TOP-7 types of dwellings, which from time immemorial serve as a reliable shelter for people

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Throughout the history of their existence, people have been trying to create shelters that could shelter them from adversity and protect them from wild animals and their own kind. As a rule, during the construction of a dwelling, the main criteria were taken into account: the climatic zone, the availability of natural materials, tools and traditions. How did this affect the appearance of buildings and their design, we will try to figure it out in our review.

1. Cave houses

Now in the cave settlements they have organized hotels for lovers of extraordinary rest (Matmata, Tunisia). footage.framepool.com.

In ancient times, people found the most reliable way to withstand weather conditions - to hide in caves. On the territory of different countries, the organization of cave settlements was built on almost the same principle - they cut down passages, tunnels or manholes and chambers, which served as individual dwellings for the family. Special cave cities have been found in Matmata (Tunisia). Thus, the local population was saved from the merciless rays of the sun and sandstorms. Their cave town planning can be considered unique, because nowhere in the world was a huge hole cut out inside a rock (sandstone), and only then passages and branches leading to separate rooms were organized around it.

Meymand is an ancient Iranian village, hand-carved into the rock. sanaei.livejournal.com.

In some places on the planet, people still live in caves. So, for example, in the village of Meymand (Iran) in rock houses (quiche), which were carved out of the rock for another 12 thousand years, people live as before. This village is located at an altitude of 2,240 m above sea level and civilization never reached it. People living in this cave settlement honor all centuries-old traditions and even speak the Middle Persian language of the Sassanid times (III-VII centuries).

2. Round houses

Unique of its kind "la cabane" stone houses can be seen in Aquitaine on the hills and in the valley near the Dordogne River (France). liveinternet.ru.

Even now, after more than one hundred years has passed, you can see round-shaped houses laid out of stone in a special way without the use of any solution or binding material. For example, on the territory of France, there are more than a thousand small charming round-shaped huts “la cabane”, which are called “boars” in the Russian-French manner. Even scientists cannot determine how many thousands of years they have been in this place, because they were folded so that if you do not use special equipment and explosives. As a rule, they served as a refuge for shepherds or hunters, but there are also whole villages where people lived for a very long time.

Most often such huts are used by hunters in Lesotho (South Africa). africakoulik.com.

Similar rounded houses can be found in South Africa. Their design differs from the French, because here the roof was laid out separately and it was created from any dry vegetation growing in the place where it was erected. Such houses can be found in hard-to-reach places where hunters stayed during hunting trips.

Now building round houses is not only fashionable and beautiful, but also expedient. convolute-wood.livejournal.com.

Currently, using modern building materials and innovative technologies, round houses are also being created, because it has already been proven that it is this form that allows a dwelling to withstand any natural disasters. Moreover, they are more economical and practical in the use of space and energy.

3. Adobe houses

This is one of the most ancient technologies for building houses, because not every territory had rocks or stones. Therefore, man began to use ordinary soil. If at first they were simply digging in dugouts, in which, although it was warm, it was very dark and damp. Over time, a person learned to press clay bricks, which were added with straw, moss, dry grass, algae - everything that was available in a particular area. Such houses turned out to be very durable and, most interestingly, the strength increased over time, for this reason, researchers find houses more than 6 thousand years old. At the same time, a number of technical characteristics indicate that this is an almost ideal housing: environmental friendliness, incombustibility, durability, heat and sound insulation, maintaining an optimal temperature and humidity regime without additional investment, and many others.

Naturally, such advantages could not but be used by people, therefore, entire settlements were built since ancient times. The most famous settlement at the moment is a village created from multi-storey adobe houses - Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico. For more than 2 thousand years, people have lived here who have learned to build not only houses, but also staircases made of clay bricks.

Not only dwelling houses were built from clay, but also religious buildings. For example, in the city of Timbuktu, located in West Africa, the Djinguereberskaya defensive cathedral mosque was erected almost 700 ago. This huge structure, designed for the simultaneous presence of 2 thousand people, was built using clay, fiber, straw and wood (as supports). Considering the historical significance and uniqueness of the mosque, it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1988.

