PRE- COLUMBIAN ARCHITECTURE

Presented By:

Ar. Pradeep Kumar Yadav

Assistant Professor

Institute of Architecture & Town Planning

Bundelkhand University, Jhansi

PRE- COLUMBIAN ARCHITECTURE

• INTRODUCTION

• MAJOR CULTURAL AREAS OF THE PRE-COLUMBIAN AMERICAS

• PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

• BUILDING TECHNIQUES

• ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER

• BUILDINGS

PRE- COLUMBIAN ARCHITECTURE Introduction

• Pre-Columbian civilizations, the aboriginal American Indian cultures that evolved in Mesoamerica

(part of Mexico and Central America) and the Andean region (western South America) prior to

Spanish exploration and conquest in the 16th century.

• The Pre-Columbian civilizations were extraordinary developments in human society and culture,

ranking with the early civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and China.

• The high civilizations of Mesoamerica and South America consisted of peasant farmers ruled by

hereditary elites whose basis of power was the belief that they had been created to govern & had

access to the Gods.

• One aspect of the culture that had a powerful influence on architecture was the belief that super

natural powers were literally in certain places- thus determining the siting of ceremonial buildings.

MAJOR CULTURAL AREAS OF THE PRE-COLUMBIAN AMERICAS

NORTH AMERICA MESOAMERICA SOUTH AMERICA

• Archaic period

• Middle Archaic period

• Late Archaic period

• Woodland period

• Mississippian culture

• Historic tribes

• Olmec civilization

• Teotihuacan civilization

• Tarascan/ Purepecha civilization

• Maya civilization

• Aztec/Mexica/Triple Alliance

civilization

• Norte Chico civilization

• Valdivia culture

• Cañari people

• Chavín civilization

• Muisca people

• Moche civilization

• Tiwanaku Empire

• Inca Empire

• Cambeba

MAJOR CULTURAL AREAS OF THE

PRE-COLUMBIAN AMERICAS

Arctic

Northwest

Aridoamerica

Mesoamerica

Isthmo-Colombian

Caribbean

Amazon

Andes

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

EASTERN UNITED

STATES

CENTRAL AMERICA ANDEAN COASTAL REGIONS

• Extensive river system

• Large areas of

deciduous forest ( now

greatly reduced)

• Rolling hills & well-

sheltered valleys

• Climate through the

area varies from humid

subtropical or humid

continental to relatively

cold subarctic conditions

in the northern third.

• The spring like climates, with reliable

rainfall, in the upland plateau of

present- day Mexico City, Oaxaca

valley and the Guatemalan highlands.

• The humid tropical lowlands of

Yucatan & northern Guatemala, the

central region of Mayan Civilization,

where the brief dry season in April &

May critically affects agricultural

success.

• The raised pyramidal platform as a

device to elevate living surfaces

above the forest floor seems clearly

understandable as a response to

conditions of high humidity & vigorous

plant growth in the lowland areas.

• Changing very abruptly from

extreme desert conditions to

lush

• Well- watered river valleys

• Low rainfall made abode

construction feasible

throughout the coastal zone

• The highlands of Peru, on the

other hand, offer only complex

mountainous terrain, the

elevated grassland plateaux

of which defy habitation.

BUILDING TECHNIQUES

NORTH AMERICA CENTRAL AMERICA ANDEAN COASTAL REGIONS

• The laced – plank communal

lodges of the Canadian north-

west

• The bent- sapling Iroquois

long-houses

• Earth lodges partly excavated

& roofed with timbers

• But the most impressive

structures in North America,

the earth-platform temples of

the Eastern Woodlands, were

accomplished with most

rudimentary means, the simple

pilling-up of basket- loads of

earth.

• Maya vault presents the most highly

evolved of all American pre-colonial

constructional devices.

• Few early Classic vaults were

corbelled( for example, the five storey

Pyramid, Edzna)

• The best-known Late Classic vaults

depended for stability upon the

adhesive properties of mortar &

acted monolithically.

• The boot-shaped vault stones of

northern Yucatan ( for example the

Nunnery Complex, Uxmal)

• The massive structural elements of

Maya buildings were independently

stable

• Most Inca & pre-Inca

construction did not have

distinct hearting masonry

comparable to that of Maya

structures.

• True corbels were used

extensively in Andean work to

support floor & roof timbers.

• The famous Inca polygonal

masonry ( for example,

Saqsaywaman), laid without

mortar & very closely fitted, is

unique among pre- colonial

methods of construction.

