Architectural Beginnings: The Cave and Dwelling

I. Paleolithic Dwellings

Terra Amata dwellings, Terra Amata, France, c. 400,000 B.C.

Lecture Outline Exam

Terra Amata hutsWho?

What?

Where?

When? 400,000 B.C. or B.C.E.Paleolithic

Terra Amata, France

Dwelling

Paleolithic architect (s)the intended audiencethe incidental audience

How ? How did it come to look this way?

Why? Why did it look this way in this place and at this time?

I. A. Historical context - Independent factual knowledge of historical conditions at this time and place

Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania – earliest evidence of man-made habit in 2,000,000 BC

Lower Paleolithic (2,500,000-300,000 BC): • transition from scavenging to hunting-gathering• nomadic, small groups of ½ dozen families• first evidence of craft and stone tools• first evidence of control of fire after 400,000 BC • possible symbolic vocalizations after 400,000 BC

I. B. Formal Analysis: Describe the material, scale, and shape

Terra Amata dwelling

I. C. Meaning Social and ritual values shaping the arch. of the Paleolithic dwelling1. Why were the Paleolithic Terra Amata huts about the same size?

Terra Amata dwellings

I. C. 2. Why did these Paleolithic dwellings have an oval form?

Terra Amata dwelling

ONLINE STUDY IMAGEShttp://www.uark.edu/~archmed/user name: arch2233password: peristyle

Preparing review materials

Preparing review materials

II. Paleolithic sacred space

Lascaux Cave, Lascaux, France, c. 10,000 B.C.

Hall of the Bulls Axial Gallery

Lascaux CaveWho?

What?

Where?

When? 10,000 B.C. or B.C.E.

Lascaux, France

Lascaux CaveSacred space

Paleolithic architect (s)the intended audiencethe incidental audience

How ? How did it come to look this way?

Why? Why did it look this way in this place and at this time?

II. A. Context Upper Paleolithic (40,000-10,000 BC):

• last glaciers of the ice age melt• big game hunters and gatherers• nomadic groups of ½ dozen families, leadership informal• material possessions evenly distributed • earliest identifiable religious and burial sites• proficiency in visual arts

II. B. Formal analysis of structural environmental qualities

Lascaux Cave

1. Describe the entrance and ground plan as you would experience them

Hall of the Bulls

II. B. 2. Describe the interior surfaces as you would experience it

Lascaux Cave

Hall of the Bulls

Axial Gallery far endAxial Gallery

II. B. 3. Describe the subjects of the painting and your experience of them

Lascaux Cave

Hall of the Bulls Axial GalleryThe Shaft

II. C. Why was this a suitable form – ideal sacred space – for this place and time (i.e., the Paleolithic era)?

Lascaux Cave

Hall of the BullsThe Nave

Lascaux Cave

II. C. 1. It showed respect for nature’s difficulties. What is the physical evidence for this?

Hall of the Bulls Entry

Lascaux Cave

II. C. 2. It embodied perpetual change and perpetual interflow of time (an eternal present): What is the physical evidence for this?

Axial Gallery

Axial Gallery

Lascaux CaveII. C. 2.

Hall of the Bulls

Hall of the Bulls

The Nave

Lascaux CavePaleolithic female statuette

Venus of Willendorf, 30,000 B.C.

II. C. 3. It acknowledged impenetrable mysteries of life. What is the physical evidence for this?II. D. What is Kostof’s ritual-based explanation for the selection of a cave as a sacred space?

Hall of the BullsAxial Gallery

Paleolithic sacred space

a. eternal present b. respect for nature c. concern with mysteries of life d. reasons why these were Paleolithic concerns

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