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
Characterized by nomadic hunting and gathering, no permanent dwellings.
Mesolithic – Middle Stone Age – 10,000 – 8,000 BCE
Characterized by early domestication of animals; hunting and fishing settlements begin
Neolithic – New Stone Age – 8,000 – 2,300 BCE
Development of full scale agriculture and settlements

7. 1.1 Paleolithic Art in Western Europe and Africa
Explore why art must be intentional and representational in order to be called art.
Explore why subject matter was depicted a particular way (stylistic innovation) in Namibia during the Paleolithic period.
Describe the roles of animals and human figures in Paleolithic art.

8. The Earliest Sculpted Forms
Examine the nature and reasons for the earliest sculpted forms, the majority of which are stylized depictions of women.
Define the terms sculpture in the round and high relief sculpture.

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

10. Anonymous. Neolithic menhir alignments at Ménec, Carnac, Brittany, France. ca. 4250-3750 BCE.

11. 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

12. Anonymous. Neolithic dolmen
Anonymous. Neolithic dolmen. Poulnabrone Dolmen, on the Burren limestone plateau, County Clare, Ireland. ca BCE.
Anonymous. Neolithic dolmen. Poulnabrone Dolmen, on the Burren limestone plateau, County Clare, Ireland. ca BCE.

13. Materials & Techniques: Post-and-lintel and corbel construction in the Neolithic period (line drawing). ca. 2750–1500 BCE.
Materials & Techniques: Post-and-lintel and corbel construction in the Neolithic period (line drawing). ca. 2750–1500 BCE.

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

15. 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

16. Map: The Great river valley civilizations ca. 2000 BCE.

17. How the Art Work Slides Look
Title
Date created (if known)
City created in (if known)
Style (Painting, etc)
Artist (if applicable)
Important Information (lots of test questions come from here)

18. 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

19. Prehistoric Art

20. Examining Materials and Techniques
Examine the materials and techniques of Paleolithic cave painting.
What are several possible reasons why Paleolithic paintings, drawings and sculptures were created?
Examine the issues of dating Paleolithic art.

21. Paleolithic Cave Art
In the absence of a written history, there are only educated, well-reasoned suppositions regarding art’s meaning and function. Assembling the clues, archaeologists know the following about Old Stone Age people and their art:
1) People lived near the entrances of caves.
2) Wall murals are found in the deepest recesses within the caves.
3) The vast majority of the images are of animals.
4) Many of the images have been nicked, suggesting that spears or arrows may have been hurled at them.
5) The images seem to be superimposed one over another, suggesting that they may have been executed at different times and perhaps over long periods of time as opposed to a single decorative campaign resulting in a single unified artistic design.
6) Most of the European caves are found in southern France and north western Spain.
The most famous of the more than 130 caves found in the region of the Pyrenees are Chauvet, Lascaux and Altamira.
Recent discoveries of ever more remote caverns within Chauvet have revealed older yet very sophisticated cave paintings, thus challenging the idea that Paleolithic art skills progressed in a linear manner.
7) Prehistoric artists often incorporated natural rock formations on cave walls, sometimes incising lines.
8) Sticks of charcoal and naturally occurring minerals (such as red iron oxide) were commonly used for the drawings. Tallow was at times mixed with the minerals, making a kind of ancient oil pastel.

22. Pebble resembling a human face from Makaspansgat South Africa
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Pebble resembling a human face
from Makaspansgat South Africa
ca. 3,000,000 B.C.E.
reddish brown jasperite
approximately 2 3/8 in. wide
First art object

23. Prehistory Chauvet Cave Panorama 28,000 BCE Chauvet, France
Oldest known paintings
Found deep inside cave
Rituals?
Education?

