Prehistoric Arts

PREHISTORIC ARTS

PREHISTORIC (STONE AGE) ART

is first known period of prehistoric human culture, during which work was done with stone tools.

The period began with the earliest human development, about 2 million years ago.

It is divided into three periods:1. Paleolithic – Old Stone Age2. Mesolithic – Middle Stone Age3. Neolithic – New Stone Age

PALEOLITHIC (OLD

STONE) the longest phase of human history. Its most outstanding feature was the

development of the human species-- Homo sapiens.

Paleolithic peoples were generally nomadic hunters and

gatherers who sheltered in

caves, used fire, and

fashioned stone tools. Their cultures are

identified by distinctive stone-tool industries.

PALEOLITHIC (OLD

STONE)

By the Upper Paleolithic there is evidence of communal hunting,

constructed shelters, and belief systems

centering on magic and the supernatural.

Rock carving and paintings reached their peak in the Magdalenian culture of Cro-Magnon man.

PALEOLITHIC (OLD

STONE)

CRO-MAGNON MAN

MESOLITHIC (MIDDLE STONE)

The Mesolithic period, or Middle Stone Age, began at the end of the last glacial era, over 10,000 years ago.

Cultures included gradual domestication of plants and animals,

formation of settled communities,

use of the bow, and development of delicate

stone microliths and pottery.

MICROLITH

Small stone tool

NEOLITHIC (NEW STONE)

The time periods and cultural content of the Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, vary with geographic location.

The earliest known Neolithic culture developed from the Natufian in Southwestern Asia between 9000 and 7000 BCE.

In Southeast Asia a distinct type of Neolithic culture cultivated rice before 2000 BCE.

and by 1500 BCE Neolithic cultures existed in Mesoamerica that led to the Aztec and Inca civilizations.

People lived in settled villages, cultivated grains and domesticated

animals, developed pottery, spinning, and

weaving, and evolved into the urban civilizations

of the Bronze Age. New World peoples independently

domesticated plants and animals,

NEOLITHIC (NEW STONE)

CAVE PAINTINGS

PALEOLITHIC ART

40,000 – 8,000 BCE

Name: Human with Feline Head

Date: c. 30,000–26,000 BCE

Medium: Mammoth ivorySize: height 11⅝" (29.6

cm)Source/Museum:

Hohlenstein-Stadel, Germany / Ulmer Museum, Ulm, Germany

Namee: Venus of WillendorfDate: c. 28,000 – 24,000 BCEMedium: LimestoneSize: height 4⅜" (11 cm)Source/Museum: Austria. Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna

“VENUS” – THE IDEAL

WOMAN

Venus de Milo, 130-120 BC, marble, 6 ½ ft, Ancient Greece

The Birth of Venus, Sandro Botticelli, 1485, oil on canvas

WOMAN FROM OSTRAVA PETRKOVICE

CZECH REPUBLIC. C. 23,000 BCEHERMATITE, HEIGHT 1 ¾”

NAME: TWO BISONDATE: C. 15,000 – 10,000 BCEMEDIUM: UNBAKED CLAYSIZE: LENGTH 25" ( 63.5 CM) AND 24" (60.9 CM)SOURCE/MUSEUM: LE TUC D’AUDOUBERT, FRANCE

Title: Spotted Horses and Human HandsDate: Horses 25,000–24,000 BCE; hands c 15,000 BCEMedium: Paint on limestoneSize: individual horses are over 5' (1.5 m) in length.Source/Museum: Pech-Merle Cave, Dordogne, France

Name: Hall of BullsDate: c. 15,000 BCEMedium: Paint on limestoneSize: length of the largest auroch (bull) 18' (5.50 m)Source/Museum: Lascaux Cave, Dordogne, France

Name: BisonMedium: Paint on limestoneSize: length approx. 8'3" (2.5 m)Date: c. 12,500 BCESource/Museum: Ceiling of a cave at Altamira, Spain

Title: Lamp with Ibex DesignMedium: Engraved stoneDate: c. 15,000–13,000 BCESource/Museum: La Mouthe Cave, Dordogne, France

ABORIGINAL PREHISTORIC ARTTitle: Mimis and KangarooMedium: Red and yellow ocher and white pipe clayDate: Older painting 16,000–7000 BCESource/Museum: Prehistoric rock art, Oenpelli, Arnhem Land, Australia

NEOLITHIC ART

8,000 – 1,500 BCE

JERICHOGreat Stone Tower

Human Skull

6,000-5,500 BCE

CHATAL HUYUK

6500-5500 BCE

Title: Tomb interior with corbeling and engraved stonesMedium: n/aSize: n/aDate: c. 3000–2500 BCESource/Museum: New Grange, Ireland

Title: StonehengeDate: c. 2750–1500

BCESource/Museum:

Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire England

SUN TUNNELSNANCY HOLT, 1974, UTAH

THE END

Prepared by: JC de Egurrola

jeelchristine@i.ph