Chapter 1: Prehistoric Periods: Lascaux, Neolithic & The Bronze Age

I found it very interesting that during this time period, the people creating their homes focused on rituals and religion. The nomadic lifestyle was based off of hunting for food to survive. Depending on their location, they traveled with the weather and followed the food. Most dwellings were therefore temporary. Furniture was rarely used because when traveling, you were unable to bring much along to the next location. The remains of this time period prove built in furniture that adapted into their lifestyle for storage sleep and cooking purposes. Skara- Brae 2000-1500 B.C.E, a neolithic village in Scottland is a wonderful example. A corbel or false arch is a masonry technique in which each layer of construction cantilevers over the preceding layer, this is seen in this architecture in the layering of the walls in conjecture with the built in furniture. Our textbook shows an over head picture of this architecture closer to current day; below I have provided a reconstructed version of the same home to show you what it would look like in their domestic community during that time period. You may notice additions of furs to signify where these people may have slept, and the interior hearth to keep their home warm, as well as for cooking purposes.

A corbel arch is commonly used in todays architecture in uses for decorative purposes and for suspending architecture to create arched walkways between rooms.

The Bronze Age 4000-1000 B.C.E was a era in the preshistoric time period following the Neolithic time period. During this time people were no longer crafting their homes and objects out of stone but stone was still used. Metal, copper and bronze were introduced and were used for weapons, jewelry and tools. More architectual remains have been found for this time period, than anything prior. 

Below is a picture of A view of the Pella Migdol Temple in 2001. On a website I found, an artist took this image and redesigned the blue prints and how this architectural space has changed through the Bronze Age.

Top Left: Composite of all three phases  

Top Right: Phase I, Middle Bronze Age Phase 1600 BC
Bottom Left: Phase II, Late Bronze Age Phase 1350 BC
Bottom Right: Phase III, Iron Age Phase 900 BC

 While this temple was built the people had to think of how to adapt this structure through time and how it has evolved through time. I found it very interesting to compare it to the structure that was found in 2001. This piece has room division, as well as built in spaces. This piece is comparable with Skara- Brae, but appears to take a step further in functionality. In research of this site, recovery of artifacts, as well as the structure of the building has been examined.

Resources:

www.gumtreehomes.com.au
designergirlee.wordpress.com 

www.danny.oz.au 

http://www.astarte.com.au/html/pella_s_canaanite_temple.html