The Birth of Art Paleolithic and Neolithic Artists 30,000 BCE 500 BCE
Art History Chapter 1 Prehistory
Global Prehistory Prehistory (or the prehistoric period) refers to the time before written records, however, human expression existed across the globe long before writing. Writing emerged at different times in different parts of the world. The earliest writing is found in ancient Mesopotamia, c. 3200 B.C.E. Often, art history texts begin with the prehistoric art of Europe. However, very early art is found worldwide.
Early Rock Painting Cave of the Hands, Spain The earliest peoples were hunter-gatherers (until about 12,000 years ago) who created imagery in many different media fired ceramics, painting, sculpture and who built architecture. The oldest art found to date are rock paintings and sculpture from c. 77,000 years ago.
The Stone Ages Periods of time before the written record are often defined in terms of geological eras or major shifts in climate and environment. The periods of global prehistory, known as lithic or stone ages, are Paleolithic ( old stone age ), Mesolithic ( middle stone age ), and Neolithic ( new stone age ). A glacial period produced European ice ages; Saharan agricultural grassland became desert; and tectonic shifts in southeast Asia created land bridges between the continent and the now-islands of the Pacific south of the equator. Human behavior and expression was influenced by the changing environments in which they lived. 2013 The College Board
The Paleolithic and Neolithic Period The stone age is a prehistoric period when stone implements were widely used. The stone age is divided into the Paleolithic (old stone age) and Neolithic (new stone age). After the Stone age, the next periods are known as the bronze age and the iron age. Historians distinguish the Neolithic period by the transition from people living as hunter-gatherers to the development of farming and the domestication of animals.
The Origin of Art Much older phenomenon than previously thought Roots in the African continent. Despite some sites being 8,000km and 40,000 years apart, an intriguing feature of the earliest art is that these first attempts appear remarkably similar. However the term "art" in this context is highly problematic We cannot assume that humans living 100,000 years ago, or even 10,000 years ago, had a concept of art in the same way that we do, but it remains a useful umbrella term for our purposes.
In many world regions including those not in direct contact with one another art shows humans awareness of fundamental, stable phenomena, from the macrocosmic (e.g., astronomical cycles, such as equinoxes and solstices) to the microcosmic (e.g., exploitation of permanent materials available in local environments, such as stone, hardened clay, and jade).
Apollo 11 Stones The oldest scientificallydated rock art in Africa dates from around 26,000-28,000 years ago and is found in Namibia. Between 1969 and 1972, German archaeologist, W.E. Wendt, unearthed several painted slabs in a cave he named Apollo 11, after NASA s successful moon landing mission.
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Out of Africa While the Apollo 11 plaques may be the oldest discovered representational art in Africa, this is not the beginning of the story of art. It is now well-established, through genetic and fossil evidence, that anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) developed in Africa more than 100,000 years ago; of these, a small group left the Continent around 60,000-80,000 years ago and spread throughout the rest of the world.
Earliest example of rock art Dotted marks indicate body paint Featureless face White parallel patterns represent flowing raffia decor Horns shown in twisted perspective or composite are part of ceremonial attire
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Asia In Asia, we have found Paleolithic and Neolithic cave paintings that feature animal imagery (in the mountains of Central Asia and Iran). Animal imagery has also been found in rock shelters throughout central India. In prehistoric China, we find ritual objects created in jade, (beginning a 5,000-year tradition of working with the precious medium). Ritual, tomb, and memorializing arts are found across Neolithic Asia, including impressive funerary steles from Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
Funerary Bushel, Iran Bushel with Ibex Motifs Video Great analysis of the design elements
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Anthropomorphic Stele Anthropomorphic: having human characteristics Stele: Large upright stone 4000 BCE Among earliest known works of art from the Arabian Peninsula. Probably associated with religious or burial practices.
