The Stone Age Periods PaleolithicMesolithicNeolithic Period

From B.C. until around10,000 B.C! Paleolithic Period Old Stone Age During this period human beings started to settle near rivers and lakes, where they started to create the 1st PICTORIC manifestations in their surroundings. They were still NOMADIC, they moved from place to place.

Paleolithic Period Old Stone Age Cave Art Most of the cave art paintings are found in France and Spain. Altamira Cave Lascaux Caves

Paleolithic Period Old Stone Age

Paleolithic Period Old Stone Age Look at the cave painting in Altamira Caves. What do you notice about the shapes and colors? What type of paint and tools did humans use?

Paleolithic Period Old Stone Age Stone toolsSome of the first tools humans used were made during this period. Ovate hand axe. 98mm x 76mm Pointed handaxe. 107mm x 74 mm. Ovate hand 122x76mm. These tools are probably more than 100,000 years old!

Mesolithic Period Middle Stone Age Period between the LAST GLACIATION (12,000 years ago) and the beginning of the Neolithic period (7,000years ago) It was a period of climatic instability. During the Mesolithic, humans learned to hunt in groups and to fish, and began to learn how to domesticate animals and plants.

Mesolithic Period Middle Stone Age Mesolithic art is geometric, with a restricted range of colors, dominated by the use of red ochre. Art objects include: painted pebbles, ground stone beads, pierced shells and teeth, and amber.

Mesolithic Period Middle Stone Age Artifact from Lepenski Vir, Serbia.

The Mesolithic period saw the first small cemeteries! Mesolithic Period Middle Stone Age Some of the burials included grave goods, tools, jewelry, shells, and animal and human figurines; goods that archaeologists suggest are evidence of the emergence of social stratification. Grave 13 Skateholm Megalithic tomb Scania

Mesolithic Period Middle Stone Age Atfer the ice melted, humans began to visit new hunting grounds. They invented many new tools, including the Tranchet adze which was meant to be re-sharpened. They also began to use the picks more regurlaly. Tranchet adze. 151mm x 48mm Blade. 76mm x30mm microlith - used to make arrow heads, spears, and other weapons and tools

Neolithic Period New Stone Age The Neolithic age represents a spree of hellzapoppin' innovation Humans were settling themselves down into agrarian societies and began to explore some key concepts of civilization, namely, religion, measurement, the rudiments of architecture and writing and, yes, ART.

Neolithic Period New Stone Age Climatic stability allowed humans to abandon their wandering ways and begin to construct more-or-less permanent villages. Huge developments in agriculture were made. What kinds of art were created during this time? This is called The Neolithic Revolution!

Neolithic Period New Stone Age Weaving Clothes, textiles and straw mats held a prominent place in the daily life of Neolithic farmers. The main weaving fibers were flax and wool.

Neolithic Period New Stone Age Architecture - megaliths Simple structures that were normally used as temporary shelter. Some of the earliest forms of Neolithic architecture can be found in Asia. Common materials: Mud bricks and Stone.

Neolithic Period New Stone Age Mud Bricks Stone walls Naturally shaped stone roof CHARACTERISTICS

Neolithic Period New Stone Age Stylized pictographs They were well on their way to becoming writing.

Neolithic Period New Stone Age Statuary Their theme dwelt primarily on the female/fertility, or "Mother Goddess" imagery. The “thinker" and the “sitting woman" of Hamangia

Neolithic Period New Stone Age Painting It left the caves and cliffs for good, and became a purely decorative element

Neolithic Period New Stone Age Pottery It began replacing stone and wood utensils at a rapid pace, and also become more highly decorated.

Neolithic Period New Stone Age Key characteristics of Neolithic art Functional More images of humans than animals It was used for ornamentation