EUROPEAN SITES EGYPT & ANCIENT NEAR EAST

•PALEOLITHIC – OLD STONE AGE PLEISTOCENE

20,000 – 10,000 BC 20,000 – 16,000 BC

•MESOLITHIC – MIDDLE STONE AGE HOLOCENE / AGRICULTURAL REV.

10,000 – 6000 BC 9000 – 6000 BC

•NEOLITHIC – NEW STONE AGE

6000 – 3500 BC

•BRONZE AGE – 2500 – 1250BC

•IRON AGE – 1250 – 1 AD

PRIMARY OCCUPATION
HUNTERS, GATHERERS, COLLECTORS -------------------- Farmers after the Agricultural
Revolution
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AGE TYPOLOGY FORMS EXAMPLE PLACE
1. PALEOLITHIC DWELLINGS HUT TERRA AMATA FRANCE
MOLODOVA UKRAINE
DOLNI VESTONICE CZECH
LEAN TO LE LAZARET FRANCE
TENT MOLODOVA UKRAINE
PIT HOUSE RUSSIA
2. MESOLITHIC DWELLINGS HUT LEPINSKI VIR YUGOSLAVIA
PIT HOUSE CZECH, UKR
3. NEOLITHIC DWELLINGS TIMBER GREECE
DRYSTONE SKARA BRAE ORKNEYISLANDS
TOMBS “ “
TEMPLES TREFOIL PLAN GGANTIJA MALTA
HENGE ENGLAND
4. BRONZE AGE DWELLINGS
TOMBS, TEMPLES
FORTS, TOWERS
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OLD STONE AGE
Hut - TERRA AMATA – FRANCE 400,000 BC
• Size of hut 8m x 4m
•The dwellings consisted of small poles supported by
rocks for walls and larger poles in the center to support
the roof
•The hut included a hearth, or fireplace and was made by
bracing branches with a circle of large and small stones.
•The area around the hearth was clear of debris and was
probably used for sleeping.

•The other area that was not strewn with

debris was covered with pieces of
broken stone.
•These pieces of stone could be fit
together and led to speculation that this
may have been a work area for making
tools.
•The basic design of such habitats may
have remained unchanged for a million
years.
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Hut / Tent - MOLODOVA – UKRAINE
•A Paleolithic hut divided in three sections and made of
animal skins was found at Pushkari, Ukraine.

•The inside was dug out and the structure was built-up
from mammoth bones.

•The tent was made of mammoth hides and was probably

carpeted with mammoth hides, although fur hides, like
fox, wolf, and bearskins, were often used for bedding.

•Mousterian hut found at

Moldova, Ukraine, of
mammoth bones and
mammoth hides.

•The mammoth jaws used at

the base were interlocked --
a clever technique found at
most of the mammoth hunter
sites.
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MAMMOTH HUNTING SOCIETY - RUSSIA
•Reconstruction of a Mammoth Hunter Hut at
a stone age site in France.

•The original jawbones interlock to form

sturdy walls.

•This structure would then be covered with

mammoth hides and carpeted with fur.
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Hut - DOLNI VESTONICE – CZECH 28,000 – 22,000 BC
•First dug out from a slope and the roof
was supported with timber set into post-
holes.

•The low walls were made of packed clay

and stones.

•The evidence of clay firing at this site are

the earliest ever found.

•Abundant source of prehistoric artifacts

•The remains of a kiln have been

uncovered. Thousands of clay figurines
have been recovered

•Small, dry-hut, whose door

faced towards the east

•The goddess figurine is the oldest known

baked clay figurine
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Lean to - LA LAZARET – FRANCE
•Tent-like structure was built inside a cave

•made of animal hides draped over a wooden framework

and held down by stones.

•The interior measures 11m x 3.5 m, subdivided into two

rooms, the larger of which had a fireplace.

•Animal furs, grasses, and seaweed were used for

carpeting and bedding.

•Delimited by the cave wall on three sides and on the

fourth by a sinuous line of large stones.

•These have been interpreted as having served as

packing stones that could have been used to support the
poles of an animal skin tent pitched against the cave
wall.

