1. Events, Art and Architecture
Prehistory
Events, Art and Architecture

2. Dating Conventions and Abbreviations
B.C.=before Christ B.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
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3. Prehistory 4,000,000 BCE – first hominids walk upright (homo erectus)
2,000,000 BCE – first tool making hominids (homo habilis)
200,000 BCE – first modern humans appear in Africa(homo sapiens)
100,000 BCE – first evidence of religious practices (serious burials)
50,000 BCE – fully modern language appears (vocal cords in skeletal remains)

4. Prehistory
40,000 BCE – small portable stone figures first appear (sculptures)
35,000 – 10, 000 BCE – homo sapiens become dominant species over Neandertal
28,000 BCE – first known cave paintings appear at Chauvet in France
15,000 – 10, 000 BCE – Lascaux and Altamira cave paintings in France and Spain respectively appear
9000 BCE – animals begin to be domesticated
8000 BCE – agriculture and animals domesticated cause the Neolithic Agricultural Revolution

5. Prehistory
BCE – Jericho develops as world’s oldest continuously inhabited city
7000 BCE – Pottery develops
3300 BCE – earliest writing develops in Mesopotamia (Sumer) – ends prehistoric period begins historic period
3000 BCE – Bronze Age begins in Mesopotamia
2300 BCE – by this point most cultures have moved into the Bronze Age – end of Stone Age

6. Three Eras of Prehistory
Paleolithic – Old Stone Age – 40,000 – 10, 000 BCE
Mesolithic – Middle Stone Age – 10,000 – 8,000 BCE
Neolithic – New Stone Age – 8,000 – 2,300 BCE

7. Megalithic Monument Types
Menhirs – simplest megalithic form, upright slabs that served as grave markers, parts of circles or made patterns.

8. Megalithic Monument Types
Dolmen – two upright slabs with one single slab placed on top; used as houses of the dead, for stone circles and for tombs.
This is an example of post and lintel architecture

9. Megalithic Monument Types
Cromlech – either menhirs or dolmens set up into a circular pattern; used as calendars, tombs and for ritual religious ceremonies.

10. Paleolithic Art Characteristics
Tends to be more realistic rather than abstract
Sculptures are usually small and portable
Humans rarely depicted
Focus on natural not spiritual world

11. Neolithic Art Characteristics
Tends to be more abstract than realistic
Architecture develops
Art for utilitarian purposes
Humans depicted frequently
More focus on the spiritual aspects of life

12. River Valley Civilizations
Tigris and Euphrates River Valley – Mesopotamian Civilization
Nile River Valley – Egyptian Civilization
Indus River Valley – Indian Civilization
Yang Tze (Yellow) River Valley – Chinese Civilization

13. Prehistoric Art

14. How the Art Work Slides Look
Title
Date created
City created in
Style (Painting, etc)
Artist (if applicable)
Important Information

15. Art Works Pebble resembling a human face ca. 3,000,000 B.C.E.
Makaspansgat South Africa
Sculpture
approximately 2 3/8 in. wide
First art object
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16. Prehistory Chauvet Cave Panorama 28,000 BCE Chauvet, France
Oldest known paintings
Found deep inside cave
Religious Rituals
Education

17. Chauvet Cave paintings
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Chauvet Cave paintings

18. Chauvet Cave

19. Prehistory Hall of the Bulls 15,000 – 10, 000 BCE Lascaux, France
Painting
Realistic portrayal of animals – hunting aid, education or ritual use

20. FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY
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21. Lascaux
Bird headed man
Chinese Horse

22. Pech-Merle Cave paintings 22,000 BCE Lot, France
pigment on stone
Use of natural features to create the art
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23. Prehistory Two Bison 13,000 BCE Ariege, France Relief Sculpture
As with painting, animals were the main theme in prehistoric sculpture
Carved right from the clay of the cave itself
Note the detail

24. For publication, reproduction or transmission of images, please contact individual artists, estates, photographers and exhibiting institutions for permissions and rights.

25. Human with Feline Head ca. 30,000-28,000 B.C.E.
Hohlenstein-Stadel, Germany
Sculpture
11 5/8 in. high
Shaman/ Witch-doctor figure
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26. Prehistory Wounded Bison 15,000 – 10,000 BCE Altamira, Spain
Bison in middle is hurt by arrow
Realism portrayed
1 of 3 great cave painting sites

27. For publication, reproduction or transmission of images, please contact individual artists, estates, photographers and exhibiting institutions for permissions and rights.

28. New finds 2009 Venus of Hohle Fels 38,000 – 33,000 BCE
Hohle Fels, Germany
Sculpture
Changes the dates of earliest human forms by 10,000 years
Enlarged breasts, detailed genitalia suggest fertility symbol
Made of mammoth ivory; scratches across body could represent clothing
No head just a hook to possibly hang/wear as a charm

29. Prehistoric Art Venus of Willendorf 25,000-20,000 BC
Willendorf, Austria
Sculpture
Was considered the earliest depiction of human figure until 2009
Symbolizes fertility
Only 4 inches tall – served as charm

30. Venus of Laussel Woman Holding Animal Horn 30,000 BCE Laussel, France
Relief sculpture
Similar to Willendorf in style

31. Various European “Venus” figures
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Various European “Venus” figures

32. Prehistory Herd crossing river, hunters with bows & arrows
8,000 – 3,000 BCE
Valtorta Gorge, Spain
Painting
Neolithic art portrayed more interaction between men and their environment
Not deep inside caves any longer

33. Mammoth bone dwelling ca. 16,000-10,000 B.C.E. Ukraine Architecture
First individual architectural dwelling
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34. Mammoth Bone House - Ukraine

35. Prehistoric Art Newgrange C. 3000-2500 BCE Newgrange, Ireland
Architecture
Originally a stone circle, now a tomb
Calendar to tell equinoxes and solstices

36. Prehistoric Art Stonehenge 2950 BCE Salisbury Plain, England
Architecture
Used as calendar
Most significant stone circle in Europe; used in ritual sacrifices for sun cult

37. FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY
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38. Prehistoric Art

39. Figures of Man and Woman
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Slide concept by William V. Ganis, PhD
Figures of Man and Woman
ca. 4,000-3,500 B.C.E.
Cernavoda, Romania
Pottery/sculpture Possibly married couple?

40. FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY
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41. Great Stone Tower of Settlement Wall
ca. 8,000-7,000 B.C.E.
Jericho, Israel/Palestine
Architecture
Jericho is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world
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42. Human Skulls with Restored Features
ca. 7,000-6,000 B.C.E.
Jericho, Israel/Palestine
Sculpture
Skulls, plaster, shells
Possible ancestor worship – or ward off evil
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43. FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY
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44. Catal Huyok

45. FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY
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46. Landscape with Volcanic Eruption
Çatal Höyük, Turkey
watercolor copy of a wall painting
Oldest portrayal of a natural disaster
May be oldest city in the world
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47. Prehistoric Art
The End
Next lecture: Ancient Near East