Regarding the lectures, I would like to note the following: I am posting them here for a reason, they are directly related to the topics of this community and can bring certain benefits to everyone. It is often believed that after school and institutes, education should be completed, but this is a huge misconception, because the older a person becomes, the more he is able to comprehend and understand if he works in this direction. Now it may seem that this information will never be useful, but everything we read is stored in our minds and is always ready to help when it becomes necessary. I would also like to note that people from all over came to our institute to listen to such lectures, to say nothing of the fact that new knowledge, especially in the field of art, sets a person up for a good thought, and these moments, in turn, help nourish both the body and the spirit . Here I do not have the opportunity to present all the information in full due to the fact that it will be quite difficult to perceive it and all this will take too much time, but in each lecture I tried to include as much as possible of what I managed to write down myself and what I wrote down. what books gave me. May it benefit everyone who wants to receive it...
"Of all the unknowns, the most unknown is time."Aristotle
The first dwellings of those that are accessible to modern man were created by Neanderthals around 35 thousand years BC. /this is the official theory, although true chronology goes much deeper/. These dwellings were parking lots and sheds.
Primitive people preferred to use natural shelters - caves. The construction of artificial caves in rocks became possible only with the advent of metal tools. To prevent ceiling collapses when excavating weak and layered rocks, caves were given a pointed shape. This outline, more or less regular, is given to a large number of artificial caves. With the transition to a sedentary lifestyle, the first buildings appear.
During the Paleolithic era, people developed new skills, and their homes improved accordingly. The reason for improvement was also climate change, which required more sustainable housing and tools.
In the first half of 3 thousand BC. matriarchy begins, in the second half of 2 thousand BC. patriarchy comes and with it monumental architecture, megalithic architecture appears / menhir- 1 stone; dolmen- 2, covered with a third; cromlech- formation, a row of stones. For example, Stonehenge, 17th century BC/.
Nuraghi- tower-like structures 2-3 thousand BC. /o.Sardinia/
According to officially accepted data, it is believed that Homo Sapiens / Homo sapiens / appeared on Earth 40,000 years ago.
5000 - 4000 years - the oldest Stone Age and the first architectural structure;
4000 - 3000 years - Bronze Age;
2000 years - Iron Age.
Frequently used symbols of that time are circle, vertical, horizontal, right angle.
Main types of megalithic structures.
A menhir is a single, vertical stone. Standing stones are the main element of Neolithic era monuments. Sometimes there is only one stone, its shape reminiscent of a spindle or a rough obelisk - such a structure is called a menhir. Menhirs appeared at a late stage in the development of primitive society /example - at Carnac in Brittany/.
Dolmen- two menhirs with a crossbar. Dolmen - tomb, entrance to the village. It consists of stones placed upright and covered with one or two stone slabs. May be found inside burial mounds. The area of the dolmen ranges between 4 and 70 sq.m., and its height is between 1 and 3.5 m. The entrance to it is usually closed with a stone slab, usually movable, sometimes drilled! round hole. Sometimes there are additional crypts. The room is often preceded by a vestibule, or corridor, more or less long and wide, usually straight, but sometimes curved.
Megaliths. Mega - large, cast - stone. They were divided according to “gender” – a diamond-shaped one meant “feminine”, a rectangular pillar meant “masculine”.
Cromlech - several menhirs forming a circle. Sometimes menhirs stretch in rows, forming alleys called strings. Sometimes two adjacent stones are connected horizontally by a movable monolith. It happens that the entrance to cromlechs is preceded by short corridors. A structure in the form of two stones placed vertically with a crossbar in the form of a third stone is called a trilith.
Stonehenge /2 thousand BC, England/ is the most famous megalithic structure. Consists of dolmens placed in a circle.
Stonehenge is a structure used for religious and magical purposes.
Only one thing can be said - from everything it is clear and obvious that such structures, the true meaning of which is still unknown to scientists, could not have been built by rude, stupid people, and it is absolutely clear that in their development and in their abilities the people of that era were not below us. It is enough that these buildings still stand, but what will remain of our era? Will skyscrapers and our beloved P-series anthills stand the test of time? I doubt it very much. But not only is history not being revised and rewritten, although everyone already agrees that there are too many inconsistencies in it, but they are also trying to push the meaning of history into the background, offering our children only a few free items to choose from. Of course, why do we need such “nonsense” as history, and especially archeology? We can’t live without this.
