Agree, in the distant childhood, all of us were somehow interested in the dwellings of ancient people. We read about them in books and popular science magazines, watched a movie, and therefore, willy-nilly, at least once in a lifetime, but still imagined how cool it would be to swap roles with them for several hours, finding ourselves in that distant world full of unknown and unprecedented.
However, despite the abundance of information, we sometimes can not answer, it would seem, completely simple questions. For example, about how ancient people defended their homes , where and how they obtained food, whether they made supplies for the winter, and whether they had any pets.
The article aims to introduce readers to the topic. Having carefully read all the sections, everyone will have more than a detailed idea of what the dwellings of ancient people of the Stone Age were.
general information
To more clearly imagine what happened many centuries ago, let's think about the principle by which modern houses are built and ennobled. Many will agree that the choice of material is primarily influenced by climate. In hot countries, you are unlikely to find buildings with thick brick (or panel) walls, double-glazed windows and additional means of insulation. In turn, in the northern regions there are no bungalows and open villas.
The primitive dwelling of ancient people was also built taking into account the weather conditions of a particular region. In addition, of course, the presence of nearby water bodies and the characteristic features of the local flora and fauna were taken into account.
Thus, modern experts argue that hunters of the Paleolithic era in most cases settled on slightly rugged, and even completely flat terrain, in the immediate vicinity of lakes, rivers or streams.
Where can I see the ancient parking?
We all know that caves are parts of the upper part of the earth's crust, located, as a rule, in the mountainous regions of the planet. To date, it has been established that most of them used to be the dwellings of ancient people. Of course, regardless of the continent, people settled only in horizontal and gentle caves. In vertical, called mines and wells, the depth of which can reach up to one and a half kilometers, it was inconvenient to live and establish life, or even very dangerous.
Archaeologists have discovered the homes of ancient people in different parts of our planet: in Africa, Australia, Asia, Europe and both Americas.
On the territory of Russia also found many caves. The most famous are Kungurskaya, Bolshaya Oreshnaya, Denisova and the whole Tavdinsky complex.
What did the dwelling of an ancient man look like from the inside?
There is a fairly widespread misconception that in the caves the inhabitants of that time were warm and dry enough. Unfortunately, this is not so, but rather the opposite. As a rule, in faults of rocks it is very cold and humid. And this is not surprising: such areas are slowly warmed up by the sun, and it is generally impossible to heat a huge cave in this way.
The humid air prevailing around, which in most cases is barely perceptible in the open air, tends to condense, falling into an enclosed space surrounded on all sides by a cold stone.
As a rule, the air in the cave cannot be called stale. On the contrary, constant drafts are observed here, which are formed under the influence of the aerodynamic effect created by the presence of numerous passages and crevices.
As a result, we can conclude that the very first dwellings of ancient people were small cool caves with walls constantly moist from condensation.
Could you keep warm by making a bonfire?
In general, making a bonfire in a cave, even with modern means, is a rather troublesome and not always productive activity.
Why? The thing is that initially it will take him a long time to choose a place protected from the wind, otherwise the fire will simply go out. Secondly, to heat the cave in this way is the same as if you set yourself the goal of heating a whole stadium, armed with a conventional electric heater. Sounds absurd, right?
In this case, one bonfire is actually not enough, especially when you consider that the cold air will constantly move to the place of your parking from somewhere inside the stone bag.
Security measures
How did the ancient people defend their homes, and was there really a need for this? Scientists have been trying for a long time to get a definite answer to this question. It was found that in warm climates parking was usually temporary. They were found by people pursuing wild animals along the paths and collecting various kinds of roots. Nearby ambushes were arranged and the dead carcasses were freshly flown. Such houses were not guarded: raw materials were collected, rest was arranged, thirst was quenched, simple belongings were collected, and the tribe rushed on.
In the territory of present Eurasia, most of the land was covered with a thick layer of snow. There was already a need for improvement of a more permanent monastery. Dwellings were often conquered by perseverance, cunning, or cunning from a hyena or cave bear. During the winter cold, the entrances to the cave were often laid with stones and branches from the inside. First of all, this was done in order to prevent penetration into the former owner.
Section 6. What was inside the house of the first person?
