Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/61

 PREHISTORIC ARCHITECTURE. 3 the hut (No. 2 a, d, e) for the agriculturist, and the tent (No. 2 j) for those such as shepherds leading a pastoral or nomadic life. Structures of the prehistoric period, although interesting for archaeological reasons, have little or no architectural value, and will only be lightly touched upon. The remains may be classified under: — i. Monoliths, or single upright stones, also known as mcuhiys, a well-known example 63 feet high, 14 feet in diameter, and weighing 260 tons, being at Carnac, Brittany. Another example is at Locmariaker, also in Brittany (No. 2 b). ii. Dolmens (Daul, a table, and maen, a stone), consisting of one large flat stone supported by upright stones. Examples are to be found near Maidstone and other places in England, also in Ireland, Northern France, the Channel Islands, Italy (No. 2 f) and India. iii. Cromlechs, or circles of stone, as at Stonehenge (No. 2 g), Avebury (Wilts), and elsewhere, consisting of a series of upright stones arranged in a circle and supporting horizontal slabs. iv. Tumuli, or burial mounds, were probably prototypes of the Pyramids of Egypt (No. 4) and the beehive huts found in Wales, Cornwall, Ireland (No. 2 d, k) and elsewhere. That at New Grange (Ireland) resembles somewhat the Treasury of Atreus at Mycena! (No. 15). V. Lake Dwellings, as discovered in the lakes of Switzer- land, Italy and Ireland consisted of wooden huts supported on piles, and were so placed for protection against hostile attacks of all kinds. These foregoing primitive or prehistoric remains have little constructive sequence, and are merely mentioned here to show from what simple beginnings the noble art of architecture was evolved, although unfortunately the stages of the evolution cannot be traced, owing to the fact that the oldest existing monuments of any pretension, as in Egypt, belong to a high state of civilization. REFERENCE BOOKS. Garnier (C.) and Ammann (A.). — " L'Habitation Humaine — Pre- historique et Historique." 4I0. Paris. 1892. Lineham (R.S.). — " The Street of Human Habitations: An Account of Man's Dwelling-places, Customs, etc., in Prehistoric Times, and in Ancient Egypt, Assyria, Persia, India, Japan, etc." 8vo., cloth. 1894. VioUet-le-Duc (E. E.). — "The Habitations of Man in all Ages." Translated from the French by B. Bucknall. 8vo. 1876. Waring (J. B.). -"Stone Monuments, Tumuli, and Ornament of Remote Ages, with Remarks on the Earl)' Architecture of Ireland and Scotland." Folio. 1870. B 2