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER

NORTH AMERICA CENTRAL AMERICA SOUTH AMERICA

• Pre- colonial monumental

architecture can be found

throughout the eastern United

States in the form of truncated

earthen pyramids, often grouped

around ceremonial plazas or

clustered in precincts.

• The pyramids did not have facing

materials & assumed large, simple

forms with little terracing or

surface articulation.

• Rectangular & square plan-

shapes predominated, but a few

temples were circular, and were

shaped like serpents or totemic

figures.

• In contrast to the disparate architectural forms

in North America, monumental ceremonial

architecture of the Mesoamerican high

civilizations (Olmec, Maya, Zapotec, Totec &

Aztec) generally conformed to a single model that

varied only in detail with location & period.

• This was based on a clear distinction between

superstructure & substructure.

• Low land Maya builders vaulted the temple

buildings & expressed the vaulting on exteriors by

means of a horizontal band known as the upper

zone, on which were highly conspicuous symbolic

images in painted relief.

• Earlier than c. 900 BC,

architectural ideas remained

confined to their original

localities, but subsequently a

series of regional styles

spread more widely through

the Andean area.

• Rubble & field stone as well

as cut stone were used in the

Chavin temples.

• Carved Stone & modelled

stucco were used for

decoration.

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER

NORTH AMERICA CENTRAL AMERICA SOUTH AMERICA

• In the south- west United

States, impressive communal

structures were built by the

Anazasi & Pueblo cultures at

Pueblo Bonto, Mesa Verde, the

Chaco canyon & other sites.

• These buildings incorporated

the functions of temples &

palaces in their rectangular

systems of rooms, which were

used for various purposes &

were punctuated by circular

kivas used as ceremonial

spaces.

• In these structures the

geometry of ritual architecture

was hidden.

• Substructure platforms were also

symbolic.

• In fully developed Maya temples of

southern Mexico & Guatemala elaborate

substructures were formed as additive

assemblies of distinct, three-

dimensionally recognisable ‘bodies’, and

also some extent were standardised.

• A description of Temple I at Tikal, in

Guatemala, for example, with its six

component types- basal-platform,

pyramid, supplementary-platform,

building-platform, building, and roof-

comb- is equally applicable to more than

a hundred temples built over more than

800 years.

• The period following the spread of

Chavin( c. 200 BC to AD 600) is

notable for the construction of large

abode platform-temples such as the

Sun & Moon pyramids at Moche & in

many southern & central coastal

locations.

• From 600 to 1000, new empires

emerged with capitals at the cities

of Tiahunaco & Huari, characterised

by very rigid, formal architecture on

a gridiron plan.

• The Incas used a variety of

construction techniques ranging from

rubble masonry to polygonal dry stone

work .

BUILDINGS

MONKS MOUND AT CAHOKIA, NORTH AMERICA

• The largest single ceremonial building of pre-Columbian North America.

• The mound size was calculated in 1988 as about 100 feet (30 m) high, 955 feet (291 m) long

including the access ramp at the southern end, and 775 feet (236 m) wide.

• Its massive platform, of truncated pyramid form, has four asymmetrical levels built up entirely of

earth, and dominated a palisaded ceremonial precinct.

• This makes Monks Mound roughly the same size at its base as the Great Pyramid of Giza (13.1

acres / 5.3 hectares).

• Unlike Egyptian pyramids which were built of stone, the platform mound was constructed almost

entirely of layers of basket-transported soil and clay.

• Because of this construction and its flattened top, over the years, it has retained rainwater within

the structure. This has caused slumping, the avalanche-like sliding of large sections of the sides at

the highest part of the mound.

MONKS MOUND AT CAHOKIA, NORTH AMERICA

Cahokia as it may have appeared ,

painting by Michael Hampshire

EMERALD MOUND AT CAHOKIA, NORTH AMERICA

• The Emerald Mound Site , also known as the Selsertown site, is a Plaquemine culture Mississippian

period archaeological site located on the Natchez Trace Parkway near Stanton, Mississippi, United

States.

• Emerald Mound, built and used during the Mississippian period between 1250 and 1600 A.D.,was a

ceremonial center for the local population, which resided in outlying villages and hamlets.

• The platform mound is the second-largest Pre-Columbian earthwork in the country, after Monk's

Mound at Cahokia, Illinois.

• The mound covers eight acres, measuring 770 feet (230 m) by 435 feet (133 m) at the base and

is 35 feet (11 m) in height.