Dwellings of ancient people, photos of which can often be found in modern popular science literature, were quite unpretentious in their landscaping and content.
Most often, inside it was round or oval. According to scientists, on average, the width rarely exceeded 6-8 meters with a length of 10-12 m. Inside, according to experts, fit up to 20 people. To improve and warm the trees, tree trunks felled or broken in the neighboring forest were used. Often such material descended down the river.
Often the dwellings of ancient people were not a place in a cave, but real huts. The skeleton of the future home was represented by tree trunks inserted into pre-dug grooves. Later, branches intertwined were superimposed on top of each other. Of course, due to the constantly walking wind, it was rather cold and damp inside, so the fire had to be maintained both day and night. By the way, scientists were surprised to find that tree trunks, which play a key role in construction, were reinforced with heavy stones for safety reasons.
There were no doors at all. They were replaced by a hearth built from rock fragments, which not only heated the dwelling, but also served as reliable protection from predators.
Of course, in the process of evolution not only people changed, but also the places of their parking.
Homes of Ancient Palestinians
In Palestine, modern scientists have managed to unearth the most important cities in the archaeological plan.
It was established that these settlements were mainly built on the hills and were well fortified both externally and internally. Very often one of the walls was protected by a cliff or a fast stream of water. The city was surrounded by a wall.
Like many others, this culture when choosing a place was guided by the presence of a nearby source, the water from which was suitable for drinking and for irrigation of crops. In case of siege, local residents arranged a kind of underground reservoirs located under the dwellings of more prosperous citizens.
Wooden houses were considered a rarity. Mostly stone and adobe buildings were preferred. In order to protect the premises from soil moisture, the structure was built on a stone foundation.
The hearth was located in the central room directly under a special hole in the ceiling. The second floor and the presence of a large number of windows could afford only the most wealthy citizens.
Dwellings of the Upper Mesopotamia
Not everyone knows that here some of the houses were two- or even several-story. For example, in the annals of Herodotus you can find mention of buildings in three or even four tiers.
The dwellings were covered by a spherical dome, which was sometimes very high. There was a hole above that allowed air to enter. By the way, it should be noted that on the ground floor there were almost never windows. And there can be several explanations for this factor. Firstly, the locals in this way tried to protect themselves from external enemies. Secondly, religion did not allow them to flaunt the features of their private life. Only fairly narrow doors and loopholes located at the level of human growth came out.
Above the terraces were built on brick columns, performing two functions at once. First of all, they were built so that the owner could rest there, hiding away from human eyes. But that is not all. Such a site allowed to protect the roof from direct sunlight, which means from overheating. On the upper terrace, most often there were open galleries planted with flowers and exotic plants.
In this area, clay, reed and bitumen were considered the main building materials. Sometimes in the wooden supports special brick or mosaic inlays were made to protect the tree from the ubiquitous ants.
The home of ancient Indian culture
The ancient city of Mohenjo Daro, located in India, was once powerful surrounded by a wall. There was also a sewer system, which from individual houses was sent to a city-wide sewage canal, arranged under the bridges.
In general, they preferred to erect houses from burnt bricks, which was considered the most durable, and therefore reliable. The outer walls were more than massive, and also had a slight slope inward.
Documents telling how ancient people built houses indicate that there was a gatekeeper's room in the homes of wealthy locals. Almost always, there was also a small central courtyard, in which, with the purpose of additional lighting, numerous windows of the first and second floors certainly came out.
The yard was paved with bricks, a sewage canal passed right there. On the flat roof of the house, as a rule, a luxurious terrace was landscaped.
Ancient greek house
Scientists have established that during the days of the Trojan culture, most of the dwellings were a square or rectangular structure. Ahead could be a small portico. In the room or part of the common room, which served as the bedroom, special raised platforms were made for the beds.
As a rule, there were two foci. One was needed for heating, the second for cooking.
The walls were not quite ordinary either. The lower 60 cm were laid out of stone, and a little higher was used raw brick. The flat roof was not additionally supported.
The poor preferred to settle in round or oval houses, because they were easier to heat, and there was no need to have several rooms. The wealthy in their homes allocated space not only under the bedrooms, but also under the dining room and pantries.