•No evidence of the organic tent poles or tent itself

would have survived but stone tool flakes and animal
bone appear to spill outwards from between the stones
at two points which may represent entrances to the
conjectured shelter.
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Tent – 15,000 – 10,000 BC
•Magdalenian tent from the Upper Paleolithic found at Plateau
Parain in France.

•This animal hide tent was suspended over a wooden framework

and held down by stones.

•It included a central hearth.

•Magdalenian double tent.

•This structure was made by connecting two tents, each with its
own hearth.

•The structure was anchored with stones.

UKRAINIAN HUT AT MEZIN

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Pit House

Post arrangements and roof construction.

Looking across the hearth and its deflector, with the
dark opening of the ventilator shaft just to the right,
and the ramp entryway opening out onto the bench
just to the left
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NEW STONE AGE
Dry stone Dwelling - SKARA BRAE 3000 BC
•Skara Brae is made up of 7 dwellings, linked together by a
series of low alleyways.

•They were built into mounds of pre-existing rubbish known as

"middens".

•Although the midden provided the houses with a small degree

of stability, its most important purpose was to act as a layer of
insulation against Orkney's harsh winter climate.

•Each house shares the same basic design- a large square room
with a central fireplace, a bed on either side and a shelved
dresser on the wall opposite the doorway.

•20’0” x 18’0” houses

•Built of stone on a square plan with rounded corner

•Corbelled roofs

•Opening in the center closed with rafters of whalebone

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NEW STONE AGE
Dry stone Dwelling - SKARA BRAE – ORKNEY ISLANDS
•Stone door 4’ high pivoted on a stone bearing

•Square hearth in the center where peat was burned

•7 huts connected by a roofed alley, a stone lined sewer was present

•Furniture made of split stone as timber was not available

•Beds of stone slabs with stone posts carrying a canopy of skins and mattress of
heather
•Shelves fastened to the wall

•Water provisions in the form of

rectangular containers sunk in the floor,
lined with stone

•A sophisticated drainage system was even

incorporated into the village's design, one
that may have included a primitive form of
toilet in each dwelling
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NEW STONE AGE
Dry stone Dwelling - SKARA BRAE – ORKNEY ISLANDS
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NEW STONE AGE / BRONZE AGE
Temple – GGANTIJA – MALTA & GOZO – 3600 – 2500 BC
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NEW STONE AGE
Temple – STONEHENGE 2500 – 2000 BC
•Dolmen, a huge stone slab set upon other huge stones.

•These type of structures began showing up near the end of

the stone age all across Europe in the Megalithic age when
people were energetically building structures such as
Stonehenge.

•This one is from Sarlat, France and is about 7000 years old.
•Open air ceremonial structure

•The 1st, late Neolithic and

Bronze age phase – earthworks

•The 2nd bronze age – 2 concentric

stone rings

•22.5m and 26m in diameter

•38 dolerite blocks from south Wales in each ring

•Middle and late bronze age – Erection of 82 new stones

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OF
EGYPT & WEST ASIA
PREHISTORIC ARCHITECTURE OF
EGYPT & WEST ASIA
EXAMPLE PLACE PERIOD TYPOLOGY FORM / MATERIALS
1. LEVANT LEBANON
JERICHO 8350 - 7350 DWELLINGS WALLED CITY
MUNHATA
BEIDHA 7000 - 6000 BEEHIVE
JERICHO SHRINES
BEIDHA
AIN MALLAHA ISRAEL DWELLING DRYSTONE
KHIROKITIA CYPRUS “ “ PISE BLOCKS
2. ANATOLIA TURKEY
CATAL HUYUK 6250 – 5400 DWELLING/SHRINE VILLAGE
HACILAR SHRINE
3. ZAGROS IRAN
TEPE GURAN
JARMO 6000 – 5000 DWELLING
4. MESOPOTAMIA
ERIDU 5400 - 3000 DWELLING / SHRINE
TELL HASSUNA 6000 - 5250 “ “
UBAID – TEPE GAWRA 4500 – 4200 DWELLING/SHRINE
5. EGYPT
BADARI 4400 - 4000
FAIYUM 4200 - 3800
HEIRKONPOLIS
PREHISTORIC ARCHITECTURE - EGYPT & WEST ASIA
•PLEISTOCENE – BURIED UNDER SILT