Well, a few more examples:
There were no skyscrapers in the Ancient World, but there were tall structures. Some of them were built in order to perpetuate the glory of the ruler; scientists are still arguing about the purpose of others.
"Bellied Hill"
Height: up to 9 m
Construction time: 9,000 BC
Place: 15 kilometers northeast of the city of Urfa (Sanliurfa), Türkiye
“Göbekli Tepe” is the name of this place in Turkish. The oldest and unique temple for its time, the construction of which began in the Middle Stone Age. About twenty round-shaped structures, stone benches, sculptures of wild boars and foxes, columns from 3 to 9 meters high. A thousand years later it was deliberately covered with sand. Huge heavy blocks could be built by an already organized society.
Tower of Jericho
Height: 8 m
Construction time: 8000 BC
Place: Jericho, Palestine
A huge tower for its time in the Wall of Jericho. Jericho is the most ancient city on earth. It has been continuously inhabited since almost the 10th millennium BC. BC, although the earliest settlement was more of a large village. The purpose of the tower is not entirely clear. It could have been used for intimidation and represented the first castle in history.
The Pyramid of Cheops
Height: 146 m
Construction time: from 2540 BC to 2850 BC according to various estimates
Place: El Giza, Egypt
The Pyramid of Cheops (the full name of the pharaoh is Khnum-Khufu) is the only surviving one of the “Seven Wonders of the World”. Its full name is Akhet-Khufu (“Horizon of Khufu”). It was built on a hill and faced with white limestone that glowed peachy in the sun. The top was crowned with a gilded stone - a pyramidion. The entrance was sealed with a large granite slab, which the Baghdad caliph Abdullah Al-Mamun, who made a new entrance through which the path to the pyramid is still open, could not be moved.
Nurag Su-Nuraksi
Height: about 20 m.
Construction time: 17th century BC
Place: Barumini commune, o. Sardinia, Italy.
Nuraghi are megalithic towers found on the island of Sardinia, built in the 2nd millennium BC. e. Their number throughout the island reached 20,000. The towers could serve to survey the surrounding area, defend and control trade routes. At this time, Sardinia, according to ancient legends, could be inhabited by the tribes of Corsi, Iolai and Balars. It is unknown which of these tribes built the towers. The builders could also have been the “peoples of the sea”, who more than once attacked the Egyptian kingdom.
The largest known nurag is Su-Nuraksi, whose height could reach 20 meters. The structure had no foundation and was supported only by the mass of stones at the base. Next to it there was a fortified settlement - about 50 round huts, which were a single complex.
Babylonian Ziggurat Etemenanki
Height: 91 m
Construction time: 18th century BC, reconstruction in the 7th century BC
Place: outskirts of Al-Hillah city, Iraq
Translated from Sumerian, Etemenanki means “house of the foundation of heaven and earth” or “house where heaven meets earth.” It is this ziggurat that is most often associated with the legend of the Tower of Babel. It existed already in the 18th century BC. during the reign of Hammurabi, but after that the temple tower was rebuilt several times after destruction.
The latest reconstruction made the tower one of the tallest and grandest structures of the ancient world. The ziggurat consisted of 7 tiers, on the last of which the temple was located. Construction was started by the architect Aradakheshshu under King Esarhaddon, and the ziggurat was completed under Nebuchadnezzar II, 100 years later.
Halicarnassus Mausoleum
Height: 46 m
Construction time: 359-353 BC e.
Place: Bodrum, Türkiye
The first “mausoleum” and “wonder of the world”. Named after the Carian king Mausolus. This tombstone was built in his honor by his wife Artemisia III of Caria. The mausoleum was crowned with about 330 statues, and it itself had the shape of an almost regular square in plan, which was atypical for Greek architecture. It stood for one and a half thousand years and was destroyed during an earthquake.
