PRE-HISTORICAL ART in Europe BCE = Before Common Era CE = Common Era Previously was B.C. (Before Christ) and A.D. (Anno Domini – “In the year of”) PRE-HISTORY is the period before written forms of communication. Written communication originated earlier in the Near East and Egypt therefore European pre-history is a longer period of time.

PRE-HISTORICAL ART Paleolithic = Old stone age Mesolithic = Middle stone age (Ice age in Europe) Neolithic = New Stone Age What changed between the Old and New Stone ages that effected the manner of art making and the type of art created? Agriculture – farming Resulting from animal extinctions (no big game to hunt) Animal domestication (herding) Stationary villages

CAVE PAINTING Lascaux, France Pigments: Materials used to create color – most often metal oxides and charcoal Binder: Material to make the pigment stick to a surface – spit or fat. Foundation: also called a support, the material that is painted or drawn on

CAVE PAINTING Lascaux, France Themes: Animals, Human representation, and signs Anthropomorphic (human) images are rare as are signs or geometric symbols Dating the paintings is done using pigment fragments (must be charcoal) or drawing/painting tools.

CAVE PAINTING Pech-merle, France Notice the Hand Prints and dots. Dots may have been for accounting or to capture the animals’ spirit. Picture of a wounded man may have memorialized a battle.

CAVE PAINTING Altamira, Spain, France This bison is represented in a naturalistic manner with significant detail recalled from memory. Abstraction is a reduction of shapes and appearances that do not represent the object naturalistically

Cave Painting – Algeria, Australia Tassili, Algeria: Painting depict herding and clear domestication of animals as well as warfare. Austalian: Painting depicts spiritual images and unique “X-ray” figures

SCULPTURE Relief sculpture is carved or engraved onto a background – meant to be viewed from the front. Two Bison modeled, unfired clay, Tuc d'Audoubert, Ariege. Carved Bison (Licking an Insect Bite) Carved and engraved on a fragment of a spear-thrower made of reindeer antler La Madeleine, France, 20,000 - 12,000 B.C.

SCULPTURE Relief sculpture is carved or engraved onto a background – meant to be viewed from the front. Venus of Laussel, 17.5 inches, limestone 27,000-22,000 BCE

SCULPTURE Sculpture in the round is carved or modeled on all sides and is meant to be viewed from any angle. Venus of Willendorf c. 24,000-22,000 BCE Oolitic limestone 43/8 inches (11.1 cm) high Fertility Idol: A good-luck charm used to ensure fertility or safe birth Composite Figure: A combination of multiple animal and human features. Lion-Human from Hohlenstein-Stadel, Germany. c. 30,000 - 26,000 BCE. Mammoth ivory, height 11 5/8".

ARCHITECTURE Menhir – upright carved stone placed purposely in rows or circles. Reminiscent of a grave marker. Carnac in the Brittany area of France has nearly 3000 menhirs arranged in rows of 13,000ft long

ARCHITECTURE Dolmen – A menhir with a capstone intentionally arranged Capstone – the top of a dolman. Post and Lintel – two uprights supporting a top. Megalith – architecture made with massive stone construction

ARCHITECTURE Cromlechs – A series of dolmens arranged in a circle or semi-circle Stonehenge in Britain is the largest but not the only cromlech.

ARCHITECTURE Courses – A row of masonry or stone Corbelling – Rows of masonry or stone that are slightly offset to form an arch or dome. Passage grave – a hallway leading to an interior chamber – made of dolmens or corbelled courses Cairn – A mound of earth over a passage grave and dolmen structure

ARCHITECTURE Malta is home to many Neolithic temples. The shape may have been oval to resemble a womb. There was also a “City of the Dead” or necropolis where upwards of 7000 human skeletons were found.

Architecture and Sculpture Mother Goddess: This statue was massive – but many smaller female nudes were also found at the same location.