The history of adobe houses does not end there; nowadays, thanks to equipment and new technologies, the process of building from clay has been improved and accelerated. Now such an environmentally friendly and financially low-cost construction is coming into fashion, and modern technologies make it possible to create a fairly presentable type of house that has high energy efficiency.

4. Houses on stilts

In some countries, such construction has been known since ancient times, because it is simply impossible to build houses in a swampy area and above the water surface in another way.

Interesting:The first to mention the dwellings built on a high platform, resting on piles and communicating with the shore by narrow bridges was Herodotus (an ancient Greek historian who lived approximately 484 - 425 BC). In his writings, he described the life of the peons who lived in the middle of Lake Prazia in Thrace (in the east of the Balkans).

Since then, the forms and materials of houses built on piles have been modified according to the traditions of the area in which such settlements are located and the achievements of technological progress. Houses in Cambodia (Southeast Asia) look quite original. In this area, heavy rainfall is frequent guests, so people had no choice but to build houses on high wooden piles. The height is also determined by the fact that, due to constant humidity, there are a lot of worms and snakes that rush into people's homes. In addition to the height of the piles themselves, the roofs are also made of a special shape so that the streams of water cannot damage it and flow down faster.

In Norway, you can also find buildings on chicken legs, but here barns were built on piles where food was stored. As it turned out, this is a very practical design, which: protects from moisture, provides ventilation of the space under the bottom, allows you to replace a wooden base that has deteriorated from time to time without damaging the house, saves food supplies from rodents and wild animals, which are more than enough in that area.

Important: Modern builders have calculated that it is more economically profitable to build wooden houses on twisted piles than on a foundation, the creation of which “eats up” 40% of the budget.

5. Yurts, plagues, wigwams and igloos

As a rule, nomadic peoples have portable dwellings, because it is impossible to move in search of pastures or hunting places without having their own shelter, therefore there are a lot of collapsible structures in the world. Among them, the most famous are the yurts, which are used in Central Asia.

In the northern regions, plagues and yarangas are used, their designs differ little, because you can only escape from heat and cold in a shelter with good thermal insulation. As a rule, the frame was assembled from thin poles that bend well, and then it was covered with skins of killed animals and felt. Only yurts and yarangas have a rounded shape, while the chum is cone-shaped.

Indian wigwams can be similar to plagues and yurts, it all depends on the tradition of a particular settlement and the preferences of the homeowners.

But igloos are fundamentally different from prefabricated houses, because they are created in large snowdrifts from dense snow or made of ice blocks. This is the traditional home of the Eskimos who live in the harshest climates on Earth. It is this structure that is a reliable shelter from severe frosts, snow storms and polar bears.

6. Wooden houses

The history of the creation of houses from wood also has more than one thousand years, because in the area where forests prevailed, it was the most reliable and durable material. At the moment, the most ancient structure made of wood is the Horyu-ji Buddhist temple in the city of Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, Japan. According to scientists, it is more than 1400 years old. Thousand-year-old buildings have also been found in Norway.

Considering that Russia occupies the 1st place in the world in terms of forest area (15, 4% of the world's timber reserves), it is no wonder that wooden architecture has been flourishing on its territory since ancient times. Huts, towers, mansions, churches - this is an incomplete list of what can be seen in the vastness of the country. In addition to the fact that wooden houses protect a person from natural elements, they are also real works of art, because each region had its own traditions and preferences in forms and designs, so we can observe such a variety and variety of design styles.

And the most interesting thing, despite the fact that in the modern world the abundance of new ultra-strong materials, this did not affect the popularity of wood in any way, because this is an environmentally friendly, durable, reliable and beautiful housing, the creation of which they cannot refuse even now.

7. Houses from containers and vehicles

A man with his natural desire for experimentation decided to even use containers to create his own home. Huge wooden barrels, cisterns and large-diameter concrete pipes, trailers, shipping containers, motor vehicles, trains and even aircraft were used.

What tricks the enthusiasts do not go to to turn all these objects into a comfortable and beautiful home. Containers or vehicles serve as the basis and frame, and various materials are used for landscaping, giving preference to natural materials.

At the same time, they do not forget about communications, because a modern person is accustomed to comfort, and tries to organize it in any, even in the most unexpected and unsuitable place for this.