Prehistoric Architecture in Micronesia

2010-07-26 Architecture

Author : William N. Morgan
Release : 2010-07-26
Genre : Architecture
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 212/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Prehistoric Architecture in Micronesia by : William N. Morgan

Download or read book Prehistoric Architecture in Micronesia written by William N. Morgan. This book was released on 2010-07-26. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the many centuries preceding Western contact, a richly diverse and innovative architectural tradition reached maturity in the western Pacific. Prehistoric Architecture in Micronesia, the first modern study of this remarkable work, reveals that there is no such thing as primitive architecture but only primitive means. This study presents five distinctly different examples of Micronesia's ancient architecture. The sites include the extraordinary stone cities of Leluh and Nan Madol on the islands of Kosrae and Pohnpei, respectively. Other structures include the meeting houses and residences built on hexagonal stone platforms in the Yap Islands, the earth terraces and ornately decorated meeting houses of Palau, and the megalithic columns and capstones of prehistoric houses in the Mariana Islands. These structures are illustrated by photographs, maps, plans, and other drawings. Many of the basic data come from archaeological investigations of the specific sites. Summaries at the ends of chapters and in the concluding section compare the architectural characteristics of the island groups with each other and with monuments outside Micronesia. One of the most remarkable achievements of any ancient people, the prehistoric architecture of Micronesia is a source of continuing inspiration for persons who search for meaning in the built form of our present-day environment.

Ancient Architecture of the Southwest

2014-03-07 Architecture

Author : William N. Morgan
Release : 2014-03-07
Genre : Architecture
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 08X/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Ancient Architecture of the Southwest by : William N. Morgan

Download or read book Ancient Architecture of the Southwest written by William N. Morgan. This book was released on 2014-03-07. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During more than a thousand years before Europeans arrived in 1540, the native peoples of what is now the southwestern United States and northern Mexico developed an architecture of rich diversity and beauty. Vestiges of thousands of these dwellings and villages still remain, in locations ranging from Colorado in the north to Chihuahua in the south and from Nevada in the west to eastern New Mexico—a geographical area of some 300,000 square miles. This study presents a comprehensive architectural survey of the region. Professionally rendered drawings comparatively analyze 132 sites by means of standardized 100-foot grids with uniform orientations. Reconstructed plans with shadows representing vertical heights suggest the original appearances of many structures that are now in ruins or no longer exist, while concise texts place them in context. Organized in five chronological sections that include 132 professionally rendered site drawings, the book examines architectural evolution from humble pit houses to sophisticated, multistory pueblos. The sections explore concurrent Mogollon, Hohokam, and Anasazi developments, as well as those in the Salado, Sinagua, Virgin River, Kayenta, and other areas, and compare their architecture to contemporary developments in parts of eastern North America and Mesoamerica. The book concludes with a discussion of changes in Native American architecture in response to European influences. Written for a general audience, the book holds appeal for all students of native Southwestern cultures, as well as for everyone interested in origins in architecture. In particular, it should encourage younger Native American architects to value their rich cultural heritage and to respond as creatively to the challenges of the future as their ancestors did to those of the past.

The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Oceania

2018-04-03 Social Science

Author : Terry L. Hunt
Release : 2018-04-03
Genre : Social Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 658/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Oceania by : Terry L. Hunt

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Oceania written by Terry L. Hunt. This book was released on 2018-04-03. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Oceania was the last region on earth to be permanently inhabited, with the final settlers reaching Aotearoa/New Zealand approximately AD 1300. This is about the same time that related Polynesian populations began erecting Easter Island's gigantic statues, farming the valley slopes of Tahiti and similar islands, and moving finely made basalt tools over several thousand kilometers of open ocean between Hawai'i, the Marquesas, the Cook Islands, and archipelagos in between. The remarkable prehistory of Polynesia is one chapter of Oceania's human story. Almost 50,000 years prior, people entered Oceania for the first time, arriving in New Guinea and its northern offshore islands shortly thereafter, a biogeographic region labelled Near Oceania and including parts of Melanesia. Near Oceania saw the independent development of agriculture and has a complex history resulting in the greatest linguistic diversity in the world. Beginning 1000 BC, after millennia of gradually accelerating cultural change in Near Oceania, some groups sailed east from this space of inter-visible islands and entered Remote Oceania, rapidly colonizing the widely separated separated archipelagos from Vanuatu to S?moa with purposeful, return voyages, and carrying an intricately decorated pottery called Lapita. From this common cultural foundation these populations developed separate, but occasionally connected, cultural traditions over the next 3000 years. Western Micronesia, the archipelagos of Palau, Guam and the Marianas, was also colonized around 1500 BC by canoes arriving from the west, beginning equally long sequences of increasingly complex social formations, exchange relationships and monumental constructions. All of these topics and others are presented in The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Oceania written by Oceania's leading archaeologists and allied researchers. Chapters describe the cultural sequences of the region's major island groups, provide the most recent explanations for diversity and change in Oceanic prehistory, and lay the foundation for the next generation of research.

Precolumbian Architecture in Eastern North America

1999 Architecture

Author : William N. Morgan
Release : 1999
Genre : Architecture
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 597/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Precolumbian Architecture in Eastern North America by : William N. Morgan

Download or read book Precolumbian Architecture in Eastern North America written by William N. Morgan. This book was released on 1999. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "An invaluable, splendidly illustrated overview of the grand construction projects of the precolumbian inhabitants of eastern North America."--Eduard F. Sekler, professor emeritus of architecture, Harvard University William Morgan, one of the nation's renowned architects, analyzes prehistoric architecture beginning more than 6,000 years ago and continuing through two periods of stunning creativity before Columbus's arrival in the New World. Magnificently illustrated with scaled drawings and aerial and eye-level photographs, it is the most comprehensive overview to date of ancient eastern North American monuments. Morgan organizes the book in three periods: the beginnings of architecture dating from 4000 B.C., at such sites as Watson Brake and Poverty Point in Louisiana; the first extraordinary era of architectural achievement near the beginning of the Christian era, at the ceremonial centers of the Ohio Valley; and the period just preceding Columbus's arrival, at the remarkable temple towns of the Mississippi Valley. In a clearly and concisely written account, Morgan describes architectural characteristics of 96 precolumbian sites and offers razor-sharp graphics and supplementary information about each. In addition, 12 well-known sites--such as Stonehenge, the Acropolis, and Angkor Wat--are presented at the book's graphic scale to assist readers in comprehending the size and character of the ancient North American monuments. Not only architects but archaeologists, anthropologists, geographers, artists, and anyone interested in the remote past will discover in this book prehistoric earthworks that are dramatically rich in both form and meaning. William N. Morgan, FAIA, a practicing architect in Jacksonville, Florida, is the author of Ancient Architecture of the Southwest and Prehistoric Architecture in Micronesia. A frequent visiting lecturer in architecture at universities throughout the United States, he recently was appointed the Beinecke-Reeves Distinguished Chair in Architectural Preservation at the University of Florida. During his career he has received numerous honors and design awards, including the AIA's 1998 Institute Honor for research and recording of ancient American civilizations.

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