LAND 2510_Study Guide 02_History Myth and Landscape

celestial alignment

"clocks" relationship btwn built forms and nat. features of landscape

Neolithic Civilization

(10,000-2,000 BCE) stone tools, pottery, agriculture and animal husbandry, permanent settlements and structures

mesolithic civilization

(100,000-50,000 BCE) beginning of perm human settlements, more complex tools

omphalos

(n) the central point; the navel

Ancient Astronomy

-Ancient astronomers all over the globe observed the sky and recognized patterns in the motion of the sun , moon, planets, and bright stars. -Ancient people of central africa used the observations of the moon to predict seasons -Many archaeological sites reveal that the ancient cultures performed detailed observations of the bright sky and possessed intricate knowledge of astronomy. -Paleolithic cave paintings in France (15000 BCE) may represent a star map or the zodiac

Fertile Crescent

A geographical area of fertile land in the Middle East stretching in a broad semicircle from the Nile to the Tigris and Euphrates

Menhir

A large upright standing stone

effigy mound

A mound in the shape of an animal or object

sanctuary

A place of protection

causeway

A raised road built across water or low ground

dolmen

A single-chamber tomb made out of megaliths.

Symbol

A thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract.

Pastoralism

A type of agricultural activity based on nomadic animal husbandry or the raising of livestock to provide food, clothing, and shelter.

Axis

An imaginary line that passes through Earth's center and the North and South poles, about which Earth rotates

Gunditjmara (ca. 8000 BCE - 1810 CE )

Australia circular homes

stone circle

Standing stones arranged in a circle

animism

The belief that bodies of water, animals, trees, and other natural objects have spirits

Aquaculture

The cultivation of seafood under controlled conditions ex)

agriculture

The deliberate effort to modify a portion of Earth's surface through the cultivation of crops and the raising of livestock for sustenance or economic gain.

sacred center

The sacred center of the sacred hoop/medicine wheel is humans.

Neolithic Revolution

The switch from nomadic lifestyles to a settled agricultural lifestyle is this revolution.

Ancestor Veneration

Veneration of the dead or ancestor reverence is based on the beliefs that the dead have a continued existence, and may possess the ability to influence the fortune of the living, the worship of deceased ancestors

henge

a Neolithic monument, characterized by a circular ground plan. Used for rituals and marking astronomical events

effigy

a crude image of a despised person

grove

a group of trees growing together with open space between them

megalith

a large stone that forms a prehistoric monument

weir

a low dam built across a river to raise the level of water upstream or regulate its flow.

Barrow

a mound of earth or stones over an ancient grave or pit

petroglyph

a rock carving made by people

kiva

a round room used by the pueblo people for religious ceremonies

grotto

a small cave; seen as start of universe or heart of universe

Medicine Wheel

a stone circle built by North American Indians, believed to have religious, astronomical, territorial, or calendrical significance.

Archetype

a very typical example of a certain person or thing

phonetic writing system

a writing system that uses symbols to represent sounds

ochre

an earthy pigment containing ferric oxide, typically with clay, varying from light yellow to brown or red.

Earthwork

an embankment or other construction made of earth

axis mundi

believed to connect the heavens and the earth and regarded as the center of the world

chambered cairn

burial monument consisting of more durable stone

chthonic

concerning, belonging to, or inhabiting the underworld

Effigy earthworks

earthworks (mounds) in the shape of great snakes, birds and bears, e.g. Serpent Mound, located in Southern Ohio, is an effigy earthwork in the form of a coiled 1,500 feet long snake

cairn

mound of stones built as a memorial

mountain

sacred space, closest point to heavens

profane

showing contempt toward sacred things

mnemonic monument/memory space

stating that certain places, objects or events can have special significance related to group's remembrance.

Paleolithic civilization

temp, light mobile structures, nomadic people

circular time

the conceptualization of time as following the pattern of the celestial and natural world. In hunter-gatherer societies, humans lived by the recurring rhythms of nature

temple

the place of worship

diety

the rank or essential nature of a god

animal husbandry

the science of breeding and caring for farm animals

Lepenski Vir (ca. 6800 - 5400 BCE )

triangles Danube River, Serbia -houses w cement floors -"iron gates" -fish faced sculptures

Songlines

used by the aborigines to pass information down for thousands of years, they are maps of the land that help the people name and locate places