The Colossus of Rhodes
Height: 36 m
Construction time: 292 - 280 BC e.
Place: Rhodes, Greece
Rhodes in ancient times was a large and rich city. Therefore, he could afford to live literally “in grand style.” The huge statue of Helios, whose thumb only few could grasp, was built by the ancient Greek architect Chares. The lack of money allocated for construction forced him to get into large debts, and, ruined, he committed suicide.
The statue took 500 talents of bronze and 300 talents of iron (more than 20 tons). The colossus stood for only 65 years. After the earthquake, the clay statue, covered with iron and bronze, fell and lay broken for about a thousand years, until its parts were sold by the Arabs.
Faros lighthouse
Height: 135 m
Construction time: III century BC e.
Place: Alexandria, Egypt
The Alexandria lighthouse was built in just 5 years by Sotrat of Knidos on the island of Pharos near Alexandria. It consisted of three marble towers: rectangular, octagonal and cylindrical. After its construction under the first Ptolemies, Egypt truly became a country of giant buildings. The light from the lighthouse was visible at a distance of more than 50 kilometers. It survived two earthquakes in the 7th and 14th centuries, after which it was completely destroyed. On the remains of the lighthouse, the Mamluk Sultan erected a fortress in his honor.
Coliseum
Height: 50 m
Construction time: 80 AD e.
Place: Rome, Italy
Colosseum comes from the Latin word colosseus- “huge”. According to one version, the name arose as a tribute to the memory of the Colossus of Nero located on this site - a huge (37 m) statue that crowned the complex of the Golden House - the emperor's palace. Vespasian decided to get rid of the old cult and strengthen his own. About 100,000 prisoners taken to Rome took part in the grandiose construction. Due to an earthquake in the 14th century, its southern part collapsed, after which the Colosseum became a source of building materials for other buildings in Rome.
Kanishka Stupa
Height: from 128 to 168 m according to various estimates
Construction time: 2nd century AD
Place: near Peshawar, Pakistan
The Kushan kingdom, founded by immigrants from China - the Eastern Sarmatians (Yuezhi), became the “golden mean” of the ancient world, both literally (in terms of wealth) and figuratively. Greco-Buddhism, an eastern religion rich in Hellenistic culture, became widespread there.
According to the description of Chinese travelers, the stupa built in honor of the Kushan king exceeded the height of 400 chi (128 m), with gold and silver umbrellas on top, and the relics of Buddha inside. The size data varies, but the stupa could be equal to or greater in height than the Cheops pyramid. Many Buddhist legends and predictions are associated with the stupa. It was destroyed by Muslim conquerors in the Middle Ages and has not survived to this day.
Location: Cholula de Rivadabia, Mexico
The tallest structure of Ancient America and the largest pyramid in the world by volume. Built in ancient Teotihucan. The temple, dedicated to the god Quetzalcoatl, was built over 12 centuries by the pre-Aztec culture until it became the largest religious center. Today it is a tetrahedral overgrown hill, a small part of which has been recreated in its original appearance.
The origins of architecture date back to the late Neolithic. It was then that stone was already used for the construction of monumental buildings. But the purpose of most of the monuments that have come down to us from that period is not known.
A menhir is usually a free-standing stone with traces of processing, sometimes oriented in some way or marking a certain direction.
A cromlech is a circle of standing stones, in varying degrees of preservation and with different orientations. The term henge has the same meaning. This term is usually used in relation to structures of this type in the UK. However, similar structures existed in prehistoric times also in Germany (Goloring, Goseck Circle) and in other countries.
A dolmen is something like a stone house.
They are all united by the name “megaliths,” which simply translates as “big stones.” For the most part, according to some scientists, they served for burials or were associated with the funeral cult. There are other opinions. Apparently, megaliths are communal buildings with a socializing function. Their construction represented a most difficult task for primitive technology and required the unification of large masses of people. Some megalithic structures, such as the complex of more than 3,000 stones at Carnac (Brittany) France, were important ceremonial centers associated with the cult of the dead. Other megalith complexes have been used to determine the timing of astronomical events such as solstices and equinoxes. In the Nabta Playa area in the Nubian desert, a megalithic structure was found that served for astronomical purposes. This structure is 1000 years older than Stonehenge.
