What Are Some Facts About Neolithic Shelters?
During the long Neolithic period, from 6800 to 3200 B.C., shelters were built using thick timber posts, clay and stone for the foundation and walls, while roofs were made from tree trunks, clay and hay. Other characteristics varied, depending on the region and whether the shelter was built during the early, middle or late Neolithic period.
During the Neolithic period, people gradually became less nomadic as they learned to farm, domesticate animals and store food. They began to prefer permanent dwellings close to their farms and herds where they lived in settlements for protection. Shelters in the early Neolithic period were freestanding, one-room huts made of posts. European farmers began to build larger versions of these huts called long houses, which had no windows and one door. The darkest part of the house was used for storing grain, the middle part for sleeping and eating, and the lightest part near the door for work.
Houses with stone foundations and mud-brick walls appeared in the middle Neolithic period and continued into the late Neolithic period. Like long houses, these dwellings were one-room rectangular structures. Some also had an open or enclosed porch. In central Greece, people began to build two-story houses with two interior supporting walls and a row of posts in the middle of the space.
