PR EHIS TOR IC ARC HITEC TUR E

LECTURE 1

L E C T U R E P R E PA R E D B Y : A R . S WAT I A G R AWA L
WHAT IS HISTORY?
THE STUDY OF PAST EVENTS

THESE INCLUDE NOT JUST WRITTEN DOCUMENTS, BUT ALSO

THROUGH OBJECTS SUCH AS BUILDINGS, ARTIFACTS AND
PAINTINGS.
WHAT IS ARCHITECTURE?
THE ART OR PRACTICE OF DESIGNING AND CONSTRUCTING
BUILDINGS

THE STYLE IN WHICH A BUILDING IS DESIGNED AND

CONSTRUCTED, ESPECIALLY WITH REGARD TO A SPECIFIC PERIOD,
PLACE, OR CULTURE.
TRACING THE CHANGE-STRUCTURE
THE CONCEPT OF CULTURE AND CIVILIZATIONS
ELEMENTS OF CIVILIZATION - CITIES
l WHEN MANY CULTURES
GATHER TOGETHER AND
THEIR POPULATIONS
GROW, THEY MOVE
FROM BEING
COMMUNITIES, TO
TOWNS, TO CITIES.
l CITIES → LARGER AREAS
THAT HAVE POLITICAL
CENTERS, SOCIAL
CENTERS, AND
FINANCIAL CENTERS.
THE CONCEPT OF CULTURE AND CIVILIZATIONS
ELEMENTS OF CIVILIZATION – SOCIAL CLASSES
l SOCIAL CLASSES →
BREAKDOWN OF
POPULATIONS AND
CIVILIZATIONS
ACCORDING TO SOCIAL
STANDING OR LEVEL OF
WEALTH
l SOCIETIES BEGAN TO
RANK THEIR CITIZENS AS A
MEANS OF SEPARATING
CERTAIN GROUPS FROM
OTHERS
THE CONCEPT OF CULTURE AND CIVILIZATIONS
ELEMENTS OF CIVILIZATION - RELIGION
l RELIGION → SYSTEM OF
BELIEFS WHICH USUALLY
INVOLVE A BELIEF IN A
HIGHER POWER OR
SUPERNATURAL FORCE
l RELIGION HAS BEEN A
UNIFYING FORCE IN
MANY CIVILIZATIONS
WHILE IN OTHERS IT HAS
SERVED TO DIVIDE.
THE CONCEPT OF CULTURE AND CIVILIZATIONS
ELEMENTS OF CIVILIZATION - TECHNOLOGY
l TECHNOLOGY → ANY
INVENTION OR ITEM THAT
CAN HELP MAKE OTHER
ASPECTS OF LIFE EASIER
l THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY
HAS BEEN ASSOCIATED
WITH THE LEVEL OF
CIVILIZATION WITHIN A
CULTURE.
l THE HIGHER THE LEVEL
OF TECHNOLOGY, THE
MORE ADVANCED THE
CULTURE
THE CONCEPT OF CULTURE AND CIVILIZATIONS
ELEMENTS OF CIVILIZATION – WRITING SYSTEMS
l WRITING SYSTEMS →
SYSTEMS THAT USE
SYMBOLS TO
REPRESENT SPOKEN
SOUNDS.
l WRITING SYSTEMS ARE
CRUCIAL FOR CULTURES
SINCE THEY ARE USED
TO KEEP RECORDS.
THE CONCEPT OF CULTURE AND CIVILIZATIONS
ELEMENTS OF CIVILIZATION – ARTS AND
ARCHITECTURE
l ARTS AND ARCHITECTURE
→ THE DEFINING
CHARACTERISTICS OF A
CULTURE'S CREATIVITY.
l ALLOWS HISTORIANS AND
OTHER PEOPLE TO SEE THE
UNIQUE FEATURES OF A
CULTURE.
l DISTINGUISHES ONE
CULTURE FROM ANOTHER
THE CONCEPT OF CULTURE AND CIVILIZATIONS

