Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ All rights reserved. Chapter 1 The Rise of Culture: From Forest to Farm

Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ All rights reserved. In what ways has the role of art in Paleolithic culture been interpreted?

Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ All rights reserved. Agency and Ritual: Cave Art Culture encompasses the values and behaviors shared by a group of people, developed over time, and passed down from one generation to the next Most scholars believe that the cave paintings in southern France and northern Spain possessed some sort of agency (i.e., they were created to exert power or authority over those who came in contact with them) The agency could be connected to hunting The caves could also have served as ritual spaces intended to serve the common good (i.e., connected to religious or quasi-religious contexts) The different artistic styles in the various caves suggest that the choice between naturalistic and non-naturalistic was driven by cultural factors

Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ All rights reserved. Paleolithic Culture and Its Artifacts The Paleolithic era is the period of Homo sapiens’ ascendancy People carved stone tools, weapons, and small sculptural objects Female figurines vastly outnumbered representations of males, which suggests that women played a central role in Paleolithic culture Most likely, women had considerable religious and spiritual influence The Paleolithic culture may have been matrilineal and matrilocal

Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ All rights reserved. How does Neolithic art and architecture reflect the era’s changing cultural concerns?

Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ All rights reserved. Neolithic Çatalhöyük and Skara Brae During the Neolithic period, agriculture began to replace hunting and gathering, and the nomadic lifestyle of the Paleolithic gave way to a more sedentary way of life As deduced from findings in Çatalhöyük (central Turkey), the religious and spiritual prominence of the female in Paleolithic culture was gradually diminishing Architectural excavations in Skara Brae (Scotland) point to complex techniques, such as corbeling, and to houses that provided comfort for 500 years

Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ All rights reserved. Neolithic Pottery Across Cultures The transition from cultures based on hunting and fishing to cultures based on agriculture led to the increased use of pottery vessels The pottery vessels were used to carry and store water, and to store and prepare certain types of food In most Neolithic societies, women made and decorated the pottery By 3000 BCE, the potter’s wheel was in use in the Middle East as well as in China, which is seen as the first mechanical and technological breakthrough in history

Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ All rights reserved. Neolithic Ceramic Figures While there are examples of Paleolithic figurative sculptures, these were never fired Among the fired Neolithic sculptures, the approximately life-size animal and human figures created by the so-called Nok peoples (modern Nigeria) are most interesting The high level of technical and artistic sophistication suggests older artistic traditions in West Africa that have not yet been discovered

Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ All rights reserved. The Neolithic Megaliths of Northern Europe Megaliths, the most basic form of architectural construction, were built without the use of mortar The constructions built merely with upright posts are called menhirs The megalithic construction that consists of two posts roofed with a capstone is called a dolmen or post-and-lintel structure The megalithic construction that is laid out in a circle is known as a cromlech It is assumed that such structures were connected to planting and harvest seasons The high level of complexity of these structures suggests that the late Neolithic builders were extremely social beings capable of great cooperation

Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ All rights reserved. What is the function of myth in Prehistoric culture?

Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ All rights reserved. A myth is a story that a culture assumes is true A myth embodies a culture’s views and beliefs about its world, often serving to explain otherwise mysterious natural phenomena As a mode of understanding and explanation, myth has been one of the most important forces driving the development of culture Myths are grounded in observed experience Myths serve to rationalize the unknown and to explain to people the nature of the universe and their place within it

Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ All rights reserved. Myth in the Native American Cultures of the Southwest The ancient religious rites and ceremonies tell stories that relate to the experiences of the Pueblo peoples, from planting, hunting, and fishing in daily life to the larger experiences of birth, puberty, maturity, and death The emergence tales explain the origin of the world, the beginning of a particular Pueblo people, and their history

Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ All rights reserved. Japan and the Role of Myth in the Shinto Religion A culture’s religion is closely tied to and penetrated by mythical elements Myths reflects the community’s ideals, its history, its aspirations, its moral and political system, its social organization, and its most fundamental beliefs According to the indigenous Japanese religion of Shinto, Japanese emperors were not only put in position by the gods, but directly descended from the gods, and were hence divine The three sacred treasures of Shinto or Imperial regalia are not merely considered symbols of the divine, but “deity bodies” in which the powers of the gods reside (i.e., valor in the sword, wisdom in the mirror, and benevolence in the jewel necklace)

Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ All rights reserved. What role do sacred sites play in prehistoric culture?

Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ All rights reserved. The Olmec The colossal stone heads of the Olmec culture originally stood guard over the ceremonial center in La Venta (Mexico) They are generally believed to be portraits of Olmec rulers all sharing the same facial features, including wide, flat noses, and thick lips The stone heads suggest that the ruler was the culture’s principal mediator with the gods