Module 1: Beginnings: Early Civilizations and the Built World Flashcards
Anthropomorphic
a decorative motif or sculpture that incorporated elements of human and animal forms
Axial plan
Buildings, temples, worship sites, etc. arranged along a given axis or line
BCE
“Before Common Era”, the standard acronym for the time of prehistory through the understood birth of Jesus.
Campaign furniture
a general term used to describe furniture purposely made for ease of travel, to be brought with on campaigns.
Crenellated battlements
or alternating vertical recesses with windows punctuating the defensive structure.
Found relief
A term applied to artwork that incorporates the natural surface of a rock or stone in creating an image, like the round portion of a rock used to create a torso of an animal; the cave drawings at Lascaux are example.
Gilded
gilded or gilt; gold applied as decoration to a surface.
Hypostyle hall
a type of architecture that is supported by closely spaced rows of columns, found in Egyptian architecture
Low relief
the degree to which figures project from a background of a sculpture. Also known as bas-relief; the design is cut so that the highest projections are no higher than the surface itself; a shallow cut.
Megaliths
large stones used in the building of monumental Prehistoric structures; an example is Stonehenge.
Mortise and tenon
a type of furniture joint created out of a projection (tenon) that is inserted into the corresponding hole (mortise).
Palanquin
a chair mounted on poles that allow it to be carried; common in Egyptian furniture of pharaohs.
Stele (pl. stelae):
upright carved stones used as tomb markers, or created to commemorate historical events or memorials.
Stretcher
a piece of material used to connect the legs on furniture.
Twisted perspective
figures depicted in both frontal and profile views; this is common in Egyptian hieroglyphs.