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a structure of 82 five-ton megaliths, 30 stone blocks weighing 25 tons and 5 huge so-called trilithons, stones whose weight reaches 50 tons. Folded stone blocks form arches that once served as a perfect indicator of the cardinal directions. Scientists suggest that this monument was built in 3100 BC by tribes living in the British Isles to observe the Sun and Moon. The ancient monolith is not only a solar and lunar calendar, as previously thought, but also represents an accurate cross-sectional model of the solar system.
Cromlech Broughgar or Sun Temple, Orkney. Initially it had 60 elements, but now it consists of 27 rocks. Archaeologists date the Cromlech of Brodgar or the ring of Brodgar to 2500 - 2000 BC. The Ring of Brodgar was first mentioned in the 1529 manuscript “Description of the Orcadian Islands” by a certain Joe Ben, a wandering monk or pilgrim whose identity is not precisely established. Not only the Brodgar monument, but also the more ancient one, located here, the cromlech of Stenness, and in general, everything around them, in this small area - the entire area - ritual, sacred, communicative - is literally stuffed with mounds, group and individual burials, even “ cathedral”, as well as the dwellings and villages of the Neolithic people. All these monuments are united into a single complex, protected by UNESCO. Archaeological research is currently being carried out in Orkney.
The most famous dolmens are located in Scandinavia, on the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts of Europe and Africa, on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, in the Kuban region, and in India. However, most of them are in the Caucasus - about 2.5 thousand! Here along the Black Sea coast (megaliths generally gravitate towards the seas) you can find “classical” tiled dolmens, monolithic dolmens, entirely hollowed out in the rock, dolmen structures made from a combination of stone slabs and blocks laid in two or more rows. They also talk about the spiritual content of these amazing structures, their energy charges. Scientists believe that the approximate age of the dolmens is 3-10 thousand years.
Log buildings (second half of the 2nd millennium BC - beginning of the 1st millennium), in particular mounds, are a common type of memorial structures. Their prototype was residential log houses. When erecting a mound, a powerful wooden frame with a wooden floor was built in a pit, inside which a burial chamber was located. Sometimes the space between the two chambers was filled with stones. The chambers were covered with rolls of logs, which were covered with birch bark and bark. Then they covered it with earth, forming a mound, often of considerable height. A stone was thrown onto the top of the hill.
Log dwellings were the first step towards creating above-ground logged wooden buildings. Long horizontally laid logs made multifaceted buildings, which over time transformed into one-room rectangular houses. There was a fireplace in the middle, with smoke coming out of a hole in the roof above it. This type of building was later called "megaron", the basis of Greek architecture
Thus, primitive art is presented in the following main types: graphics (drawings and silhouettes); painting (images in color, made with mineral paints); sculptures (figures carved from stone or sculpted from clay); decorative arts (stone and bone carving); reliefs and bas-reliefs.
Origins of architecture
Construction is one of the most ancient types of human activity, which means that many millennia ago the foundations for all further development of architecture were laid.
The prehistoric period, based on the use of various materials and techniques for making tools, is usually divided into the following main stages: stone (Old Stone Age - paleolithic And new stone - Neolithic), bronze And iron century. At the same time, it is very difficult to clearly define their boundaries, since the development of human society has always been uneven.
The surviving remains of human settlements indicate the existence of different ways of life of people in different regions of the globe and at different stages of human history.
The discovered dwellings of the early period of the Upper Paleolithic are roughly oval in plan, with a single hearth. Most often these are dugouts, a large number of which were discovered in different regions of the CIS (left-bank Ukraine, the Dnieper basin, areas of Bryansk, Voronezh, Irkutsk, etc.). Also in the Late Paleolithic era, there were more elongated and larger dwellings, consisting of oval dugouts seemingly attached to each other, with several hearths. At the end of the Late Paleolithic, temporary hunting camps and seasonal camps arose. In addition to dugouts, half-dugouts and above-ground dwellings with a frame made of the bones of large animals, temporary dwellings and huts were built.