• Emerald Mound has a flat top with two smaller secondary mounds at each end. It was constructed

around a natural hill. This site once had six other secondary mounds which were lost due to the

plowing of the surface of the mound.

• It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1989.

EMERALD MOUND AT CAHOKIA, NORTH AMERICA

POVERTY POINT, NORTHEASTERN LOUISIANA, NORTH AMERICA

• A prehistoric earthwork constructed by the Poverty Point culture.

• The Poverty Point site is located in present-day northeastern Louisiana though evidence of the

Poverty Point culture extends throughout much of the Southeastern Woodlands.

• The Poverty Point site has been designated as a U.S. National Monument, a U.S. National Historic

Landmark, and UNESCO World Heritage Site.

• The Poverty Point site contains earthen ridges and mounds, built by indigenous people between 1700

and 1100 BC during the Late Archaic period in North America.

• The earthworks include six concentric, C-shaped ridges that extend to the edge of the Macon Ridge

and several mounds outside and inside of the earthen ridges.

• These concentric ridges are unique to Poverty Point.

POVERTY POINT, NORTHEASTERN LOUISIANA, NORTH AMERICA

(SITE DESCRIPTION)

Six C-shaped ridges Plaza Mounds

• The main part of the monument is

the six concentric C-shaped ridges

• Each ridge is separated from the

next by a swale or gulley.

• The ridges are divided by four aisles

forming earthwork sectors.

• The slightly rounded crest of each

ridge varies from 50 – 80 ft (15–25

m) in width.

• The width of the intervening swales

is 65 – 100 ft (20 – 30 m).

• Enclosed by the

innermost concentric

ridge and the eastern

edge of Macon Ridge is a

large, 37.5-acre (17.4

ha), plaza.

• Huge wooden posts in

the western plaza.

• Several complex circular

magnetic features,

ranging from about

82 ft (25 m) to 206 ft

(63 m) in diameter, in

the southern half of the

plaza.

MOUND A

• The earthen mounds are the most visible

earthworks at the site.

• The largest of these, Mound A, is 72 ft

(22 m) tall at its highest point and about

705 x 660 ft (215 x 200 m) at its base.

• Mound A is located to the west of the

ridges, and is roughly T-shaped when

viewed from above.

• Some have interpreted Mound A as being in

the shape of a bird or as an "Earth island"

representing the cosmological center of the

site.

POVERTY POINT, NORTHEASTERN LOUISIANA, NORTH AMERICA

(SITE DESCRIPTION)

Mound B Mound C

• Mound B is located north and west of the six

concentric ridges and 2050 ft (625 m) north of

Mound A.

• The mound is roughly conical in form and is

approximately 21 ft (6.5 m) in height with a 180 ft

(55 m) basal diameter.

• Mound B was the first earthwork built at Poverty

Point.

• Built in several stages, charcoal, fire pits, and

possible postmolds were found at various levels

within the mound.

• Mound C is located inside the plaza area near the

eastern edge of Macon Ridge.

• Mound C is 6.5 ft (2 m) in height, about 260 ft

(80 m) long, and today is 80 ft (25 m) wide.

• The width is truncated by erosion along the eastern

edge.

• There is a depression that divides the mound, which

is thought to have been created by a 19th-century

wagon road which proceeded northward to the old

town of Floyd, Louisiana.

POVERTY POINT, NORTHEASTERN LOUISIANA, NORTH AMERICA

(SITE DESCRIPTION)

Mound D Mound E Mound F

• Mound D is a rectangular

earthwork having a flat

summit that today

contains a historic

cemetery associated with

the Poverty Point

Plantation.

• This mound is about 4 ft

(1.2 m) tall and 100 x

130 ft (30 x 40 m) at

its base and is situated

on one of the concentric

ridges.

• Mound E is sometimes

referred to as the

Ballcourt Mound.

• Mound E is located 1330 ft

(405 m) south of Mound A

and is a rectangular flat-

topped structure with

rounded corners and a ramp

extending from the

northeast corner.

• Mound E is 13.4 ft (4 m) in

height and 360 x 295 ft

(110 x 90 m) at its base.

• A sixth mound was discovered at

Poverty Point in 2013.

• Known as Mound F, it is located

outside and to the northeast of

the concentric ridges.

• Mound F is about 5 ft (1.5 m) tall

and 80 x 100 ft (24 by 30 m) at

its base.

TOWN CREEK INDIAN MOUND, NORTH AMERICA

• Town Creek Indian Mound is a prehistoric Native American archaeological site located

near present-day Mount Gilead, Montgomery County, North Carolina, in the United

States.

