PREHISTORIC

ARCHITECTURE
 This was the type of architecture
invented by the primeval man to get
shelter and protection :
 From variable extreme weather
conditions.
 From wild beasts and enemies.
 PALEOLITHIC
DWELLINGS
Structures created in wood and
stone.
Fire used on paved hearths.
No buildings for any special
purposes but dwellings.
Categorized into 5 types:
CAVES
 The oldest and most
common types of
dwellings.
 Natural underground
spaces, large enough
for a human.
 Example: Rock
shelters, Grottos,
Sea caves.
 HUTS
 Located in southern
French cities.
 Oval in shape(8m-15m
X 4m-6m).
 Built close to sea
shores.
 Built using stakes with
stones as supports.
 Stout posts along axis.
 Floor made of organic
matter and ash.
 MOLODOVA
 A more sophisticated sought.
 Wood framework covered with skins, held in place by
rough oval mammoth bones, enclosing 15 hearths.
DOLNI VESTONICE
 Palisade of mammoth
bones and tusks set
into ground, filled with
brush wood and turf.
 Oval shape(16m x10m)
 Limestone used for
walls
 Central hearth capped
with an earthen dome.
 Summer structure
open to sky.
MEZHIRICH
 Consisted of
foundation wall of
mammoth jaws and
long bones, capped
with skulls.
 Roofed with tree
branches, overlaid
by tusks.
LEAN TOS
 Erected against one
wall of cave.
 Defined at base by
stones(12m x 4m).
 Skin curtain and roof
draped over posts.
 May have two
compartments, each
having an entrance on
the longer side.
TENTS
 Skirts weighed down
with pebbles.
 Paved interiors.
 Open air hearths.
 Wooden posts driven
into earth covered with
skins.
 At a later stage, were
secured by reindeer
antlers.
PIT HOUSES

 More common in eastern Europe with severely low

temperatures.
 Oval trapezoidal, pear shaped size(5m-8m x2.5m-3.5m).

 Central post holes indicating existence of roof.

 Constructed by making shallow depressions in the ground
surrounded by a ring of mammoth bones and tusks.
MESOLITHIC PERIOD
 Villages arranged systematically.
 Houses aligned in rows.
 More regular plans.
 Artefacts came into existence.
 Settlements began around water bodies.
 Fishing, cultivation of cereals and vegetables
began.
 Animals were domesticated, farming tools were
developed.
 Dwellings were more durable as compared to that in
the Paleolithic age.
 HUTS
 The structure mainly
comprised of bamboos.
 Plans were trapezoidal in
shape.
 The size varied from 5.5-
30m.
 They had wide entrances
facing the water bodies
(rivers).
 Floors were plastered with
lime.
 Posts were reinforced with
stones.
PIT HOUSES
 Shallow oval pits
6m-9m long and 2-
5m wide.
 Roofs were made of
timber.
 Stone hearths were
used as working
slabs.
NEOLITHIC PERIOD
 Many changes took place.
 Production of food.
 Developments in agriculture lead to
settling down.
 Dwellings became more sustainable.
 Houses were built with
square/rectangular plans, with sections
divided with animal skins.
 TIMBER FRAMED
HOUSES
 Square plans:25’ x25’
 Mud walls with 3’ deep
footings.
 These were more
durable as compared
to the earlier ones.
 Pitched and thatched
roofs with overhanging
caves.
 Interiors raised,
plastered with sunken
hearths.
LONG HOUSES
 Rectangular plans(20’ x26’-150’).
 Oak posts made the framework covered with clay.
 Floors were defined with layers of clay over a base
of logs.
 It consisted of 3 types of plans:
 TRIPARTITE:
 Entrance facing the east.
 Central part being the living
room.
 The third part containing deep
storage area.

 BIPARTITE:
 Entrance
 Living room combined with
storage.

