Humans Have Used Furniture For Ages

By Author: Sunil Panjabi
Total Articles: 2565
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In Skara Brea a Neolithic settlement in Orkney, there are remains of stone furniture still in dwellings. Wood was in short supply in the area so the locals turned to the readily available stone to fashion their furniture. There are examples of beds, dressers and cupboards, not to mention seating.

Therefore, from very early on in our existence, furniture has been extremely important to us. Some of them in the village of Skara Brea seemed far more significant than other pieces. Each of the houses had a large imposing stone dresser, which faced the entranceway. The first thing you would have seen, and indeed still can see on entering the homes would be the dresser. It's thought that there may have had some symbolic purpose, maybe displaying items that denoted the status of the head of the household.

The fact that the stone furniture exists is incredible enough but when you think it has been there, in a fantastic state of repair since 3100 BC is mind-boggling. furniture is important to us today, and in many respects, it can still denote status. We can fill our homes with priceless ...
... antiques or solid hand made one off unique pieces if we have a budget that will stretch to that. That shows a level of income and therefore status. Whatever your budget there is still beautiful pieces available; you just need to know where to look.

Although the furniture at Skara Brea was functional, it did have other purpose and what can also be seen is a division of the house where a large bed was on the right and a smaller bed was on the left. The theory is that the male occupied the right side and the female the left. So other than function, the furniture size and layout was crucial and meant something to the occupants. The beds were placed either side of the most important part of a Neolithic home, the hearth. The fire in the hearth would have been a lifesaver in those bleak, bitterly cold Orkney winters.

From its humble beginnings, furniture has obviously moved on. We no longer need to sit on solid stone. We more modern humans have a wealth of different materials at our disposal to create our furnishings. We love the softer more sumptuous fabrics and materials for our sofas, chairs and beds. We crave comfort and we love beautiful things for our home. In many respects, we are no different to our Neolithic ancestors as furniture is vitally important in our homes. We reflect our personalities and our nature in our choice of items.

When you think of the furniture in the homes of those Neolithic Orkney dwellers, they certainly had all the modern furniture such as beds, dressers, cupboards and shelving. Our basic needs change very little with time. We however are very lucky. We may still have identical items of furniture in our homes and we may still show status by what we do have. However, it's a far cry from the basics they had to live and work with.