• The site, whose main features are a platform mound with a surrounding village and

wooden defensive palisade, was built by the Pee Dee, a South Appalachian Mississippian

culture people.

• The Town Creek site was an important ceremonial site occupied from about 1150—1400

CE.

• It is the only ceremonial mound and village center of that culture located within North

Carolina.

• The site is the only national historic landmark in North Carolina that commemorates

American Indian culture.

TOWN CREEK INDIAN MOUND

SERPENT MOUND, NORTH AMERICA

• Serpent Mound resembles a giant sinuous snake with a curled tail at the west end, a head at the

east end, and seven winding coils in between.

• In all, the snake stretches a quarter of a mile and ranges from 1.2 to 1.5 meters (3.9 to 4.9

feet) in height and 6.0 to 7.6 meters (19.7 to 24.9 feet) in width.

• Serpent Mound is located on a high plateau overlooking Ohio Brush Creek in Adams County, Ohio,

about 73 miles east of Cincinnati.

• Serpent Mound may have had a spiritual purpose, given that the many native cultures in North and

Central America revered snakes, attributing supernatural powers to the slithering reptiles.

• Additionally, graves and burial mounds near the site suggest Serpent Mound’s builders may have

constructed the structure for some kind of important burial or mortuary function, such as to guide

spirits. But the mound itself doesn’t contain any graves or artifacts.

• Serpent Mound may have further had temporal significance—the head of the serpent aligns with

the summer solstice sunset while the tail points to the winter solstice sunrise. As such, ancient

peoples may have used the structure to mark time or seasons.

NATIVE AMERICAN HOUSES

• Since North America is such a big continent, different tribes had very different weather

to contend with.

• In the Arizona deserts, temperatures can hit 120 degrees Fahrenheit, and in the

Alaskan tundra, -50 is not unusual.

• Naturally, Native Americans developed different types of dwellings to survive in these

different environments.

• Also, different American Indian tribes had different traditional lifestyles.

• Some tribes were agricultural-- they lived in settled villages and farmed the land for corn

and vegetables. They wanted houses that would last a long time.

• Other tribes were more nomadic, moving frequently from place to place as they hunted

and gathered food and resources. They needed houses that were portable or easy to

build.

Wigwam Homes

• Wigwams (or wetus) are Native American houses used by Algonquian Indians in the woodland

regions.

• Wigwam is the word for "house" in the Abenaki tribe, and wetu is the word for "house" in the

Wampanoag tribe.

• Sometimes they are also known as birchbark houses.

• Wigwams are small houses, usually 8-10 feet tall. Wigwams are made of wooden frames which are

covered with woven mats and sheets of birchbark.

• The frame can be shaped like a dome, like a cone, or like a rectangle with an arched roof.

• Once the birchbark is in place, ropes or strips of wood are wrapped around the wigwam to hold the

bark in place.

LONG HOUSES

• Longhouses are Native American homes used by the Iroquois tribes and some of their Algonquian

neighbors.

• They are built similarly to wigwams, with pole frames and elm bark covering.

• The main difference is that longhouses are much, much larger than wigwams.

• Longhouses could be 200 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 20 feet high.

• Inside the longhouse, raised platforms created a second story, which was used for sleeping space.

• Mats and wood screens divided the longhouse into separate rooms. Each longhouse housed an entire

clan-- as many as 60 people.

TEPEES

• Tepees (also spelled Teepees or Tipis) are tent-like American Indian houses used by Plains tribes.

• A tepee is made of a cone-shaped wooden frame with a covering of buffalo hide.

• Like modern tents, tepees are carefully designed to set up and break down quickly.

• As a tribe moved from place to place, each family would bring their tipi poles and hide tent along

with them.

• Originally, tepees were about 12 feet high, but once the Plains Indian tribes acquired horses, they

began building them twice as high.

GRASS HOUSES

• Grass houses are American Indian homes used in the Southern Plains by tribes such as the Caddos.

• They resemble large wigwams but are made with different materials.

• Grass houses are made with a wooden frame bent into a beehive shape and thatched with long

prairie grass.

• These were large buildings, sometimes more than 40 feet tall.

• Grass houses are good homes for people in a warm climate.

• In the northern plains, winters are too cold to make homes out of prairie grass.

• But in the southern plains of Texas, houses like these were comfortable for the people who used

them.

