Prehistoric Art Starts around 40 000 B.C.

The Old Stone Age (Characteristics of the time period) They produced cave paintings of animals as part of hunting rituals They produced hand sized drawings and carvings as well The carvings are made out of bone, horn or stone, and they are carved using flint tools Fertility figurines are common

Cave paintings, Chauvet Cave, Vallon-Pont-d’arc, Ardeche gorge, France Cave paintings, Chauvet Cave, Vallon-Pont-d’arc, Ardeche gorge, France. 28000 B.C.

Earliest painting known to us. It depicts lions, panthers, rhinoceroses, bears, reindeer, mammoths, bulls, horses, birds, and humans. Images are vivid and lifelike, which leads us to conclude that there were many other drawings preceding this one which helped them develop and fine turn their skills

Cave paintings, Lascaux, Dorodogne, France. 15000-10000 B.C.

The style of this painting is similar to the Chauvet cave painting despite the difference between the years. This demonstrates stability in the style and work of the Palaeolithic culture. In this painting, however, there aren’t any exotic beasts. This painting was discovered by chance by a group of boys whose dog had fallen into a hole that led to the underground chamber containing the artwork These cave paintings were able to survive because they are deep in the cave. You can only access them by crawling on your hands and knees. This protected the work from the elements. The paintings are so deep in the cave and the path is so complex that you can easily get lost inside the cave without an expert. These cave paintings were protected deep in the cave for a reason, which leads historians to conclude that they were part of a ritual. Some say that it was part of a hunting ritual, and the people of the Stone Age would throw rocks at the animal to kill its inner spirit. Others say that some of the animals were too big to hunt, so they took on the animal spirits of the lion and bears to help them hunt.

Stonehenge, Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England. 2000 B. C Stonehenge, Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England. 2000 B.C. (Diameter of the circle is 97 feet or 29.57 meters)

Menhirs= upright slabs that mark graves Dolmen=tombs built with slabs Cromlechs= A religious site only found in the British Isles Stonehenge is a cromlechs The entire site took years upon years to complete, so by the time it was finished we are into the Bronze age. The amazing part of Stonehenge is that these huge slab stones were taken from 20 miles away. However, it is unclear if the slabs were brought over from by glaciers or by the people. They also resurrected these giant stones very scientifically so that the sun rises directly above it on the day of the summer solstice. The slaughter stone and the heel stone face the direction of the summer sunrise.

The Bronze Age (Characteristics of the period) Use of fired clay People started to become more sophisticated in their techniques and began to produce fired clay pieces.

Egyptian Art Around 3150-1069 B.C.

Egyptian Art Characteristics Egyptians are very conservative and traditional There were clear class systems Use hieroglyphics to communicate Hieroglyph means sacred pictorial writing The afterlife was very important to them.

Crown system 1) White Crown=Upper Egypt (The South) 2) Red Crown= Lower Egypt (The North) 3) Double Crown= Unified Egypt

Palette of King Narmer, from Hierakonpolis. 3150-3125 B. C Palette of King Narmer, from Hierakonpolis. 3150-3125 B.C. Slate, (height 25” or 63.5 cm). Egyptian Museum, Cairo

Contains some of the earliest hieroglyphics found On the left the King is depicted striking someone of lower class. On the left there is a symbol in the top centre. This is his name. On the right side the king is wearing a different crown (the Red Crown) On the right side there are two rows of decapitated enemies read to be inspected by the royals. The circle in the middle would have held eye make-up The two lions intertwined likely symbolizes the union of upper and lower Egypt.

The Great Pyramids, Giza: (from left to right) Menkaure (c. 2533-2515 B.C.), Khafre (2570-2544 B.C.), and Khufu (2601-2528 B.C.)

The three large pyramids are the most famous The three large pyramids are the most famous. They are build by three kings Menkaure, Khafre, and Khufu Khufu has the largest pyramid The angled sides seem to represent the beaming rays of the sun. When a king died, his body was embalmed and placed in the chapel within the funerary temple for a ceremony. It would then be brought into the tomb within the pyramid. There are three fake passageways to trick intruders.

The Great Sphinx, Giza. 2560-2544 B.C. Sandstone, Height 65’ (19.81 m)

This sits within Khafre’s pyramid This is the best preserved of the three pyramids. It portrays King Khafre as with a lion head and crouching body.

Cover of the coffin of Tutankhamen. 1327 B. C Cover of the coffin of Tutankhamen. 1327 B.C. Gold inlaid with enamel and semiprecious stones, height72” Egyptian Museum, Cairo

The King’s body would have been mummified inside this coffin. When historians found the king his body was very well preserved inside. The coffin is made with over 240 pounds of gold. The King would have been buried with all sorts of valuables because they believe that these things would come with them into the afterlife. The coffin looks like the King on the outside.