ELEMENTS OF CIVILIZATION – JOB SPECIALIZATION

l JOB SPECIALIZATION →
CLEARLY DEFINITION OF
DIFFERENT OCCUPATIONS
WITHIN A SOCIETY
l ALLOWED FOR
INDIVIDUALS TO BECOME
SPECIALISTS WITHIN A
FIELD RATHER THAN
ATTEMPT TO WORK
MANY JOBS WITHOUT
ANY SPECIAL SKILLS
THE CONCEPT OF CULTURE AND CIVILIZATIONS
ELEMENTS OF CIVILIZATION - GOVERNMENT
l GOVERNMENT →
SYSTEM OF RULE OVER A
COMMUNITY OR
CIVILIZATION
l GOVERNMENTS ARE
NECESSARY FOR THE
PROTECTION OF
CITIZENS FROM EACH
OTHER AND OUTSIDE
FORCES
l PEOPLE SUBSCRIBE TO
GOVERNMENT TO
BENEFIT FROM THE RULE
OF LAW.
THE CONCEPT OF CULTURE AND CIVILIZATIONS
ELEMENTS OF CIVILIZATION – PUBLIC WORKS
l PUBLIC WORKS →
SYSTEMS OR AMENITIES
PROVIDED BY A
GOVERNMENT TO ASSIST
IN THE DAILY LIFE OF ITS
CITIZENS
l PUBLIC WORKS RANGE
FROM SUBWAYS TO
SEWER SYSTEMS TO
SANITATION.
PREHISTORIC CULTURE-TIMELINE
PREHISTORIC
• Humans spread from africa into southern europe, asia
• Could not settle far north due to the cold climate
• From siberia by foot into north america
• From southeast asia by boat into australia
• Before 9000 bc, nomadic life of hunting & food gathering
• By 9000 bc, farming and agriculture was practiced
• Fertile soil and plentiful food
• Animal domestication for work, milk, wool
• People wanted to settle down, live in communities
• First villages in the middle east, south america, central america,
India and china
• Some people needed not farm, so they spent time on other work - pot- Making, metal-
working, art and… architecture! Religion
• No organized religion
• The dead are treated with respect - burial rituals and monuments
MAJOR PERIODS OF HUMAN CULTURE
BP=BEFORE PRESENT

• PALEOLITHIC: Old Stone Age

• Lower paleolithic 2.5 million-75,000 BP
• Middle paleolithic 75,000-35,000 BP
• Upper paleolithic 35,000-12,000 BP
• MESOLITHIC: Middle Stone Age
• 12,000-10,000 BP
• NEOLITHIC: New Stone Age
• Began 10,000 BP
• BRONZE AND IRON AGES: Civilization
• Began 5000 BP
PALEOLITHIC AND NEOLITHIC CULTURE

•STONE AGE
o PALEOLITHIC (OLD STONE AGE )- Appeared first in Africa and are
marked by the steady development of stone tools
o MESOLITHIC (MIDDLE STONE AGE )- Period of the stone age
intermediate between the paleolithic and the Neolithic periods,
characterized by adaptation to hunting, collecting, and fishing
economy based on the use of forest, lakeside, and seashore
environments.
o NEOLITHIC (NEW STONE AGE) - Characterized by the
development of agriculture and the making of polished
stone implements.
•BRONZE AGE
•IRON AGE
PALEOLITHIC AND NEOLITHIC CULTURE

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.

•NEOLITHIC: The “new” stone age (8,000 – 2300 BC), which marked
the beginnings of monumental (extremely large) architecture
MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC 75,000-35,000 BP

• Major leap forward in tool making traditions: The

Mousterian tool (Hafted tools are stone points or blades mounted on wooden
shafts and wielded as spears or perhaps bow and arrow.) tradition

• Tools employed by Neandertals, other late

archaic Homo sapiens and by such early modern
Homo sapiens as Cro-magnons
• Part of successful adaptation to hunting and
gathering, especially in sub-arctic and temperate
environment during the last Ice Age which began
about 75,000 years ago
MOUSTERIAN TOOLS
UPPER PALEOLITHIC 35,000-12,000 BP

• Movement of Homo sapiens sapiens throughout the world

Extinction of at least 50 types of large animals
• Height of Old Stone Age technical sophistication
• Most advanced tool tradition was the Magdalenian
tradition (toolmaking industry and artistic tradition) of Western Europe.
17,000-10,000 bp
• First major art works:
• Cave paintings
• Small sculptured figurines
 MESOLITHIC PERIOD BEGAN 12,000 BP

• Mesolithic tool kits were based on chipped stone

• Hunter-gatherers began to store food in
containers
• Relied less on large mammals for food -- more on fish and
small game
• Domestication of animals began with
domestication of dogs
• Rock art paintings and carvings increasingly depict
human communal activities as well as animals
NEOLITHIC CULTURE BEGINS CA. 10,000 BP

• Also referred to as the New Stone Age

• Ground and polished stone tools
• Settled villages with domesticated plants and animals
• Development of pottery and weaving
• Megalithic architecture
• Evidence of mother-earth/goddess religion
• The end of the Neolithic period is marked by the use of writing,
metal tools, and the rise of urban civilization
THE AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION: FROM WILD
GRASS TO GRAIN
Genetic Changes: • A small percentage of
wild grass plants has
seed that clings to the
stalk even when ripe.
These crops could not
• reproduce themselves
without human
intervention.
• Size and number of
the kernels, also
changed over time.
 Pottery
kiln

Bread oven

Metal smelter
JERICHO:
THE OLDEST DISCOVERED VILLAGE
 JERICHO’S WALLS
• Sometime after the
founding of the town, a
wall was built around it,
enclosing ca. 10 acres.
• The wall itself was 6.5 feet
thick and is preserved to a
height of almost 20 feet.
• This is the earliest known
fortification in the world.
COMAPARATIVE CHART OF PALEOLITHIC & NEOLOITHIC PERIOD

