• History and Ideas
  • Prehistory to Middle Ages
  • Renaissance, Baroque, Enlightenment
  • 19th Century
  • 20th Century
  • From Millennium to Olympics
• The Genius of Place
  • Design and Vision
  • Planning the Landscape
  • Management and Conservation
  • Historic Conservation
  • The Science of Landscape
  • Cities and Towns
  • Gardens and Parks
• The Power to Change
  • Climate Change
  • Sustainable Communities
  • Environment
  • Housing
  • Hunger
  • Transportation

Prehistory to the Middle Ages

The invention of agriculture made cities possible.  People settled on the land instead of hunting and gathering.  As a result they had both more food and more time, and they began to shape the landscape around them.  

Skara Brae on Orkney is the most complete stone age settlement in Europe - one of the earliest traces of civilization. 

The great Ziggurat of Ur in Mesopotamia marked the flowering of Persian civilisation – quite literally, as archaeologists believe the sides of this huge structure were planted with trees and gardens.

Great ambitions and great power created landscapes like the Pyramids at Giza in Egypt and cities like Persepolis in Persia.  The Acropolis at Athens and the majestic city of ancient Rome mark the beginnings of our present culture.

Continued