•AGRICULTURE began 9000 BC – PERMANENT STRUCTURES VILLAGES

– MUD BRICK – PISE BLOCKS

•First buildings appeared with settled communities such as the Natufian Culture from
the Southern Turkey to the Nile delta

•NEOLITHIC began in Anatolia and Levant - TOWNS

NEAR EAST:
• Hassuna 6000-4500
• Samarra 5500
• Halafian 5000
• Eridu 5400
• Ubaid 4000-3500
EGYPT:
• Faiyum 5000
• Badari 4000
• Amratian 3800
• Gerzean 3600

•End of this period saw the beginning of small independent city states ruled by
councils, and assemblies emerged in Mesopotamia
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LEVANT - JERICHO 8350 - 7350
Jericho is perhaps one of the most interesting archaeological sites in Palestine. Most people's
familiarity with Jericho comes from the book of Joshua in the Old Testament. According to the Bible,
the Israelites fleeing from Egypt destroyed the ancient city under mysterious circumstances. At the
time, Jericho was supposedly surrounded by a formidable stone wall and should have been able to
withstand attack. If the Old Testament story is accurate however, the walls came tumbling
down.The ancient city of Jericho is located about 2km from the modern city of Jericho.

•Also known as Tell es-Sultan, er-Riha, Eriha, Yeriho

•The "City of Palms" spreads out on the west side of the

Jordan River at 825’ below sea level.

•Presence of a spring of sweet water from the western

hills

• Around the 7800 BC they established a water shrine

after which the camp became a permanent settlement

•It has been recently challenged by another Natufian

Settlement at Eyhan (Palestine) 8850 BC

•Circular huts of 25’ dia. And partially sunk in the ground

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LEVANT - JERICHO 8350 - 7350
•Existence of a large STONE revetment wall that supported the
slope of the tell in the Middle Bronze Age 3m thick, 4m high
and 700 m in circumference

•This wall was composed of large Cyclopean stones and

supported a mud brick wall above it.

•The 8m diameter tower stands 8m tall and was connected on

the inside of a 4m thick wall.
Round and oval houses

Evolved from the dry stone tradition, but built of loaf shaped
mud bricks

•5m dia. built out of mud bricks supported on

branches covered with clay.

• Cigar shaped mud bricks

•Erection of storage chambers and cisterns

with roof entry

•Solid walls and wide doorways

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LEVANT - JERICHO 8350 - 7350

•Closely packed houses, stone foundation, upper

floors of timber
•Screen wall and courtyards
•Lime plaster floors laid on gravel, plastered walls
with red painted dado
•Walls decorated with geometric designs
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LEVANT - BEIDHA 7000 - 6000
•The early settlers built a retaining wall around the
village, and constructed round houses with floors
sunk below ground level.
•After being destroyed by fire (c. 6650 BC), Beidha
was rebuilt, this time in the latest square-walled
mid-Pre-Pottery Neolithic B fashion.
•Specialized workshops, for tool production and
food preparation, appear during this phase.
However, by 6500 BC the village had been
abandoned, for unknown reasons.

•Curvilinear, Semi subterranean up to 4m in diameter

•Dwellings grouped in clusters around walled courtyards

•Whole village surrounded by stone wall

•Free standing polygonal houses with rounded corners

•7m x 9m rooms with floor and wall of plaster

•Outside was an L shaped walled courtyard with 8m long

workshops clustered together
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LEVANT - BEIDHA 7000 - 6000
•The construction of the walls was deduced from
site excavations.
•Stone walls were built around an inner frame of
upright wooden posts, and the walls were finished
in clay mixed with reeds to provide waterproofing,
keep out the wind, and help maintain the
temperature inside.
•Circular houses date from the earlier Pre-Pottery
Neolithic B. By the middle of the period, they were
being replaced by rectangular houses
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LEVANT - KHIROKITIA 6000 - 4000
•It is a closed village, cut off from the
outside world, apart from by the river, by
a strong wall of stones 2.5 m thick and 3
m at its highest preserved level. Access
into the village was probably via several
entry points through the wall.

