Ancient house – prehistoric architecture

Recommendation points

• Russian hut
• Mazanka
• Stilt houses
• Dwellings made of stone
• Dwelling in the rocks
• Tent
• Yurt
• Wigwam and other portable dwellings
• Igloo

From the very moment when the first man made the decision to acquire a place more reliable than an ordinary bush or hut where you can hide from bad weather and enemies, the development of a very important, interesting and complex part of human activity – architecture.

Nicholas Roerich. The power of the caves. 1925

However, no, rather the emergence of architecture is associated not with clumsy attempts to block the entrance to a cave or dig a dugout, but with the emerging need to make your home not just warm, but cozy, that is, to decorate the exterior and interior of your home.

Our ancestors constantly improved their skills in construction, mastered new technologies and created better, more durable and attractive building materials, in parallel with the increase in the height and size of buildings, changes in the style of architecture took place, more and more design elements appeared, and the appearance of settlements and villages took on their own national and cultural characteristics.

Considering the long, exciting almost the entire history of mankind, the process of the development of architecture, one can distinguish a number of styles that are very different from each other and had a huge impact on the appearance of ancient cities.

The architectural style is a very important part of the history of a particular civilization, because we usually judge the achievements of our ancestors not by the success of battles or trade relations, but by the remaining architectural monuments.

However, even before the formation of pronounced trends in architecture, differences arose in the methods and principles of construction of residential buildings, which were caused primarily by the peculiarities of the climate, terrain and the most affordable building materials..

It seems that it still began during the construction of ordinary small residential buildings, but the formation of architectural styles was most clearly manifested during large-scale construction projects, for example, during the construction of religious, public buildings.

Once again, I want to emphasize that architecture arose when a person began to build not only for rational reasons, but also to satisfy the need for beauty, not to protect from the cold, but simply because it is beautiful!

Among the traditional buildings erected in the Stone, Bronze and Iron Age, that is, belonging to the prehistoric architectural style, stand out:

Russian hut

The Russian hut is a wooden dwelling, which initially had neither windows nor doors in the usual sense for us. Only a small – up to a meter – hole, covered with a canopy and two wooden doors, with an earthen, simply rammed floor and a hearth in the center, heated in black, that is, smoke from the hearth “spread” throughout the dwelling and came out naturally – through the doorway or a hole in the roof. The floor was watered with water, carefully tamped, swept, if necessary, the process was repeated several times to achieve the desired hardness.

Russian hut

It is interesting that, since the man traditionally remained the head of the family in Russia, it was he who slept in the warmest place of the hut – next to the hearth, and the wife and children huddled to the right of the entrance. Here, in the hut itself, livestock lived in winter – goats, pigs, chickens, a newly born calf. Such valuable property could not be left in a cold shed during severe frosts, and it was too expensive to heat this room..

Only by the 15th century, more familiar to us “white” huts began to be built, the central place in which was assigned to the Russian stove. At the same time, wooden floors appeared in rich huts, but the poorest peasants lived in huts with earth floors until the 19th century. They slept in a Russian hut, first on the floor, on chests or benches, then, after the appearance of the stove, on the beds – a platform between the stove and the wall.

The roof of a typical Russian hut was gable, covered with shingles or boards.

Of course, at first such huts, almost a third buried in the ground and often lacking a foundation, did not differ with special beauty, but soon their inhabitants discovered artistic woodcarving and the walls were covered with patterns, openwork shutters and trims appeared on the windows, and on the roof the carved ridge took its place. By the way, huts were built not only in Russia, but also on the territory of Belarus, Ukraine, in Europe – wherever there were many forests and wood remained the most accessible material. The oldest house in Great Britain, discovered not so long ago by archaeologists, was built more than 10.5 thousand years ago from wood, only unlike the Russian hut, it had a round shape.

Mazanka

More than 6 thousand years ago, in the steppe area, for example, in most of Ukraine and in the south of Russia, the first huts appeared – houses consisting of a light frame made of twigs or brushwood coated with clay.

Such houses were built quickly, there was a lot of clay in this area, and ordinary straw or reeds were used for the roof. Such huts can still be seen not only in museums, for example, the Museum of Rural Architecture near Kiev, but also in ordinary villages, although, of course, they have become very rare. However, some summer residents who want to make their site unusual and get a completely functional and attractive structure are still building huts with their own hands..

It was customary to cover the walls of the hut with lime and paint; such houses looked unusually beautiful! Interestingly, they began to build houses of clay almost simultaneously not only in Russia and Europe, but also in Africa, and even in pre-Columbian America – in the Mississippi Valley, although there is no need to talk about any connection between the Indians and the inhabitants of the Old World at that time.

Mazanka is distinguished not only by its peculiar, doll-like beauty, but also by good functional properties – waterproof, perfectly retaining heat and fairly durable houses served as housing for several generations of owners.

Ukrainian hut

By the way, if the frame made of twigs or brushwood is not coated with clay for greater stability, but is left “as is”, then you will get an almost exact copy of houses made of reeds or reeds, which are usual for Brazil and other tropical regions – in fact, huts, because the inhabitants of the tropics have to protect themselves from the cold not necessary.

Stilt houses

Pile houses – structures made of wood, lighter than a hut, installed on piles to protect against enemies and floods. They became very widespread in Europe, in particular, in the Alps and swamps of Slovenia, in Scandinavia, in Indonesia, throughout South America and in Africa. Such houses were not very durable and often needed repair, apparently, therefore, the pile dwellings did not differ in particular beauty.

