Ancient Pueblo buildings were composed of stone, and subsequently sun-dried Adobe bricks consisting of clay, silt, sand, and straw were used. The walls of the buildings were first covered with a thick layer of mud that was then packed down with more mud and rocks to form a solid base for the building.
Although they were not as durable as today's concrete, the bricks made from clay are very strong. They can also be easily repaired if broken. There are several examples of ancient buildings in use today that show how well they stand up to time. One example is the Patio de Alarcon at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Mexico City. It contains small rooms on the ground floor with flat roofs where artists working for the estate would have had shelter and space to work.
The great pyramids of Giza in Egypt were also built using brick. Brick has been used in construction since at least 3000 B.C., long before the Egyptians invented cement. The Egyptians probably learned this technique from foreign visitors or through contact with neighboring countries. For example, the Israelis may have helped build the pyramids because the Egyptian language has similarities to Hebrew.
People have been building with brick ever since they discovered how easy it is to make them.
The Pueblo Indians' houses are well-known around the world. They built multistory structures out of stones and adobe clay. These buildings had many rooms with high ceilings. The Pueblo people lived in these towns for hundreds of years.
Other Indian tribes also made beautiful buildings, but none as famous as the Pueblo people. They are known for their great architecture, particularly their large cities that were inhabited for several hundred years.
After the Spanish arrived in America, they told the Pueblo people they could live in their new churches if they wanted to keep their homes. So most of them moved out and only some of them stayed in the churches until today. There are still many Pueblo people who live outside the cities, but mostly as farmers or ranchers. In fact, some Pueblo families have been living this way for over 400 years!
Outside the cities there are still many ruins of ancient buildings on top of hills or under trees. This is because the Pueblo people used wood and mud for their building materials so they wouldn't destroy their environment by cutting down trees or digging up minerals from underground sources.
During the Neolithic period, Stone Age dwellings were rectangular and made of timber (4000 BC to 2500 BC). These houses are no longer standing, although the foundations may still be seen. Some buildings featured thatched roofs and walls made of wattle (woven wood) and daub (mud and straw).
The first true cities appeared around 3500 BC. They were laid out on a grid system with streets running north-south and avenues crossing at right angles. The centers of many cities were dominated by large open spaces called plazas. People lived in housing near where they worked or went to school. In time, these first cities grew into larger ones containing millions of people. Cities such as Memphis, Cairo, and Mexico City were built up rapidly until about 1500 BC when they reached their maximum size.
About 1000 BC, people started building using stone instead of wood for their homes. For the first time, this change brought construction materials from far away. Stones came from all over the world to be used for buildings. People began to build using only certain types of stone because they knew what quality meant. This is called quarrying. Then, they would transport the stone long distances over land or water to reach their destination.
Cities also started to use stone for public buildings like temples and pyramids. Sometimes entire new cities were built using only stones taken from existing towns or fields.
While the ancient Pueblo buildings were composed of sunbaked mud adobe bricks and utilized minimal timber, Pueblo Revival structures use masonry and stucco to replicate the appearance. The protruding, circular roof beam known as a viga is the most identifiable aspect of the design. Beams like these were used to tie together floors, roofs, and walls.
Adobe is a word that comes from a Latin phrase meaning "dry ground". It describes a building construction using dry-mixed clay soil and sand or gravel as a binding material instead of stone or brick. The traditional method for making adobe bricks involves mixing clay with water to form a paste, which is then molded into bricks and allowed to dry in the sun or under shelter. Modern adobe buildings follow a similar process, but instead of using sun-dried bricks, they often contain heating cables or tubes to speed up the drying process.
During the Spanish colonization of the American Southwest, farmers began using imported European building materials such as cob (which means "mud" in Spanish), stone, and wood to build their homes. When settlers moved west across the Great Plains, they brought their understanding of built-up foundations with them. These early builders simply took what they knew on the old continent and applied it to their new home landscape. They dug shallow trenches and packed the dirt inside the trench with stones or tree branches to provide support for the building above.
Bronze Age buildings were composed of wood, stone filled with wattle, braided wood, and daub, a mud and straw combination. The walls would be painted with a lime based paint to give them a white color.
The Bronze Age came about 3100 BC and lasted until 1700 BC. It is known as the Bronze Age because most tools used by its people were made out of bronze. Before the Bronze Age, people used materials such as stone and bone, but these materials are not as durable as bronze so they needed to be replaced often.
The Bronze Age began in Europe when people started using tools made out of copper instead of stone or bone. They also built their houses with this new type of material. The houses were only large enough for one person to sleep in, but it could hold several families before being changed or upgraded.
In Africa, parts of Asia, and Oceania, the Bronze Age did not happen until many years later. By then, the Stone Age was over and there were no more developments in technology. More than one culture may have lived within the same region at different times. For example, parts of Europe were inhabited by people who worked with stone and bones, but other parts were occupied by people who used bronze for tools.
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