•The buildings within this wall consist of

round structures huddled close together.
•The lower parts of these buildings are
often of stone
•Massive proportions by constant additions of further skins of stones.
•Their external diameter varies between 2.3 m and 9.20 m while the
internal diameter is only between 1.4 m and 4.80 m.

•A collapsed flat roof of one building found recently indicates that not
all roofs were dome shaped as was originally believed.
•The internal divisions of each hut were according to the purpose of
its usage.
•Low walls, platforms designated work, rest or storage areas. They
had hearths used for cooking and heating, benches and windows and
in many cases there is evidence of piers to support an upper floor. It
is believed that the huts were like rooms several of which were
grouped around an open courtyard and together formed the home.
•The population of the village at any one time is thought not to have
exceeded 300 to 600 inhabitants
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ANATOLIA - CATAL HUYUK 6250 - 5400

When the Neolithic inhabitants of Çatalhuyuk built a

house, they did not intend it to last forever.
After about a hundred years or so they would
demolish their house and use the remains as the
foundation for a new building

It is a city of honeycombed rooms and courtyards; a

self contained unit with interconnecting walls.
There were no doors between units.
With the use of ladders, the people of Catal Huyuk
entered their dwellings through the roofs.

Within these mudbrick enclosures,

wall paintings abound.
Each year, when the residents
repainted and replastered they also
covered or repainted many giant
wall murals, which so clearly
served a ritual purpose..
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ANATOLIA - CATAL HUYUK 6250 - 5400

The houses at Catal Huyuk were closely

packed together, without intervening
streets.
Access to the interiors was by wooden
ladder from the flat roofs.
The houses were built of mud-brick and
had several rooms the biggest of which
was 4x5m.
The main room contained benches and
platforms for sitting and sleeping
These platforms, and all interior walls,
were carefully plastered to a smooth
finish. Ancillary rooms were used as
storage, and were accessed through low
entry openings from main rooms
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ZAGROS – JARMO 6000 - 5000
•Kurdish hills in Tigris area

•Multiroomed rectangular houses

made of compacted clay called ‘pise’
set on a stone foundation

•Basins and baking ovens sunk in

the floor

•Use of polished stone

•Domestication of animals

•Population of 150

•20-30 small houses

•Rectangular, mud houses built of tauf with mud floors laid

on reeds

•Each house had an open courtyard 3m x 4m surrounded

by small rooms packed into a space of 5m x 6m
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MESOPOTAMIA– ERIDU 5400 - 3000
The oldest agrarian settlement seems to have been based upon
intensive subsistence irrigation agriculture
The earliest village settlement (5000 BC) had grown into a
substantial city of mud brick and reed houses by 2900 BC,
Rectangular sanctuary, Temple raised on platform, Mud brick
wall, heavily buttressed
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MESOPOTAMIA– TELL HASSUNA 6000 - 5250
dwellings built around open central courts with fine painted
pottery replace earlier levels with crude pottery.
Scattered stone foundation and mud brick
Two building levels dating to the Late Neolithic were exposed in
the first two excavation seasons
10.5 x 2.5m house with a rectangular plan

•The walls of the building without stone foundations

were constructed by the technique of mudbrick and
pisé.
•The exposed four rooms of the building are of
similar sizes.
•The northernmost room has a hearth
•rows of small, square rooms
•unplastered walls , plain dirt floors

•probably storage size of the construction project

and storage capacity suggest that they were used
by the community as a group, not by just some one
family
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MESOPOTAMIA– TEPE GAWRA 4500 - 4200
•5000 BC migrants from the highlands
moved to east and north to the
Euphrates delta
•Proto Sumerian tell
•Difficult terrain of marshes which had to
be drained
•Developed a system of perennial
irrigation
•Religious lot, contributions to God
•Erection of the shrine

•Rectangular sanctuary
•Temple raised on platform
•Mud brick wall, heavily buttressed

•Development of writing to maintain

records
•Temples became more and more
elaborate
•16 temple mounds rising to more than
50’ in height
•The floods from the Tigris swept
everything away except the temple at Ur