Prehistoric Art

Dating Conventions and Abbreviations

B.C.=before ChristB.C.E.=before the Common Era

A.D.=Anno Domini (the year of our Lord)C.E.=Common Era

c. or ca.= circa C.=century

Paleolithic Art introduces the student to the “image-making” capability of humankind. Representational images appeared in Asia, Africa and Europe.

Mesolithic Art further developed the representational skills which theses early peoples used to describe and define their domain. Human figural representation is regularized into narratives, which identify human activities and concerns.

Neolithic people settle into communities, which are fixed in place, and animals and foods stuffs are domesticated. Art becomes an integral component for community living.

Twisted perspective A convention of representation in which part of a figure is shown in profile and another part of the same figure is shown frontally; a composite view.

Pebble resembling a human face

from Makaspansgat South Africa

ca. 3,000,000 B.C.E.reddish brown jasperiteapproximately 2 3/8 in. wide

Around 30,000 BCE human beings were thought to have intentionally created works of art

Apollo 11 Cave

Namibia

ca. 23,000 B.C.E.charcoal on stone5 in x 4 3/4 in.

Animals were most often depicted by Paleolithic artists.

Human with Feline Head

from Hohlenstein-Stadel, Germany

ca. 30,000-28,000 B.C.E.mammoth ivory11 5/8 in. high

Incise To cut into a surface with a sharp instrument; a means of decoration, especially on metal and pottery.

Human with Feline Head

from Hohlenstein-Stadel, Germany

ca. 30,000-28,000 B.C.E.mammoth ivory11 5/8 in. high

Interpretations given to figures • Sorcerers• Magicians wearing masks• Humans dressed up as animals.

Venus of Willendorffrom Willendorf, Austria

ca. 28,000-25,000 B.C.E.limestone4 1/4 in. high

Woman of Lespugue

from cave of Les Rideaux, France

ca. 20,000 B.C.E.mammoth ivory5 3/4 in. high

Various European “Venus” figures

Woman of Laussel

from a cave in Laussel, Dordogne, France

ca. 25,000-20,000 B.C.E.painted limestoneapproximately 18 in. high

Bison reliefs

from a cave at Le Tuc d’Audoubert, Ariége, France

ca. 15,000-10,000 B.C.E.clayeach approximately 2 feet long

Chauvet Cave paintings

Vallon-Pont-d’Arc, Ardèche, France

ca. 30,000-28,000 B.C.E.pigment on stone

Three caves or caverns that contain Paleolithic paintings are;• Altamira, Spain; • Lascaux, France; • Pech-Merle, Lot, France.

Pech-Merle Cave paintings

Lot, France

ca. 22,000 B.C.E.pigment on stone

The prehistoric peoples may have attributed magical properties to the paintings. Confining animals to the surface of their cave walls, they may have felt they were bringing the animals under their control. Rituals or demons may have been performed in front of them either to aid in hunting or insure survival of the herds. They may have been teaching tools to instruct new hunters or to serve as target practice.

Techniques the artists may have used to create the Pech-Merle prints

Negative prints: The painter placed one hand against the wall and brushed or blew pigment around it.Positive prints: The painter dipped a hand in pigment and then pressed the hand against the wall.

Meaning;They may have been signatures, either of the individual artist or the artist’s community.

Altamira Cave paintings

Santander, Spain

ca. 12,000-11,000 B.C.E.pigment on stone

Organization of the bison images from Altamira They are all in profile to show all parts of the animal. They seem to float above the viewer’s head and do not share a common ground line or orientation. They are separate rather than a group.

Lascaux Cave paintings

Lascaux, Dordogne, France

ca. 15,000-13,000 B.C.E.pigment on stone

Two different techniques used at Lascaux to depict animalsColored silhouettes.Outline alone.

Were the animals at Lascaux painted at different times?Two different techniques (silhouettes and outlines).The “herd” also consists of several different kinds of animals of various sizes and styles moving in different directions.

Mammoth bone dwelling

from Ukraine

ca. 16,000-10,000 B.C.E.

Neolithic ArtNeolithic art and architecture vocabulary: Lintel• A beam used to span an opening, or a stone in

the case of megalith circles.Megalith• Massive rough-cut stones, usually grouped into

circles or “henges.”Terracotta• Hand-baked clay used for sculpture and as a

building material. It may be glazed or painted.

Great Stone Tower of Settlement Wall

Jericho, Israel/Gaza

ca. 8,000-7,000 B.C.E.

Contained the earliest permanent stone fortifications

Human Skulls with Restored Features

from Jericho, Israel/Gaza

ca. 7,000-6,000 B.C.E.skulls, plaster, shells

Çatal Höyük

Turkey

ca. 6,000-5,900 B.C.E.

Deer Hunt detail of a wall painting from Level III

Çatal Höyük, Turkey

ca. 5,750 B.C.E.

Çatal Höyük is best known for its wall paintings and shrines

Two subjects that were portrayed in the paintings at Çatal Höyük were a hunting party and a landscape.The technique;Pigments were applied with a brush to a white background of dry plaster.

Landscape with Volcanic Eruption

Çatal Höyük, Turkeyca. 6150watercolor copy of a wall painting

Three changes in artistic production that paralleled the shift from a food-gathering to a food-producing society.• Paintings are made on walls of permanent

houses, not in caves.• The first known landscape, showing a village. • The Tower of Jericho, the beginning of

monumental architecture.

Stonehenge

Salisury Plain, Wiltshire, England

ca. 2,550-1,600 B.C.E.sarsen and bluestone

Stonehenge was thought to have been erected in several phases in centuries before and after 2000 BCE. It was probably an astronomical observatory as it is an accurate solar calendar.

Çatal Höyük

Turkey

ca. 6,000-5,900 B.C.E.

Figures of Man and Woman

From Cernavoda, Romania

ca. 4,000-3,500 B.C.E.ceramic4 1/2 in. high

Menhir alignments at Ménec,

Carnac, France

ca. 4,250-3,750 B.C.E.

various Menhirs

Ireland, Scotland, England, France

Dolmens

Ireland, Scotland, England, France