In the Neolithic, the so-called During the “stone ax” period, semi-dugouts and dwellings were already built from wood, reeds, twigs and clay. The most developed type of buildings of the Neolithic period is pile buildings- buildings supported on wooden piles, which were usually erected over rivers and lakes in wetlands. The spread of this type of settlement is explained by defensive considerations, as well as the convenience of fishing in reservoirs. Pile buildings were erected in different territories, in Central Europe, in the CIS, also the so-called community houses(until recently, this type of dwelling - “pueblo” existed among the American Indians). Similar types of closed dwellings, inaccessible from the outside, were built in other parts of the world, where they used a polished stone axe. The main building material was wood. It is noteworthy that in large dwellings of a centric plan there were several household hearths and one large one in the center for ritual purposes. Subsequently, free-standing religious buildings were built - altars, and premises - temples. ()
In northern Italy, settlements were discovered (approximately 1800 BC) of a peculiar nature: circular platforms were built on pillars, on which huts were located. A wooden fence was erected around the village and a ditch was dug and filled with water.
Ancient fortified settlements dating back to the seventh-sixth millennium BC have been discovered in Anatolia. e. (Ch'atal Huyzek, Mersin, Hasilar). Only starting from the half of the third millennium BC. e. Neolithic culture from the Aegean region spreads to northern and western Europe along natural routes - the Danube with its basin and the Mediterranean Sea. ()
The beginning of architecture as an art appeared when not only the laws of necessity, but also the laws of beauty began to operate in construction. During the Bronze Age, in the middle of the second millennium BC. e. Almost everywhere in Europe (in the territory of modern Spain, France, northern Europe, Ireland, Scotland, Greece, Belgium), and in China, Korea, India, along the Mediterranean coast, in Tunisia, Egypt and many other countries, monumental stone structures made of huge stone blocks - menhirs, dolmens, cromlechs, Cyclopean fortresses and ancient settlements - the so-called megalithic architecture(Greek medas - big + lithos - stone). The purpose of these buildings was associated mainly with religious rites and memorable events.
Menhirs- these are vertically placed, usually unprocessed stones of considerable height, ritual monuments or monuments; they designated places for public ceremonies. Menhirs were placed alone or in groups, in some cases in long rows (the "alley" of menhirs in Brittany). Sometimes the tops of the menhirs end with an image of a head. Menhirs sometimes reached 20 m in height and 300 tons in weight. Sometimes menhirs are found in combination with dolmens.
Dolmen usually consists of two or four large vertical stones standing side by side supporting a horizontal rough-hewn stone slab (Denmark, Brittany). The dolmens were initially small in size - about 2 m in length and about 1.5 m in height, but later they were given larger sizes and sometimes an approach to them was arranged in the form of a stone gallery. They are often arranged to create long, corridor-like spaces. Dolmens most often served as sarcophagi, burial chambers for clan members, and at the same time as funerary monuments.
Cromlech, the most complex type of megalithic structure, was built from vertically installed stone pillars or slabs arranged in a circle, they were connected to each other by stone blocks also placed on top.
An outstanding building of this kind is Stonehenge near Salisbury in southern England, apparently created in the middle of the second millennium BC. BC are probably a primitive temple or theater. This cromlech consists of massive four- and eight-meter stones, placed vertically and forming a centric composition with a diameter of 30 m. Inside there are two rings of small stones, they are surrounded by stone pillars of Stonehenge, forming several concentric circles: one of small menhirs, the other, central, - from huge boulders, covered in pairs with stone blocks. The center of the architectural composition is a rectangular slab. The stone blocks are carefully processed with stone tools, which indicates the skill and significant level of development of the people of that time, and their sense of spatial composition. The purpose of Stonehenge is not completely clear. Perhaps the middle part was a sanctuary, and the central stone slab was an altar. Mass burials were discovered around the monument. There is an assumption about the use of this cromlech for astronomical purposes; the composition also observed certain laws related to astronomy, which, however, was often found in the architecture of ancient centuries (Egypt, Central America). The two concentric stone circles around the sanctuary are the roads, the paths that flow around the sanctuary. It is believed that they were intended for holding equestrian competitions. ()
Deserves special attention log buildings(became widespread in the second half of the 2nd millennium BC - the beginning of the 1st millennium), in particular - mounds, - a common type of memorial structures. Their prototype was residential log houses. When constructing a mound, a powerful wooden frame with a wooden floor was first built in a pit, inside which a burial chamber was built - a log box. Sometimes the space between the two chambers was filled with stones. The chambers were covered with rolls of logs, which were covered with birch bark and bark. Then they covered it with earth, forming a mound, often of considerable height. A stone was thrown onto the top of the hill.
