What are the characteristics of ancient monumental architecture?

The term monumental architecture refers to large man-made stone or earth structures that are used as public buildings or common spaces, as opposed to private residences. The pyramids, the great tombs and burial mounds, the squares, the mound platforms, the temples and churches, the palaces and residences of the ruling classes, the astronomical observatories and the formations erected with enormous vertical stones are diverse examples of ancient monumental architecture.

The defining characteristics of monumental architecture are its relatively large size and its public nature; the fact that the structure or space was built with the participation of many people, either involved by forced labor or in exchange for a stipend. Its goal was to be seen by many people, many people, or to share its use. The interior could be open to the public, or reserved for a religious or political elite.

Until the end of the 20th century it was believed that monumental architecture could only have been built by complex societies, with rulers who could recruit or convince residents to work on colossal structures with no purely practical function. However, modern archaeological technology has allowed access to the oldest records of the cultures of northern Mesopotamia and Anatolia, where buildings dedicated to religious practices of monumental size were discovered that were built at least 12,000 years ago, at the time of the hunter-gatherer societies. Before these discoveries, monumental architecture was considered an expression of the elites of those societies to demonstrate their power. Political or religious leaders were seen as having public buildings erected simply to show that they had the power to do so. But what was the motivation of hunter-gatherer societies, which apparently had no established leaders, to build such monumental structures?

One explanation for the fact that these societies began to build monumental structures is the change in climate. Early Holocene hunter gatherers lived during a cold, arid period called the Younger Dryas, when there were major fluctuations in the sources of their resources. In moments of social or environmental crisis, societies are structured and act with the primary purpose of overcoming it; the most elementary way is through the exchange of food. The first evidence of a ritual communal form of sharing food dates back to about 12,000 years ago, in Hilazon Tachtit (Galilee, Israel). As part of these highly organized community food exchange practices, large-scale food exchange fairs, which probably ended up being large competition events for economic power and prestige within the community. This could have motivated the construction of larger structures to accommodate a greater number of people. It is possible that the exchange intensified when the climatic conditions imposed greater restrictions on the access to the resources of the communities.

The use of monumental architectural forms for religious practices is generally accompanied by records in the construction itself, both in the form of objects housed there and in images displayed on its walls. However, a recent study by psychologists Yannick Joye and Siegfried Dewitte has found that monumental buildings produce feelings of wonder in those who look at them. And when that feeling of wonder occurs, the viewer remains in a state of ecstasy for some time.

The oldest monumental buildings

The oldest known monumental buildings are located in Asia and date back to the Neolithic period before ceramics, between 10,000 and 7,000 years ago. Hunter-gatherer societies such as Nevali Çori, Hallan Çemi, Jerf el-Ahmar, D´jade el-Mughara, Çayönü Tepesi and Tel ‘Abr built communal structures or public worship buildings within their settlements.

In Göbekli Tepe, by contrast, is the oldest building of monumental architecture located outside of a settlement, where various hunter-gatherer communities are supposed to have met regularly. Since ritual and symbolic items were found at Göbekli Tepe in Syria, researchers such as Brian Hayden have suggested that the site contains evidence of emerging religious leadership.

They find Çemi

Records have been identified at Hallan Çemi showing how structures dedicated to religious activities might have evolved into monumental architecture. Located in the southeast of Turkey, Hallan Çemi is one of the oldest settlements in northern Mesopotamia. Cult structures significantly different from normal houses were built in Hallan Çemi around 12,000 years ago, and over time they became larger and more elaborate in decoration and furnishings.

The buildings used for religious activities described below were located in the center of the settlement and arranged around a central open area about 15 m in diameter. The area contained animal bones and fire-cracked rock from fireplaces, plaster items (probably storage silos), and stone bowls and mortars. A row of three horned sheep skulls was also found. All of these archaeological records indicate that the plaza was used for festivals and perhaps also in rituals associated with them.

Community buildings of the Hallan Çemi archaeological site

• Construction level 3 (oldest): three C-shaped buildings made of river pebbles about 2 m in diameter with white plaster mortar.

• Construction level 2 : three circular river pebble buildings with paved floors, two 2m in diameter and one 4m. The largest had a small plastered basin in the center.

• Construction Level 1 – Four structures, all built with sandstone slabs instead of river pebbles. Two are relatively small (2.5 m in diameter), and the other two are between 5 and 6 m. The two largest structures are completely circular and semi-subterranean (partially dug into the ground), each with a distinctive semicircular stone bench against the wall. One had a skull of an aurochs (a bovid that has disappeared today, similar to a fighting bull) that apparently hung from the north wall that faced the entrance. The floors had been resurfaced several times with a distinctive fine mix of yellow sand and gypsum over a fill of fine earth. Few domestic materials were found within the structures but there were exotic items, including copper and obsidian items.

Functions of buildings of monumental architecture

Not all buildings of monumental architecture are built for religious purposes. Some are meeting places; Archaeologists consider plazas a form of monumental architecture, as they are large open spaces built in the center of the city for communal use. Some have a definite purpose; for example, water resource management structures, such as dams, reservoirs, canal systems, and aqueducts. Sports fields, government buildings, palaces, and churches are considered pieces of monumental architecture.

Classic examples of monumental architecture are the Stonehenge space in the United Kingdom, the Egyptian and Mesoamerican pyramids, the Byzantine cathedral of Santa Sofia or Hagia Sophia, the mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang in Xi’an, China, the Taj Mahal (although this building was for private use), the funerary monument built in the city of Agra, in India, the Mayan water systems and the Chanquillo observatory, from the Chavín culture, in Peru.

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