WATTLE AND DAUB HOUSES

• Wattle and daub houses (also known as asi, the Cherokee word for them) are Native American

houses used by southeastern tribes.

• Wattle and daub houses are made by weaving rivercane, wood, and vines into a frame, then coating

the frame with plaster.

• The roof was either thatched with grass or shingled with bark.

• Wattle and daub houses are permanent structures that take a lot of effort to build.

• Like longhouses, they are good homes for agricultural people who intended to stay in one place, like

the Cherokees and Creeks.

• Making wattle and daub houses requires a fairly warm climate to dry the plaster.

CHICKEES

• Chickees (also known as chickee huts, stilt houses or platform dwellings) are Native American homes

used primarily in Florida by tribes like the Seminole Indians.

• Chickee houses consisted of thick posts supporting a thatched roof and a flat wooden platform

raised several feet off the ground.

• They did not have any walls. During rainstorms, Florida Indians would lash tarps made of hide or

cloth to the chickee frame to keep themselves dry, but most of the time, the sides of the structure

were left open.

• Chickees are good homes for people living in a hot, swampy climate.

• The long posts keep the house from sinking into marshy earth, and raising the floor of the hut off

the ground keeps swamp animals like snakes out of the house.

• Walls or permanent house coverings are not necessary in a tropical climate where it never gets cold.

ADOBE HOUSES

• Adobe houses (also known as pueblos) are Native American house complexes used by the Pueblo

Indians of the Southwest.

• Adobe pueblos are modular, multi-story houses made of adobe (clay and straw baked into hard

bricks) or of large stones cemented together with adobe.

• Each adobe unit is home to one family, like a modern apartment.

• The whole structure, which can contain dozens of units, is often home to an entire extended clan.

• Adobe houses are good homes to build in a warm, dry climate where adobe can be easily mixed and

dried.

• These are homes for farming people who have no need to move their village to a new location.

• In fact, some Pueblo people have been living in the same adobe house complex, such as Sky City, for

dozens of generations.

EARTHEN HOUSES

• Earthen house is a general term referring to several types of Native American homes including

Navajo hogans, Sioux earth lodges, subarctic sod houses, and Native American pit houses of the

West Coast and Plateau.

• Earthen houses made by different tribes had different designs, but all were semi-

subterranean dwellings -- basement-like living spaces dug from the earth, with a domed mound built

over the top (usually a wooden frame covered with earth or reeds).

• Earthern houses are good for people who want permanent homes and live in an area that is not

forested.

• (It's difficult work to excavate underground homes in areas with many tree roots!) Living partially

underground has several benefits, especially in harsh climates-- the earth offers natural protection

from wind and strong weather.

PLANK HOUSES

• Plank houses are Native American homes used by tribes of the Northwest Coast (from northern

California all the way up to Alaska)

• Plank houses are made of long, flat planks of cedar wood lashed to a wooden frame.

• Native American plank houses look rather similar to old European houses.

• Plank houses are good houses for people in cold climates with lots of tall trees.

• However, only people who don't need to migrate spend the time and effort to build these large

permanent homes.

• Only coastal tribes, who make their living by fishing, made houses like these.

IGLOOS

• Igloos (or Iglu) are snow houses used by the Inuit (Eskimos) of northern Canada.

• Not all Inuit people used igloos -- some built sod houses instead, using whale bones instead of wooden

poles for a frame.

• Like a sod house, the igloo is dome-shaped and slightly excavated, but it is built from the snow,

with large blocks of ice set in a spiral pattern and packed with snow to form the dome.

• Igloos are good houses for the polar region, where the earth is frozen, the snow cover is deep, and

there are few trees.

• Snow is a good insulator, and dense blocks of ice offer good protection against the arctic winds.

BRUSH SHELTERS

• Brush shelters (including wickiups, lean-tos, gowa, etc.) are temporary Native American dwellings

used by many tribes.

• Brush shelters are typically very small, like a camping tent.

• People cannot usually stand up straight inside brush lodges -- they are only used for sleeping in.

• A brush shelter is made of a simple wooden frame covered with brush (branches, leaves, and grass)

• The frame can be cone-shaped, with one side left open as a door, or tent-shaped, with both ends

left open.

• Most Native Americans only made a brush shelter when they were out camping in the wilderness.

• But some migratory tribes who lived in warm dry climates, such as the Apache tribes, built brush

shelters as homes on a regular basis.

• They can be assembled quickly from materials that are easy to find in the environment, so people

who build villages of brush shelters can move around freely without having to drag teepee poles.