Log dwellings were the first step towards the creation of above-ground log wooden buildings; they were common among the Baltic, Finnish and Turkic tribes, as well as in the wooded regions of Central and Northern Europe. If stone and adobe houses were usually built round in plan, then from long logs laid horizontally, multifaceted buildings were obtained, which over time were transformed into one-room rectangular houses. There was a fireplace in the middle, with smoke coming out of a hole in the roof above it. A “front” was often set up in front of the entrance. In Northern Europe, only the foundations of such houses were found during excavations. This type of construction was later called "megaron", they formed the basis of Greek architecture, incl. Greek temple .()
Along with memorial and ritual buildings, in the later stages of the development of primitive society, a new type of architectural structures appeared - stone and wooden fortresses. Characteristic are the so-called Cyclopean fortresses, the walls of which are made of huge blocks of stone. In areas poor in stone, but abundant in forests, settlements spread - “fortifications”, fortified with log fences, earthen ramparts and ditches. Initially, the fortresses had one defensive wall; later, a second wall could be built inside the fortress around the citadel - the seat of the leader and the clan nobility. During the Iron Age (first millennium BC) in the Scythian state, the city of Scythian Naples was surrounded by a powerful fortress wall made of torn stone and clay mortar.()
Primitive architecture was the basis of the architecture of the early class states of the Ancient East.
A striking example of the architecture of ancient class societies that arose in Asia, Africa and other countries of the Ancient East, the geographical scope of which is very extensive, is the architecture of Ancient Egypt, which created grandiose monumental structures to the glory of the pharaohs.
The first beginnings of art can, in principle, be seen in the work of primitive man. In those days, people were already trying to find ways to reflect their idea of the world and beauty. According to archaeologists, the first monuments related to the fine arts - graphics, sculpture, painting - arose in the Paleolithic era.
Of course, the first drawings were very primitive: imprints of a person’s hand, “pasta” - wavy lines squeezed out with fingers, contours of animal heads. Manifesting himself in sculpture of later periods, man also depicted animals, reflecting their character and habits.
Middle Stone Age - Mesolithic
During this period of time, images become more colorful, and compositions consisting of several figures begin to be created. As a rule, they depict everyday life, battles or hunting. A person begins to realize his place in the world, trying to uncover the patterns of life.
Neolithic - New Stone Age
Primitive people began to master the art of sculpture. An example of ancient sculptures is the “stone women” found in the northern Black Sea region. Architecture during this period of time was still underdeveloped, but artistic crafts appeared, which became the prototype of the future decorative art.
Bronze Age and architecture
Around 3000 BC, people begin to pay special attention to the architectural features of buildings. The so-called architecture of large stones, or megalithic architecture, appears: dolmens, menhirs, cromlechs. The reason for the construction of such buildings is the development of religious ideas of ancient man.
Dolmens, menhirs, cromlechs
Menhirs were stone pillars whose height reached 20 meters. An example is Zorats-Karer, found in Armenia, or the Karnak stones excavated in French Brittany.
Most of all, architectural art was manifested in dolmens - religious, often funerary, structures consisting of 2-4 slabs arranged vertically, covered with a horizontal slab. This is how the main components of an architectural structure appeared - floors and supports.
The cromlech is a more complex structure, most famously located in Wilshire in England. This is Stonehenge, the construction of which dates back to approximately 2000 BC. It is assumed that this is a cult structure dedicated to the sun.
Cromlech Stonehenge in UK
