

  • Technological advancement featured chipped stone tool production specialized into Microliths (e.g., Backed Edge Bladelets).

  • Epoch during which early human populations achieved controlled fire management and developed organized verbal language systems.

• Göbekli Tepe (Şanlıurfa, Southern Turkey):

  • Represents the most significant architectural discovery of the Mesolithic period.

  • Functions as a massive sanctuary, communal complex, or religious center serving a prosperous settlement network.

  • Structural execution involved shaping stone wall blocks and carving monolithic T-shaped pillars using flint tools, mortared together with mud/clay.

• Mesolithic Domestic Dwellings:

  • Bamboo Huts: Frame constructed predominantly of light bamboo materials with trapezoidal floor plans; constructed with wide openings oriented toward adjacent rivers or water bodies; floor surfaces were finished with plastered lime mortar.

  • Pit Houses: Formed by excavating shallow oval pits into the earth; roofed with sloping timber structural frames; equipped with stone hearth surfaces used both for cooking and as working slabs.

Neolithic Era Architecture ($9,000 - 3,000\text{ BCE}$)

• Architectural Shift: Marked by the transition from nomadic hunter-gatherer existence to sedentary agricultural communities, generating highly localized and durable building styles.

• Materials and Methods: Heavy structural timber posts, reeds, clay/mud mortar, and dry stone foundations; roof assemblies utilized split tree trunks, reeds, straw/hay thatch, and clay capping layers.

• Domestic Plan Evolution: Shifted toward sustainable, permanent rectilinear (square or rectangular) floor layouts, with interior functional spaces segmented using suspended animal skin partitions.

• Neolithic Dwelling Typologies:

  • Timber Framed Houses: Square plan geometry measuring $25\text{ ft} \times 25\text{ ft}$; constructed with mud/adobe wall infill set upon dug wall footings $3\text{ ft}$ deep; capped with steeply pitched thatched roofs featuring wide overhanging eaves for weather protection.

  • Long Houses: Oblong rectangular structures supported by solid oak timber posts forming a structural bay skeleton; enclosed with woven hurdle/mud walls; floor planes finished with compacted layers of smoothed clay.

  • Dome-Shaped Houses (Cùl a' Bhaile, Isle of Jura, Scotland): Dry-stone, wood, and thatch circular structures structurally analogous to the stone tholos typology, adapted to local stone and timber availability.

  • Dry Stone Houses: Built entirely of stone incorporating double-skin cavity walls up to $3\text{ m}$ thick; wall core cavity filled with domestic refuse, earth, and organic waste for thermal insulation; rectangular plan with rounded/circular external corners; timber rafters supported a thatched roof provided with a central smoke outlet positioned above the central hearth stone.

  • Trullo (Plural: Trulli): Traditional dry-walled rough stone shelter found in Southern Italy; square or rectangular base chamber topped by a mortarless corbelled stone conical roof.

  • Teepee (Tipi): Conical framework of straight wooden poles tied at the apex, wrapped with weather-resistant animal hide or canvas coverings.

  • Hogan: Native Navajo Indian dwelling constructed of heavy timber log walls covered with thick earth, clay mud, and turf sods; high thermal mass provided microclimate control (cool interior in summer, warm retention in winter).

  • Wigwam: Round or oval domed shelter constructed of flexible wooden poles bent into arches, covered with sheets of tree bark, woven rush mats, and hides.

  • Clochan (Clochán): Monastic beehive hut constructed using dry-stone corbelled masonry techniques, characteristic of the southern Irish coastline.

Neolithic Settlements and Urban Formations

• Skara Brae (Bay of Skaill, Orkney Islands, Scotland):

  • Exceptionally preserved stone-built Neolithic village embedded into coastal earth mounds (middens).

  • Constructed entirely from locally available flat flagstones layered into earth embankments for lateral thermal protection.

  • Structural systems utilize post-and-lintel entries combined with corbelled stone walling.

  • Interior furnishings (beds, dressers, hearths, storage seats) were built entirely out of slab stone masonry.

• Çatalhöyük (Anatolia, Turkey):

  • Recognized as one of the earliest and largest densely populated proto-urban Neolithic sites discovered (housing approximately $8,000$ inhabitants).

  • Functioned as a major regional agricultural, ritual, and obsidian trade center linking central Anatolian volcanic zones to the Fertile Crescent.

  • Urban Fabric: High-density, honeycomb-like cluster of rectangular mud-brick residences separated by occasional light shafts or courtyards.

  • Circulation System: Complete absence of ground-level public streets or alleyways; passage across the city occurred across flat rooftop planes.

  • Building Access: Entrance into individual residential units was achieved exclusively via wooden ladders descending through a square structural hatch/hole in the roof, which also served as the chimney smoke exit.

  • Construction: Built with timber post-and-beam skeletons infilled with sun-dried mud bricks, finished with fine interior wall plaster often decorated with figurative wall paintings and relief sculptures.

Neolithic Monumental and Sacred Architecture

• Categories and Purpose: Prehistoric monumental structures primarily served two major non-domestic functions:

  • Funerary Architecture: Enclosing, marking, and honoring places of interment for the deceased.

  • Astronomical/Cosmic Architecture: Solar and stellar observation monuments built for tracking seasonal time, agricultural cycles, and cosmic phenomena.

• Cairns: Carefully piled mounds of unmortared stone markers constructed as grave markers, territorial boundaries, or navigational points across high-elevation or riverbank terrains.

• Megalithic Typologies (Derived from Greek Mega = Great, Lithos = Stone):

  • Menhir / Monolith: Single, isolated upright megalithic stone set vertically in the ground; functioned as tribal victory memorials, ritual site indicators, or early prototypes for monumental obelisks and pyramids; often erected in long linear parallel rows or circular formations.

  • Dolmen (Celtic word meaning "Table Stone"): Monumental stone structure created by placing a massive horizontal stone capstone across two or more vertical upright stone support slabs; formed simple single-chambered mortuary tombs.

  • Cromlech: Megalithic enclosure composed of three or more upright vertical stones capped by a unattached flat stone slab, forming a stone enclosure or box-like altar for religious rites.

  • Tumulus (Plural: Tumuli): Artificial earth and stone burial mound constructed over single or multiple subterranean mortuary chambers.

  • Passage Grave: Mortuary monument characterized by a long, stone-lined entry corridor leading into a central circular or polygonal domed burial chamber. Example: Newgrange Tomb, Ireland.

  • Long Barrow Grave: Rectangular or trapezoidal earthen burial mound containing internal timber or stone-walled oblong entry chambers, used for collective multi-individual interments. Example: West Kennet Long Barrow, England.

• Non-Funerary Astronomical Megaliths:

  • Nabta Playa (Egypt): Early Neolithic astronomical stone calendar circle and observatory; features arrangements of flat and vertical monoliths, including two sets of aligned stone pairs—one pointing directly to True North, and the second aligned with the horizon position of the summer solstice sunrise.

  • Stonehenge (Salisbury Plain, England): Complex concentric megalithic monument built in successive phases:

  • Outer Ring: Post-and-lintel stone ring measuring $106\text{ ft}$ in outer diameter.

  • Isolated upright sarsen and bluestones.

  • Innermost horseshoe and circular stone arrangements.

  • Major structural axes aligned along solar trajectories, specifically oriented along an angle $70^\text{o}$ east of north to track Solstice alignments.