24. Chauvet Cave paintings Vallon-Pont-d’Arc, Ardèche, France
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Chauvet Cave paintings
Vallon-Pont-d’Arc, Ardèche, France
ca. 30,000-28,000 B.C.E.
pigment on stone

25. Chauvet Cave

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

27. FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY
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28. Lascaux
Bird headed man
Chinese Horse

29. Pech-Merle Cave paintings Lot, France
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Pech-Merle Cave paintings
Lot, France
ca. 22,000 B.C.E.
pigment on stone
Use of natural features to create the art

30. Prehistory Two Bison 13,000 BCE Ariege, France
As with painting, animals were the main theme in prehistoric sculpture
Carved right from the clay of the cave itself
Note the detail

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

32. from Hohlenstein-Stadel, Germany
Human with Feline Head
from Hohlenstein-Stadel, Germany
ca. 30,000-28,000 B.C.E.
mammoth ivory
11 5/8 in. high
Shaman? Witch-doctor figure
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33. 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

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

35. Prehistoric Art Venus of Willendorf 25,000-20,000 BC
Willendorf, Austria
Earliest depiction of human figure
Symbolizes fertility
Only 4 inches tall – served as charm

36. Venus of Laussel Woman Holding Animal Horn 30000 BCE Laussel, France
Similar to Willendorf in style

37. Various European “Venus” figures
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Various European “Venus” figures

38. 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

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

40. Mammoth bone dwelling from Ukraine ca. 16,000-10,000 B.C.E.
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Mammoth bone dwelling
from Ukraine
ca. 16,000-10,000 B.C.E.
First architectural dwelling

41. Mammoth Bone House - Ukraine

42. Anonymous. Reconstruction of a mammoth-bone house, Mezhirich, Ukraine
Anonymous. Reconstruction of a mammoth-bone house, Mezhirich, Ukraine. ca. 16,000-10,000 BCE.
Anonymous. Reconstruction of a mammoth-bone house, Mezhirich, Ukraine. ca. 16,000-10,000 BCE.

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

44. NewGrange Entrance

45. Anonymous. House interior, Skara Brae, Orkney Islands, Scotland. ca
Anonymous. House interior, Skara Brae, Orkney Islands, Scotland. ca BCE.
Anonymous. House Interior, Skara Brae, Orkney Islands, Scotland. ca BCE.

46. Village of Skara Brae, Orkney Islands, Scotland. Plan. 1776.

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

48. FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY
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49. Prehistoric Art

50. How the stone trilithons at Stonehenge were built (7 color ills. ). ca
How the stone trilithons at Stonehenge were built (7 color ills.). ca. 2750–1500 BCE.
How the stone trilithons at Stonehenge were built (7 color ills.). ca. 2750–1500 BCE.

51. The Design and Making of Stonehenge: Reconstruction of the complete monument, aerial view (color ill.). ca. 2750–1500 BCE.
The Design and Making of Stonehenge: Reconstruction of the complete monument, aerial view (color ill.). ca. 2750–1500 BCE.

52. Figures of Man and Woman From Cernavoda, Romania
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Slide concept by William V. Ganis, PhD
Figures of Man and Woman
From Cernavoda, Romania
ca. 4,000-3,500 B.C.E. ceramic 4 1/2 in. high
Pottery….

53. FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY
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54. Great Stone Tower of Settlement Wall Jericho, Israel/Gaza
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Great Stone Tower of Settlement Wall
Jericho, Israel/Gaza
ca. 8,000-7,000 B.C.E.
Jericho is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world

55. Human Skulls with Restored Features from Jericho, Israel/Gaza
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Human Skulls with Restored Features
from Jericho, Israel/Gaza
ca. 7,000-6,000 B.C.E. skulls, plaster, shells
Possible ancestor worship

56. FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY
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57. Catal Huyok

58. FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY
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59. Landscape with Volcanic Eruption
Çatal Höyük, Turkey ca watercolor copy of a wall painting
Oldest portrayal of a natural disaster
May be oldest city in the world
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60. Discussion Questions
In the textbook, emphasis is placed on a criterion of intentional manipulation of an object in order for it to be classified as “art.” Is this criterion valid? What is your definition of art?
Why do you think that images of man were less prevalent in Paleolithic art than those of women?
What accounts for the lifestyle changes? How did lifestyle changes between Paleolithic and Neolithic populations affect art and architecture?
How is the human figure presented differently in the Paleolithic to the Neolithic periods? Are there any similarities in the representation of the human figure between the two periods?

61. Prehistoric Art
The End
Next lecture: Ancient Near East