 SINGLE BAY
HOUSES:
 Having living rooms only.
DRY STONE HOUSES
 Stone built houses with 3m thick cavity walls.
 Inner, outer caves were made of dry stones and the interiors
were covered with domestic refuse.
 Rectangular plan with circular corners.
 Thatched roofs with a smoke hole at the top positioned
over central hearth.
 MONUMENTS
 Settlements lead to building of
monumental stone architecture.
 These were mainly collective tombs.
 PASSAGE GRAVES
 GALLERY GRAVES
MEGALITHIC PASSAGE
GRAVES
 Covering mound (38m
x32m) surrounded by wide
space with wide ditch
beyond.
 Entrance passage 1m wide
and 1.5m high. burial
chamber(5sqm)
 Smooth walls built with
rectangular blocks and fine
joints.
 Three cells at three sides
of the chamber.
 Built mainly with masoned
walls and corbelled roof.
 MEGALITHIC GALLERY
GRAVES
 23m long chamber
divided into twelve
sections.
 Covered with a
rectangular mound .
 EARTHERN LONG
BARROWS
 Trapezoid mound(40m x6m approx.)
 Wide entrance and porch with 4 posts.
 Earthen mound surrounded by a bedding trunch
over 1m deep and 0.5 m wide.
 Timber retaining wall 2m high.
 Mortuary houses exactly behind entrance,
constructed using three split tree trunks(600mm dia
app.) placed 1m apart from each other supporting a
ridge post.
 Sloping timber formed triangular framework(1.5m
high, 2.4m wide) at groung level.
Fussel’s lodge
MENHIRS
 Large, upright standing
stones.
 Uneven textured, square
shaped, tapered towards
the top.
 May exist as monoliths or a
part of group.
 Existed as identification
marks at burial sites or
otherwise.
DOLMENS
 Two or more stones
supporting a large
one at the top.
 Burial features.
 Also called
cromlechs
(brythonic origin).
 HENGES
 Open air ritual structures.
 The plan comprised of
concentric circles.
 An altar located in the
centre.
 Surrounded by five
trilithon pairs of stones.
 Followed by a circle of
blue stones.
 Example: The stone
henge.
 BRONZE AGE
 DWELLINGS
 Enclosed timber framed and dry stone
farmsteads.
 Cooking area and storage were added
features.
 TIMBER FRAMED
HOUSES
 Log built houses with
central houses and lateral
wings.
 Large proportions and
layout.
 Contained large central
hall(10 x5m),attached six
rooms, five of them
contained hearths.
 Logs interlocked by means
of notches cut near the
extremities.
 Entrance porch facing the street, living area
and loft accessible by ladder.
 Stone hearth on the left of entrance with a
family bed located against southern wall.
 Wooden floors, thatched roofs.
 Houses placed in rows oriented east-west.
CIRCULAR BRONZE AGE
 Linked group of earthwork enclosures and hut
platforms(734m x55m).
 Principal enclosures surrounded by a timber fence.
 Containing 4-5 additional huts(4.8m dia), both with a ring
about 250mm wide.
 Ring containing timber uprights supporting a thatched roof.
 Porch at the entrance.
 BURIAL MOUNDS
 Single grave burials.
 Variable forms in exterior
and interior forms and
arrangements and
groupings.
 In their simplest form,
barrows consisted of
earth or stone.
 Others were timber
mortuary houses or stone
cists.
 NEW GRANGE

 Stone revetments retaining the side supports to

the burial chamber.
 Sandstone paved floor at the northern and reed
floor on the southern end.
 TEMPLES AND RITUAL
STRUCTURES
 Structures had three to four rooms.(8.8m x 5.2m)
 Megaron like porch leading to a room containing a
hanging altar.
 Followed by a large squarish room with plastered
frieze.
 Two raised altars on raised clay platforms set
against side walls.
 Six supports for a reed thatched roof.
 DEFENSIVE
STRUCTURES
 Palisaded forts in low lying
areas.
 Massive encircling ramparts
enclosing a roughly circular or
oval area.
 Plank walls erected 2-3m apart
with tie beams in between.
 Space between palisades filled
with rubble and earth.
 Upland forts had timber
replaced with stones.
 A third type, consisting
of parallel rows of timber
laid in consecutive layers
at right angles; forming a
grid.
 Interstices filled with
wood chips, earth and
stones.
STONE TOWERS
 Circular towers ranging
from 10 to 15m in diameter.
 Built in dry stone walling.
 Some having an internal
corridor.(3m high)
 Main chamber roofed by
means of false corbelling.
 Served both defensive
and ritualistic purposes.
 IRON AGE

Development in domestic
architecture.
Traditional farmstrade maintained.
 TIMBER FRAMED
HOUSES
 Circular timber
structures.(15m diameter)
 Timber palisaded
enclosure.(120 x90m)
 Palisade consisting
upright stakes edge to
edge in a trench.(300mm
deep)
 Main house defined by 4
groups of post holes.
 Outer rings supported wall.
 Posts had continuous lintels
with sloping rafters.
 Both sets of posts had
continuous lintels overlaid
by horizontal members,
thatched roof attached.
 Raised canopied roof
containing smoke hole.
 Elaborate porch.
 Central loft
 Ancillary buildings and
woodburry
storage pits excavated
within palisaded enclosures.
 DRY STONE HOUSES
 East facing open courtyards.
 Main living room at the rear
end.
 On the left, front open, roofed
shelter.
 Storage room at the right.
 Drains, external terraced areas
were added features.
 Roofed with stone slabs. Chysauster
 Internal radial walls tapering in
plan.
 FUNERARY
MONUMENTS
 Artificial shafts, ritual wells sunken to
12 to 40 m.
 Ditch and earthwork enclosures (10
x10 m approximately).
 Long , parallel sided rectilinear
enclosures containing standing stones,
post holes and hearths.
 DEFENSIVE
STRUCTURES
 Parapets varying from sloping front earth work
backed by stone or timber revetting.
 Stone cladded fortifications reinforced with
timber, fired occasionally for vitrification.
 Gates in the east and the west.
 Century later, eastern gates were elaborated with
claw like structures and the western gates were
enlarged.
 Ramparts were reinforced with stones.
FORTIFIED BUILDINGS
BROCH
 Approximately 20m wide.
 10-15m high.
 5m thick wall at the bottom.
 10m wide central court
leading to narrow
doorways accessible by
oval intra mural chambers
with corbelled roof.
Timber galleried
accommodation
built against the
inner wall leading
to a spiral
staircase within
the wall accessing
the rampart at the
top.
DUNS
Similar to broch in
size and
structure.