FOOD

SHELTER

CLOTHING

TOOLS
 Menhir: single standing stone

Alignment: row of three or more stones

 Proleeck Dolmen, Ireland

•Dolmen: Three
or more upright
stones with a
capstone, an
artificial cave

•Trilithon: three-stones two tall

uprights stones supporting a lintel
(lintel = a piece of stone over a
door or window, forming part of
the frame)
Cairn: burial mound,
constructed mostly of
small stones

Passage grave: passage

leading into a round
central chamber,
usually covered by
mound- more a shrine
than a grave
Menga near Antequera (Malaga, Spain)
PREHISTORIC STRUCTURES
AMONG PREHISTORIC REMAINS OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL
INTEREST, BUT OF LITTLE ARCHITECTURAL VALUE, ARE:-
1 MONOLITHS
2 DOLMENS
3 TUMULI
4 LAKE DWELLINGS.
 PREHISTORIC STRUCTURES

1- MONOLITHS : ARE SINGLE UPRIGHT STONES, KNOWN IN

WESTERN FRANCE AS " MENHIRS," (MAEN, A STONE, HIR, HIGH),
SUCH AS THOSE AT CARNAC IN BRITTANY,
PREHISTORIC STRUCTURES
2- DOLMENS AND CROMLECHS :
(DOL = TABLE + MAEN STONE) AND CROMLECHS (CROM = BENT
+ LEAC = FLAT STONE) ARE OFTEN USED AS INTERCHANGEABLE
TERMS.
DOLMEN IS THE NAME SOMETIMES APPLIED TO TWO OR
MORE UPRIGHT STONES SUPPORTING A HORIZONTAL SLAB.

- THESE DOLMENS OR CROMLECHS OFTEN STAND WITHIN

SACRED CIRCLES OF MASSIVE MONOLITHS, SUPPORTING
HORIZONTAL SLABS, AS AT STONEHENGE.
- IT SEEM TO BE ERECTED BY PRIMITIVE PEOPLE FOR THE
WORSHIP OF THE SUN.
PREHISTORIC STRUCTURES
CROMLECH
WHILE THE TERM CROMLECH MAY BE USED FOR THREE OR MORE
UPRIGHT STONES, CAPPED BY A FLAT STONE, AS AT, KIT'S COTY
HOUSE, MAID STONE, AND OTHER PLACES IN ENGLAND, WALES,
IRELAND, NORTHERN FRANCE.
 Cromlech: stone
circle, from Welsh
"crom" ("in a
curve") and "lech"
("stone")

Henge: circular or
oval enclosure
made of the
earth ditch and
bank, usually
with one or more
entrances
Giant’s Ring, County Down, Ireland
PREHISTORIC STRUCTURE
3- TUMULI OR BURIAL MOUNDS
WERE PROBABLY PROTOTYPES OF THE PYRAMIDS IN EGYPT AND
OF THE BEEHIVE HUTS IN WALES, CORNWALL, SCOTLAND , AND
IRELAND.
PREHISTORIC STRUCTURE
4- LAKE DWELLINGS:
CONSISTED OF WOODEN HUTS BUILT ON PILES IN THE WATER
FOR PROTECTION AGAINST ATTACK
STONEHENGE
•STONEHENGE, ENGLAND (2800 – 1500 BC)
•NEOLITHIC ARCHITECTURE
•POST AND LINTEL CONSTRUCTION
•MEGALITHS ARE 21 TO 24 FEET TALL, INCLUDING HEIGHT OF
LINTEL, AND BURIED FOUR FEET IN THE GROUND
•SOLAR AND LUNAR ORIENTATION
•CIRCLE OF MEGALITHS EMBRACE STRUCTURE, ENCLOSING IT

•MOST SPECTACULAR AND IMPOSING OF MONOLITHIC

MONUMENTS
•OUTER RING, INNER RING, INNERMOST HORSESHOE-SHAPED RING
WITH OPEN END FACING EAST
STONEHENGE
•INSIDE CIRCLE OF MEGALITHS IS A LARGER
HORSESHOE-SHAPED GROUP OF
MEGALITHS WHICH FRAME AN “ALTAR
STONE”
•HORSESHOE-SHAPED STONES FACE
MIDSUMMER SUNRISE OVER “HEEL
STONE”
 on the Salisbury Plain in a series of concentric rings
of standing stones around an altar stone at the center.

A landscaped trench separated the site from the surrounding land.

The first ring has a

horseshoe plan of An outer, enclosing circle
originally 5 trilithons of sandstone monoliths
13.5 feet high, supported
what was once a
Beyond this a circle of small, movable continuous lintel.
"marker stones" were set in pits

Beyond these was first a circle of smaller uprights,

sacred "blue" stones, transported from South Wales