History & Theory Timeline Quiz 1

  • Terra Amata, (France), c. 400,000 B.C.E.: Paleolithic
    18,000 BCE

    Terra Amata, (France), c. 400,000 B.C.E.: Paleolithic

    • This happened in 400,000 BCE, it just doesn't go back that far!!!!!
    • The temporary home of Neanderthals (hunter-gatherers); animal hides, bark, or leaves used as a roofing material.
    • Dwelling was left by the people to rot when they left the area
    • Hunters/gatherers, nomadic, kind/intelligence of human?
    • Earliest known structure
    • Stone/rocks found around the building
    • Contains a hearth for eating
  • Period: 18,000 BCE to 10,000 BCE

    Paleolithic

  • Altamira cave (Spain), c. 12,000 B.C.E.:
    12,000 BCE

    Altamira cave (Spain), c. 12,000 B.C.E.:

    • Paleolithic carving (Spain known for carvings)
    • Lots of multicolored paintings/drawings of animals
    • Sophisticated for time:
    • Has many chambers
    • About 10,000-3000 BCE
    • Had animal domestication → agricultural revolution
  • Mammoth bone hut (Mezhirich, Russia), c. 10,000 B.C.E.: Paleolithic
    10,000 BCE

    Mammoth bone hut (Mezhirich, Russia), c. 10,000 B.C.E.: Paleolithic

    • Palelothic - more permanent
    • Biologic symmetry
    • Animal hides to protect against moisture around bones.
    • Properties: live day by day (short lives) *Bathrooms not decorated before 20th century *Architecture isn’t evolution, based on style of living *Everything is influence by something else
    • Ice Age: increased spans of people, increase in homosapiens/neanderthals
  • Laussel (France), c. 10,000 B.C.E.:
    10,000 BCE

    Laussel (France), c. 10,000 B.C.E.:

    • Goddess holding horn means reproduction
    • English comes from Latin, French (Latin comes from Germany)
  • Lascaux cave (France), c. 10,000 B.C.E.: Paleolithic
    10,000 BCE

    Lascaux cave (France), c. 10,000 B.C.E.: Paleolithic

    • Used by early homosapiens
    • Occupied caves that were “prebuilt”
    • Several caves linked like rooms
    • Used for the purpose of eating, sleeping, worship
    • Incorporations of art; representations of art; art and architecture are inseparable
    • Art of animals like bulls, many geometric shapes
    • The Great Black Bull
    • Art done by different peoples over years and years of nomadic people
  • Göbekli Tepe (Turkey), c. 10,000 B.C.E.: Paleolithic
    10,000 BCE

    Göbekli Tepe (Turkey), c. 10,000 B.C.E.: Paleolithic

    • Tell/Tel - a raised mound marking the site of an ancient city
    • Mesolithic 24 oval structures for religious purposes
    • Oval shapes may have been made to imitate cave or refer to the heavens, or birth cycle of womb
    • Megaliths feature earliest examples of reliefs:
    • Oldest megalith construction
    • Levels of sophistication in site:
    • (shown in plan) biggest megoliths line up with one another
    • signifies - at least 1 person had good/strategic thought
  • Period: 10,000 BCE to 6000 BCE

    Mesolithic

  • Jericho (Israel/Palestine), c. 7000 B.C.E.:
    7000 BCE

    Jericho (Israel/Palestine), c. 7000 B.C.E.:

    • By freshwater springs
    • Found tools and pottery
    • Several civilizations existed here (over multiple generations)
    • Built layers on top of layers
    • Made from mud-brick
    • Showed signs of commerce
    • Dug a ditch around the city
    • One of the oldest cities in the world
    • Herringbone pattern on walls
  • Langweiler longhouse (Germany), c. 6500-4000 B.C.E.:
    6500 BCE

    Langweiler longhouse (Germany), c. 6500-4000 B.C.E.:

    • Subdivided rooms, permanent residency
    • Made of large timber units/wood walls, hearth without a chimney, pitched roof
    • Hearth was the only source of light, people died in sleep due to the smoke from the hearth not having a place to escape (didn’t understand the cause)
  • Lepenski Vir (Serbia), c. 6300-4800 B.C.E.:
    6300 BCE

