Neolithic long house

The Neolithic long house was a long, narrow timber dwelling built by the first farmers in Europe beginning at least as early as the period 5000 to 6000 BC.^[1] This type of architecture represents the largest free-standing structure in the world in its era. Long houses are present across numerous regions and time periods in the archaeological record.

It is thought that these Neolithic houses had no windows and only one doorway. The end farthest from the door appears to have been used for grain storage with working activities being carried out in the better lit door end and the middle used for sleeping and eating.

Twenty or thirty people, could have lived in each house with villages of six or seven houses known. They first appeared in central Europe in connection with the early Neolithic cultures such as the Linearbandkeramic or Cucuteni culture.

Structurally, the Neolithic long house was supported by rows of large timbers holding up a pitched roof. The walls would not have supported much weight and would have been quite short beneath the large roof. Sill beams ran in foundation trenches along the sides to support the low walls. A long house would measure around 20 metres in length and 7 metres in width.

Examples

The Balbridie timber house in what is present day Aberdeenshire, Scotland offers an outstanding example of these early timber structures. Archaeological excavations have revealed extant timber postholes that delineate the support pieces of the original structure. This site is strategically located in a fertile agricultural area along the River Dee very close to an ancient strategic ford of the river and also near an ancient timber trackway known as the Elsick Mounth.^[2]

References

• Rodney Castleden. 1987. The Stonehenge people. 282 pages
• C. Michael Hogan. 2007. , Elsick Mounth, Megalithic Portal, ed A. Burnham
• A. W. R. Whittle and Norman Yoffee, Europe in the Neolithic: The Creation of New Worlds, 1996, Cambridge University

Line notes

1. ^ Rodney Castleden. 1987
2. ^ C. Michael Hogan. 2007

This article relating to archaeology in Europe is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: European archaeology stubs Monument types Neolithic Europe Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР? Francis Vincent Satguru Look at other dictionaries: Long house — In archaeology and anthropology, a long house or longhouse is a type of long, narrow, single room building built by peoples in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe and North America.Many were built from timber and often represent the …   Wikipedia Long barrow — A long barrow is a prehistoric monument dating to the early Neolithic period. They are rectangular or trapezoidal earth mounds traditionally interpreted as collective tombs. Long barrows are also typical for several Celtic, Slavic, and Baltic… …   Wikipedia Low German house — Dat groode Hus, a 1795 Low German house at the Winsen Museum Farm …   Wikipedia Geestharden house — The Geestharden house (German: Geesthardenhaus), also called the Cimbrian house (Cimbrisches Haus), Schleswig house (Schleswiger Haus), Slesvig house (Danish: Slesvigsk gård) or Southern Jutland house (Sønderjysk gård) due to its geographical… …   Wikipedia Neolithic flint mines of Spiennes — Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes (Mons) * UNESCO World Heritage Site Section of mines at Spiennes Country …   Wikipedia Middle German house — A timber framed Middle German house in Klein Schöppenstedt near Cremlingen around 1900 …   Wikipedia Gulf house — A Gulf house in the district of Leer front and barn door Gulf house in brick …   Wikipedia Neolithic — An array of Neolithic artifacts, including bracelets, axe heads, chisels, and polishing tools. Neolithic stone implements are by definition polished and except for specialty items not chipped. The Neolithic …   Wikipedia Neolithic British Isles — The Neolithic site of Silbury Hill in Wiltshire, southern England, is one example of the large ceremonial monuments constructed across the British Isles in this period. The Neolithic British Isles refers to the period of British, Irish and Manx… …   Wikipedia Neolithic Revolution — The Neolithic This box: view · talk · edit ↑ Mesolithic …   Wikipedia 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”