Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
Beehive house
Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics
Images
Round beehive-shaped stone hut with a corbelled roof and a small doorway, set in a grassy field on the Dingle Peninsula, Ireland.
Quizzes
Hagia Sophia. Istanbul, Turkey. Constantinople. Church of the Holy Wisdom. Church of the Divine Wisdom. Mosque.
Architecture: The Built World
Quick Facts
Related Topics:
house
See all related content
Britannica AI Icon
Adding us as a Preferred Source tells Google you trust our content, so our articles show up more often in your Google Search, Discover feed, and AI Overviews.
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Round beehive-shaped stone hut with a corbelled roof and a small doorway, set in a grassy field on the Dingle Peninsula, Ireland.
beehive house Milesian beehive house near Ventry, on the Dingle peninsula, Ireland.

Beehive house

architecture
Written and fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
Last updated
•History

Beehive house, primitive type of residence designed by enlarging a simple stone hemisphere, constructed out of individual blocks, to provide greater height at the centre; the form resembles a straw beehive, hence, its name. The beehive house is typical of Celtic dwellings from 2000 bc in Scotland and Ireland. The tomb of Agamemnon at Mycenae, Greece, is also of beehive shape; but it was made of cut stone rather than of the rough unhewn stone of the Celts.