    Lepenski Vir (Serbia), c. 6300-4800 B.C.E.:

    • Transitory village built for bands of hunters
    • Semi-nomadic living
    • Organizes and plans carefully
    • More complex economy, way of managing resources
    • Complexity leads to organization and distinction between people
    • Specialization led to architectural/art sophistication, opportunity to be perfected
    • Someone to lead led to someone needed to protect the group which led to patriarchy > matriarchy (goddesses)
    • Product of the agricultural revolution
  • Kostromskaya (Russia), c. 6000 B.C.E. (barrow):
    6000 BCE

    Kostromskaya (Russia), c. 6000 B.C.E. (barrow):

    • Funeral Mound
    • Only one body
  • Çatalhöyük (Turkey), c. 6000 B.C.E.: Neolithic
    6000 BCE

    Çatalhöyük (Turkey), c. 6000 B.C.E.: Neolithic

    • Agriculture and animal husbandry; Plant/animal domestication
    • Excess food →trade of obsidian (economic system) for tools and weapons
    • Refining style of art because lower threats/worries
    • No streets, just tightly packed for defense instead of having walls around the settlements
    • Wood frame filled with mud bricks and coated with mud
    • Made of Pisé - rammed earth,
  • Period: 6000 BCE to 1 BCE

    Neolithic

  • Khirokitia (Cyprus), c. 5500 B.C.E.:
    5500 BCE

    Khirokitia (Cyprus), c. 5500 B.C.E.:

    • Covered openings overhead
    • Paved avenues of limestone
    • It could be argued that there was existence of real estate because of housing locations
  • 4000 BCE

    Sittard (Netherlands), c. 4000 B.C.E.:

    • Neolithic Architecture
    • 50ft buildings made of wood
    • whole family lived here including extended family
  • Barrow (West Kennet, England), c. 3600 B.C.E. (gallery grave):
    3600 BCE

    Barrow (West Kennet, England), c. 3600 B.C.E. (gallery grave):

    • Gallery walk-in for graves
    • Dug up the earth on either side to form the structure
    • They are asking the question “what happens when we die?”
  • Royal tomb, Saqqara, c. 3100 B.C.E. (2650 BCE):
    3100 BCE

    Royal tomb, Saqqara, c. 3100 B.C.E. (2650 BCE):

    • Began as a mastaba but was later built into a step pyramid
    • Part of a larger complex
    • Decorated to look like the royal palace in Memphis
  • Cromlech dolmen (Tinfil, Wales), c. 3000 B.C.E.:
    3000 BCE

    Cromlech dolmen (Tinfil, Wales), c. 3000 B.C.E.:

    • Megaliths in a sophisticated circle
    • Similar to graveyard
    • Shows higher religious complexity
  • Great Horse, Sussex Down, c. 3000 B.C.E.:
    3000 BCE

    Great Horse, Sussex Down, c. 3000 B.C.E.:

    • Neolithic design
    • Horse designed in-ground
    • Pounded chalk
  • Avebury circle (England), c. 3000 B.C.E.
    3000 BCE

    Avebury circle (England), c. 3000 B.C.E.

    • Largest henge in the world
    • Different stages/time of construction
    • Stable economy established
    • Most likely used for ritual or marking astronomical events
  • Stonehenge (England), c. 2750-1500 B.C.E.
    2750 BCE

    Stonehenge (England), c. 2750-1500 B.C.E.