Pile house

Houses on piles, apparently, became the prototype of the Russian “Hut on Chicken Legs”, they were built not only of wood, in principle, any house (except perhaps too heavy stone) could be raised on piles or high supports.

Dwellings made of stone

The construction of such massive structures from stone blocks required considerable effort, therefore this type of architecture began to spread somewhat later than others. However, even roughly hewn stones looked original in themselves, reliably protected from all misfortunes and served faithfully for many years.

The settlements of Western Europe, including Spain and Portugal, where a lot of such unusual buildings have survived to this day can serve as a striking example of ancient stone structures..

Stone house, palaso, with a conical thatched roof, Spain

The first religious buildings that have survived to this day were also built of stone – numerous menhirs, dolmens and cromlechs were found in different parts of the world. The most famous building of this type was, of course, Stonehenge..

Stonehenge, England

Dwelling in the rocks

Another not very common, but significant enough for the history of architecture, way of building a dwelling is carving out rooms just in the thickness of the rock, that is, practically creating man-made caves. Of course, it was only possible to build in this way in a suitable area, and the process itself was very laborious..

Petra city in Jordan

Tent

Calling a tent, created from a light frame and fabric, a reliable home simply does not turn your tongue! Meanwhile, it is in such aerial structures that Bedouins, residents of the Arabian Peninsula, still constantly live..

The frame of sticks was covered not only with cloth, but also with leather and even bark. Usually, as protection from rare rains, the Bedouins were served with dense fabrics made of goat hair, which did not allow water to pass through..

Bedouin tent, Arabia

Inside, the tent was usually divided into two parts – a large one, where women and children slept, and a guest room, where they met strangers or talked with fellow tribesmen..

Yurt

In Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, it is still not uncommon to find yurts typical for these nomadic peoples – a portable dwelling on a light wooden, assembled frame with a felt covering.

A yurt, in contrast to a tent, which can only protect residents from rain (and even then not always), fully satisfies all the needs of nomads – it is assembled by the efforts of one family in just an hour, easily transported on a camel or horse, perfectly conserves heat, does not let wind and rain pass through, allows you to build a fire inside. In summer, the canopy of the yurt rises easily, the wind freely gets inside, and the inhabitants can calmly observe the surroundings.

Kyrgyz yurt

Yurts of each nationality have their own differences, it is customary to decorate them with patterns, and hang talismans inside that protect the shelter. Among the Mongols, yurts were often placed on a wooden floor, while among the Kazakhs and Kyrgyz, the entrance to the yurt is a double door made of wood..

Wigwam and other portable dwellings

It is interesting that, although all the portable houses of the peoples of North America and the Russian North were built according to the same principle, they still have a number of differences that make it possible to distinguish such buildings as wigwam, tipi, chum and yaranga..

The wigwam differed from the tipi (both were widespread among the Indians) only in a domed shape (the tipi looks like a cone). The frame of the poles was covered with skins of bison, deer, mats, tree bark or branches.

Wigwam covered with bark

Chum and yaranga are the homes of the nomadic peoples of the Russian north – the Chukchi, Evens, Koryaks, Yukagirs. The chum differs from the yaranga in about the same way as the upper room from the hut: the yaranga is a large structure on a frame made of poles, covered with tanned skins, and the chum is a separate, one-room room inside, separated by the same skins. Sometimes the chum is a separate house, which differs from the yaranga in the way of construction.

Yaranga

In addition, the wigwam and yaranga are more than lightweight, truly portable teepees and chum.

Teepee

Igloo

The most unusual ancient house is, of course, the igloo, built of ice or snow “bricks”. Igloo – winter housing for Eskimos, a domed structure about 2 meters high and about 3-4 meters in diameter.

Blocks for the construction of igloos are cut from snowdrifts already pressed by wind and frost, Eskimos, accustomed to building such houses since childhood, are able to build igloos in just a couple of hours, but travelers who came to the north for the first time could not build a comfortable and reliable snow house for a long time.

Igloo

It is very important that the entrance to the needle is below floor level. So cold, heavy air did not penetrate inside, and warm air did not come out, in addition, such an arrangement provided optimal ventilation. If the snow was deep enough, the entrance was simply dug under the floor, and if not, a small corridor was attached.

Inside, the floor and walls of the igloo were covered with skins, and the fire for heating was burned not on the snowy floor, but in a bowl of fat. The walls inside were slightly melted, but could not melt due to the fact that the snow immediately removes excess heat outside the walls of the hut. In such a house it is quite comfortable inside (compared to -40 on the street) and dry, you can take off outerwear.

As you can see, the desire to make your home attractive was inherent in man at all times and practically among all civilizations, which ultimately led to the development of architecture and the formation of new architectural styles. And the woodcarving that decorated the huts, and the painting on the whitewashed walls of the hut, and the embroidery on the felt of the yurts, and the amulets at the entrance to the wigwam – all this makes the housing more individual, speaks of the human need not only for protection, but also for beauty.

Only in this way, having touched on some points of prehistoric architecture, one can then proceed to the study of more developed forms of architecture, to the times when improved forms of buildings appeared, and the masters achieved significant success in construction. It was from such portable huts, huts and huts that the development of architecture began, eventually leading to skyscrapers, high-tech buildings and luxurious villas that our ancestors could not even dream of..