Neolithic Art and Architecture Paper
Donald Summers
January 13, 2013
AH1010: Shaw
Modern Changes Brought in at Neolithic Times During the “New” Stone Age, also known as the Neolithic Period, art and life in general began to change drastically for humans. Many new onsets began to bloom, for example humans of this time period had begun to live in single locations versus before they were nomadic hunter-gatherers. This new life introduced new challenges and new opportunities. Within this paper I will discuss three Neolithic Locations, Jericho, Çatal Höyük, and Stonehenge. Also, what made each of these sites significant, what new forms of buildings were present at each, and what is still perplexing modern day historians and archaeologists about these sites. I will start with the oldest of the three locations from above, Jericho. Jericho is a city of Palestine, but has been under the occupation of many. Its most important fact is that it is one of the oldest known permanently occupied cities in the world, occupied during the Natufian era (10,800 – 8,500 BCE) to present day. It was primarily occupied during a time known as the Pre-Pottery Neolithic Period (PPN: 8,500 – 6,000 BCE), which is further broken down into two more time frames called PPNA (8,500 - 7,300 BCE) and PPNB (7,300 – 6,000 BCE). Along with being one of the oldest known cities, Jericho shows us that humans of the Neolithic Period had begun to create permanent structures for living. After the domestication of plants and animals it is believed that Jericho was chosen to be a permanent settlement because it was a plateau of the Jordan River valley with a spring that supplied a constant source for water. During the PPNA, oval homes made from mud bricks with roofs made from wooden branches covered in earth began to appear at Jericho. Around 7,500 BCE, a rock-cut ditch and thick walls approximately 5 feet wide surrounded the city. Within the wall there is a single circular tower (fig. 1), approximately 30 feet high and
January 13, 2013
AH1010: Shaw
Modern Changes Brought in at Neolithic Times During the “New” Stone Age, also known as the Neolithic Period, art and life in general began to change drastically for humans. Many new onsets began to bloom, for example humans of this time period had begun to live in single locations versus before they were nomadic hunter-gatherers. This new life introduced new challenges and new opportunities. Within this paper I will discuss three Neolithic Locations, Jericho, Çatal Höyük, and Stonehenge. Also, what made each of these sites significant, what new forms of buildings were present at each, and what is still perplexing modern day historians and archaeologists about these sites. I will start with the oldest of the three locations from above, Jericho. Jericho is a city of Palestine, but has been under the occupation of many. Its most important fact is that it is one of the oldest known permanently occupied cities in the world, occupied during the Natufian era (10,800 – 8,500 BCE) to present day. It was primarily occupied during a time known as the Pre-Pottery Neolithic Period (PPN: 8,500 – 6,000 BCE), which is further broken down into two more time frames called PPNA (8,500 - 7,300 BCE) and PPNB (7,300 – 6,000 BCE). Along with being one of the oldest known cities, Jericho shows us that humans of the Neolithic Period had begun to create permanent structures for living. After the domestication of plants and animals it is believed that Jericho was chosen to be a permanent settlement because it was a plateau of the Jordan River valley with a spring that supplied a constant source for water. During the PPNA, oval homes made from mud bricks with roofs made from wooden branches covered in earth began to appear at Jericho. Around 7,500 BCE, a rock-cut ditch and thick walls approximately 5 feet wide surrounded the city. Within the wall there is a single circular tower (fig. 1), approximately 30 feet high and
Bibliography: German, Senta. Çatal Höyük. http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/catal-hoyuk.html (accessed 12 January 2013). German, Senta. Jericho. http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/jericho.html. (accessed 12 January 2013). http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/catal-hoyuk.html. (accessed 12 January 2013). Kleiner, Fred S. Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, A Global History (Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2011. Souden, David. Stonehenge Revealed. New York, NY: Facts on File Inc., 1997. Wikipedia (accessed 12 January 2013). Wikipedia, Jericho. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Pottery_Neolithic. (accessed 12 January 2013). Wikipedia, Stonehenge. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonehenge. (accessed 12 January 2013). Wikipedia, UNESCO. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNESCO. (accessed 12 January 2013). Wikipedia, World Heritage Site. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Site. (accessed 12 January 2013). [ 4 ]. Fred S. Kleiner, Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, A Global History (Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2011), pg. 24. [ 5 ]. Fred S. Kleiner, Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, A Global History (Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2011), pg. 24. [ 16 ]. Wikipedia, Çatalhöyük, (accessed 12 January 2013), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%87atalh%C3%B6y%C3%BCk. [ 22 ]. Wikipedia, Çatalhöyük, (accessed 12 January 2013), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%87atalh%C3%B6y%C3%BCk. [ 23 ]. Fred S. Kleiner, Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, A Global History (Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2011), pg. 26. [ 35 ]. Fred S. Kleiner, Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, A Global History (Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2011), pg. 28. [ 43 ]. Fred S. Kleiner, Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, A Global History (Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2011), pg. 24 (fig. 1-14).