    Stage 1:
    - Henge (bank and ditch) construction, likely dug with deer antlers
    Stage 2:
    - Wooden posts erected, blue stones (from far away) set uip in a U-shape
    Stage 3:
    - Ring of bigger bluestones put in pairs and shaped in horseshoe
    - Inner horseshoe (5 trilithons) and outside circle of megaliths
    - Horseshoes faced summer solstice sun
    - Stones shaped in advance columns/beams held-mortise and tenon
    - Human remains? Ancient burial grounds
  • Mortuary complex of Zoser, Saqqara, c. 2680 B.C.E. Architect: Imhotep:
    2680 BCE

    Mortuary complex of Zoser, Saqqara, c. 2680 B.C.E. Architect: Imhotep:

    • An almost exact replica of a palace in Memphis
    • Made up of Mudbrick and stone, 6 levels
    • City
    • Columns were not free-standing and had a wood pole in the center
    • Acted as an “event space” to prove how strong the pharaoh was
    • Tomb
    • Showed contrast by painting columns red and walls black
    • Significance: stepped pyramid inspired the ziggurat towers of Mesopotamia however more abstractly because of the lack of relation to the human scale.
  • Stepped Pyramid of Sneferu, Meidum, c. 2680-2570 B.C.E.:
    2680 BCE

    Stepped Pyramid of Sneferu, Meidum, c. 2680-2570 B.C.E.:

    • Failed because base was too small and rise was too steep
    • Significance: 1st attempt to smooth out stepped pyramid structure into a solid pyramid; failed as the pitch was too steep to carry the load, leading to partial collapse which revealed that pyramids inner structure rose in concentric vertical layers (onion) then was smoothed over with flat limestone to create perfect pyramid look.
  • Bent Pyramid of Sneferu, Dahshur, c. 2680-2565 B.C.E.:
    2680 BCE

    Bent Pyramid of Sneferu, Dahshur, c. 2680-2565 B.C.E.:

    • Walls were still too steep, an attempt to get rid of steps
    • Corbaline Technique
    • Significance: Second attempt at a solid pyramid; construction began at a steep angle however after cracks appeared halfway up, construction had to continue at a lower angle
  • Heb-Sed Court, Mortuary complex of Zoser, Saqqara, c. 2680 B.C.E.:
    2680 BCE

    Heb-Sed Court, Mortuary complex of Zoser, Saqqara, c. 2680 B.C.E.:

    • Festival/ceremonial space
    • Heb-Sed was a ceremony performed by the pharaoh where he ran to demonstrate his strength
  • Oval Temple, Khafaje (Iraq), c. 2650-2350 B.C.E.:
    2650 BCE

    Oval Temple, Khafaje (Iraq), c. 2650-2350 B.C.E.:

    • Example of formal order of urban mesopotamia
    • Existing fabric demolished to fit the temple; hierarchy
    • Rectangle in center = godly perfection
    • Oval shaped complexes, some people in stone age when began building
    • Old stone → new stone
  • Pyramids of Giza (Khufu, Khafra, and Mekaura), c. 2570-2500 B.C.E.:
    2570 BCE

    Pyramids of Giza (Khufu, Khafra, and Mekaura), c. 2570-2500 B.C.E.:

    • Consisted of a smaller pyramid that represented his wife
    • Significance 1: Khufu Largest building in the world, perfectly aligned to the cardinal points. Took 20 years to build. Capped with gold
    • Significance 2: Khafra Second largest pyramid of the trio, remaining limestone covering hints at what pyramids might have looked like back in ancient times. Mans spent his funds too early so his pyramid was small and sad
    • Significance 3: Mekaura Smallest of the 3 pyramids
  • Red Pyramid of Sneferu, Dahshur, c. 2,565 B.C.E.:
    2565 BCE

    Red Pyramid of Sneferu, Dahshur, c. 2,565 B.C.E.:

    • Same architect as the Bent pyramid
    • Base was too wide
    • Red lime store< Branching out of different materials 🙂
  • Great Sphinx, Giza, c. 2550 B.C.E.:
    2550 BCE

    Great Sphinx, Giza, c. 2550 B.C.E.:

    • Significance: huge monument “guarding” the great pyramid
    • We don't know why it as built
  • New Grange (Ireland), c. 2500 B.C.E. (passage grave):
    2500 BCE

    New Grange (Ireland), c. 2500 B.C.E. (passage grave):

    • The corridor culminates in a rounded burial chamber
    • Cyclopean masonry - walls made of boulders stacked in an irregular course
    • Corbelling - stones are projected inwards, narrowing the circumference until it is sealed off
    • Relies on the cohesion of different-sized boulders working together
    • Celebrates the joy of lifting or defying gravity
  • Woodhenge, c. 2500 B.C.E.:
    2500 BCE

