HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE I:
Pre Historic Architecture
By: Ar. Chris Luna, uap
A history of architecture is a record of mans
efforts to build beautifully.
It is concerned not only in sheltering man and
ministering to his comfort, but also in providing
him with places for worship, amusement, and
business; with tombs, memorials,
embellishments for his cities, and other
structures for the varied needs of a complex
civilization.
Architecture had a simple origin in the primitive
b. Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age
endeavors of mankind. It is an ancient and
fashioned stone tools like the bow
necessary art and thus the beginnings of
made body coverings from animal hides
architecture are part of prehistory.
made the canoe for fishing
built huts from bones, animal hides,
Why did man seek shelter?
reeds & grass
1. Protection
c. Neolithic
from elements of nature
Once human beings settle down to the business
from wild animals
of agriculture, instead of hunting & gathering,
2. Comfort
permanent settlements become a factor of life &
to sleep & rest
story of architecture can begin.
3. Food storage
polished stone tools for grinding, cutting
4. Perpetuation of human life
& chopping
development of pottery
agriculture (wheat & barley) &
domesticated animals
sew clothing from animal hides using
fish bones as needles
built huts of stones & mud with thatched
roofing
practiced burial rituals & built tombs
2. Bronze Age
most advanced metalworking with
copper
3 Stages in the Cultural Evolution of Man
1. Stone Age
3-Stage Chronology:
a. Paleolithic or Old Stone Age
used stone and bone as instruments
livelihood from hunting & food gathering
learned to make fire
lived in caves & rock shelters
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3. Iron Age b. Stone Circle
cutting tools and weapons were mainly
made of iron or steel
Court Tomb, Ireland
Stonehenge is one of the most famous sites in
the world & composed of earthworks
surrounding a circular setting of large standing
stones.
PREHISTORIC RELIGIOUS STRUCTURES
A. Megalith
is a large stone used to construct a structure
either alone or together with other stones,
utilizing an interlocking system without the
use of mortar or cement.
a. Dolmen/Cromlech
2 or more upright stones supporting a
stone or stone slab. The Stonehenge site and its surroundings were
added to the UNESCOs list of World Heritage
Sites in 1986.
Wedge Tomb, Ireland
Stonehenge Plan
Archaeological evidence indicates that the
Stonehenge served as a burial ground from its
earliest beginnings.
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c. Stone Row C. Barrow/Tumulus
is an earthen mound burial.
Tumuli, Gyeongju, Korea has 23 royal tombs from the Silla
Dynasty
PREHISTORIC DWELLINGS
1. Rock Shelter is a shallow cave-like opening
at the base of a bluff or cliff.
Merrivale Stone Row, England
B. Monolith or Maenhir is a great upright
stone.
Rock Shelter at Lane Cove, NSW, Australia
2. Cave
Avebury Monolith, England
Jenolan Caves, NSW, Australia
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3. Cliff Dwelling Katal Huyuk, Turkey, were rectangular, single-
roomed with mud-plastered walls & floors.
Guyaju Cliff Dwelling, China
Access was by ladder from the roof. There were
4. Hut
no roads but everybody walked on each others
roof.
Clochan Beehive Hut, Ireland
Mud Huts, Syria
Terra Amata Hut, France
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Eskimo Igloo, Alaska
Apache Wickiup (grass & reeds) 5. Tent
Tuareg Tents (Camel & Goat Hides)
Native American Wigwam
Prehistoric Mammoth Bone Hut, Ukraine
Native American Tipi (Animal hide)
Topic Sources and References:
History of Architecture 20 edition Sir
th
Banister Fletcher, Architectural Press, 1996.
Pre-historic Architecture PowerPoint
Arch. Ma. Vicenta Sanchez, UST College of
Architecture
Various internet articles related to the topic
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