    Woodhenge, c. 2500 B.C.E.:

    • Summer or Winter solstice celebrations
    • More organized and complex thoughts
  • Ziggurat of Ur-Nammu, Ur (Iraq), c. 2113-2096 B.C.E.:
    2113 BCE

    Ziggurat of Ur-Nammu, Ur (Iraq), c. 2113-2096 B.C.E.:

    • Built by King Ur-Namma in dedication to the moon goddess Nanna
    • Built to last, with durable bricks on the exterior
    • Exterior not smooth, clads of limestone, tiered to accommodate work for building construction
    • Building trying to emulate mountains
    • Oriented to the cardinal axes
    • 3 flights of stairs at right angles
    • Arrangement of stairs reflects a ritual of hierarchical ascent
  • Mortuary Temple of Mentuhotep, Deir el-Bahri, c. 2050 B.C.E.:
    2050 BCE

    Mortuary Temple of Mentuhotep, Deir el-Bahri, c. 2050 B.C.E.:

    • Powerful pharoah, great monuments forming
    • Capital: religious center, burial place for pharoahs
    • Tombs differen from N, built into cliffs/mountain ranges
    • Built of sandstone/rubble masonry; trabeated system
    • Blank facade on exterior; burial in back underground
    • Halls had little to no light, lot of mass; 1 big hall
    • Significance: aligned with Mentuhotep’s belief that he was a servant of the gods which contrasts with other views that king were descended from the gods.
  • Carnac (France), c. 2000 B.C.E.:
    2000 BCE

    Carnac (France), c. 2000 B.C.E.:

    • 3,000 megaliths in ten to thirteen rows for miles near the town of Carnac
    • First instance of directional foci, or the principle of organizing space
    • They also had rotational foci, or rotation that invites movement around them
    • They imply the outline of modern-day ideas, such as fountains and statues, that lead and direct foot traffic
  • Skara Brae (Scotland), c. 2000 B.C.E.:
    2000 BCE

    Skara Brae (Scotland), c. 2000 B.C.E.:

    • Neolithic Community
    • Ten small stone houses made up by stone alleys
    • Even furniture was made out of stone here
    • Animal skins were used as roof covers
  • Ggantija (Malta), c. 2000 B.C.E.:
    2000 BCE

    Ggantija (Malta), c. 2000 B.C.E.:

    • “Tower of the Giants”
    • Made of megaliths and cyclopean masonry
    • Renacts paleolithic cave dwellings
    • First true building “type” because it is thought out and reproducible
  • Ishtar Gate, Babylon (Iraq), c. 2000 B.C.E.:
    2000 BCE

    Ishtar Gate, Babylon (Iraq), c. 2000 B.C.E.:

    • Significance:
    • Lined with lions to represent pride and control of Nebuchadnezzar
    • Cultures came out of Sumarc?
    • Composed of glazed bricks - rich in color, volumetric change with lions
    • Shines like a jewel
  • Temple of Amon, Karnak, c. 1525-1350 B.C.E.:
    1525 BCE

    Temple of Amon, Karnak, c. 1525-1350 B.C.E.:

    • Karnak archaeology - 1895; now best archaeology site documented?
    • Sphynx with ramram heads guarding complex
    • Pharaoh reincarnation of deity
    • Significance: Very monumental; cleft in the middle of the pylons creating a strong axi which evoked the course of the Nile pushing through teh cliff lined valley, large scale central procession surrounded by grand statues and pylons, dimly lit hypostyle with impressive and imposing columns evoked godly realm
  • Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, Deir el-Bahri, c. 1500 B.C.E.  Architect: Senmut:
    1500 BCE

    Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, Deir el-Bahri, c. 1500 B.C.E. Architect: Senmut:

    • Significance: strong sense of central procession, rising straight into the temple
    • 2nd level/3rd level:
    • Composed of two temples, a hall in the center
    • Temple is a play of light and dark
    • Peristyle court in the center - has a relationship with the interior and exterior of the building.
    • Barrel vaults in the temple
    • Egyptians wrote alphabetically, pictography, and ssssomething
  • Tomb of King Tutankhamen, c. 1350 B.C.E. (discovered by Howard Carter in 1922):
    1350 BCE

    Tomb of King Tutankhamen, c. 1350 B.C.E. (discovered by Howard Carter in 1922):

    • Significance: Designed to be hidden and very nondescript in order to protect from grave robbers Not actually robbed because didn’t think significant? Intent not to be actual tomb, died young so had really significance Everything we know about egyptian furniture from his tomb
  • Temple of Ramses II, Abu Simbel, c. 1250 B.C.E.:
    1250 BCE

    Temple of Ramses II, Abu Simbel, c. 1250 B.C.E.:

    • Significance: In place of pylon, the cliff face itself is flanked by enormous statues of Ramses; alignment so that on the summer and winter solstices, the sun shines directly on the back of the temple chamber
  • KV 5, Valley of the Kings, c. 1250 B.C.E.:
    1250 BCE

    KV 5, Valley of the Kings, c. 1250 B.C.E.:

    • Ramses II - dedicated to the sun
    • Last main Egyptian person
    • Chambers that jut out from corridors
    • Contains 2 hypostyle halls and mirrored chambers
  • Neolithic village (Wasserburg, Germany), c. 1000 B.C.E.:
    1000 BCE

    Neolithic village (Wasserburg, Germany), c. 1000 B.C.E.:

    • More complex > pitched roofs
    • Defensive walls
  • Ur (Iraq), 1000 B.C.E.:
    1000 BCE

    Ur (Iraq), 1000 B.C.E.:

    • One of the first of the larger cities
    • Telltale sign of city was the spokes
    • Chapels, burial spaces, extended family compounds, storage, and temple areas
  • Citadel and royal palace of Sargon II, Khorsabad (Iraq), 742-706 B.C.E.:
    742 BCE

    Citadel and royal palace of Sargon II, Khorsabad (Iraq), 742-706 B.C.E.:

    • Citadel - A point of last defesne in Khorsabad, contained the palace, ring of protection around the ruling monarch to ward against internal uprisings
    • Palace - the administrative court of honor is here at the top of the plan with the great Throne Room on the left
    • The entrance court is associated with a number of temples grouped along the west side–they were all served by a single ziggurat that was like no other example of this Mesopotamian building type
  • Khorsabad (Iraq), 721-705 B.C.E.:
    721 BCE

    Khorsabad (Iraq), 721-705 B.C.E.:

    “The final debasement of the ziggurat occurs” here
    About one square mile, two arched gates on each side of the square, guarded by stone demons in the form of human-headed bulls
  • Iron-age village (Feddersen, Germany), c. 100 B.C.E.:
    100 BCE

    Iron-age village (Feddersen, Germany), c. 100 B.C.E.:

    • Isolated, like Neolithic Village
    • Rooms for cooking, gathering, children, and work
  • Marc-Antoine Laugier, An Essay an Architecture (1753):

    Marc-Antoine Laugier, An Essay an Architecture (1753):

    Argument: architecture is a primitive hut
    Book was a prototype for other things
    Book cover: tree triangle in compression and tension:
  • Gottfried Semper, The Four Elements of Architecture (1851):

    Gottfried Semper, The Four Elements of Architecture (1851):

    The primitive hut is composed of 4 necessary/essential elements:
    Hearth -
    Roof -
    Closure/Wall -
    Platform -
  • Chippewa Wigwam (US), 20th century:

    Chippewa Wigwam (US), 20th century:

    • Made of straw and grass - stabilized by tension > compression
    • Use of tensile wood frame (like cross sections)
  • Kickapoo Village (Mexico), 20th century:

    Kickapoo Village (Mexico), 20th century:

    • Buffalo hides, (wigwam) ~ 8ft tall ~ 10-15ft wide
    • Spaces based on gender
    • Inside only for weathers/sleep; architecture based on nomadic lifestyle
    • Up until beginning of 20th century.