Jade Cong, China Generally considered to be a ritual object of some sort Original function and meaning of the cong are unknown. smarthistory cong video
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The Pacific In the Pacific region, people migrated from Asia approximately 45,000 years over land bridges. The earliest created objects have been dated to c. 8,000 years ago. The Lapita peoples, who moved eastward from Melanesia to Polynesia beginning about 4,000 years ago, created pottery with incised geometric designs that appear across the region in multiple media today.
The Ambum Stone 1500 BCE Papua New Guinea Discovered in a cave during the early 1960s One of the earliest known Pacific works of art May depict the embryo of a long beaked echidna (spiny anteater). Significance and function remains obscure
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Lapita Ceramics Ancient Pacific culture Lapita ceramics feature intricate repeating geometric patterns that occasionally include anthropomorphic faces and figures. The patterns were incised into the pots before firing with a comb like tool used to stamp designs into the wet clay.
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The Americas On the American continent, peoples who migrated from Asia (before 10,000 B.C.E.) first made sculptures from animal bone and later from clay.
14,000-17,000 BCE Discovered in 1870 One of the earliest cultural from Mesoamerica. Carved from the sacrum of a now extinct American relative of the camel Its original use remains unknown. Camelid Sacrum, Mexico
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Tlatilco Female Figure Tlatilco, in the western portion of the Valley of Mexico, well known for its distinctive figurines Among the earliest produced in Mesoamerica. Characteristically, the figurine is completely nude, revealing an exaggerated contrast in proportions The short arms extend away from the body Tlatilco figurines document a fascination with physical deformities, the most common being two-headed or fusedhead females. Iimagery was probably implemented to symbolize duality, a fundamental concept ubiquitous to Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican religions. http://artmuseum.princeton.edu/collections/objects/39164
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Paleolithic and Neolithic Art in Europe In Europe, we have found: small human figural sculptures (central Europe) cave paintings (France and Spain) outdoor, monumental stone assemblages (British Isles)
Venus of Hohle Upper Paleolithic Venus figurine Ivory from mammoth tusk Found in 2008 near Schelklingen, Germany. 35,000 and 40,000 BCE Associated with the assumed earliest presence of Homo sapiens in Europe Oldest undisputed example of Upper Paleolithic art and figurative prehistoric art in general. https://www.youtube.com/watch? feature=player_embedded&v=y8novocsygs
Cave Painting Lascaux France 15,000 to 10,000 BCE
The Cave at Lascaux, France 15,000-13,000 BCE The cave is not large; it is only 90 feet from the entrance to the cat's hole. Passages that led to the caves were narrow and low. This famous cave was discovered in 1940, 70 years after Altamira, by a group of boys and a dog and the rabbit they were chasing. The dog fell into a hole left by a recently uprooted tree. When one of the boys slithered down the hole to rescue the dog, he found himself in a gallery bright with color and animals on the walls.
The Hall of Bulls, Panoramic view of a cave wall Lascaux, France, early period, 15,000-13,500 B.C.
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Note the various sizes of animals that were probably added at different times over a 1,000 years. Some animals are painted in twisted perspective, in which the head and body is in profile but the horns are shown in 3/4 view to show both horns. and a variance of size. They are painted in polychrome ("poly" = many, "chrome" = color).
Neolithic Revolution The "Neolithic revolution" allowed people to create a more settled way of life. This happened at different times in different parts of the world. The first agriculture occurred in southwest Asia in an area historians call the "fertile crescent.
Social Changes in Neolithic Period As people adopted a more settled way of life, they began to build large structures Like dwellings, storage spaces, and animal shelters After the Ice Age, timber was in abundant supply for building People clustered their buildings in small villages They built large tombs and ritual centers outside of their settlemants
Neolithic Art The massive changes in the way people lived also changed the types of art they made. Neolithic sculpture became bigger, in part, because people didn t have to carry it around anymore; pottery became more widespread and was used to store food harvested from farms. This is when alcohol was first produced and when architecture, and its interior and exterior decoration, first appears. In short, people settle down and begin to live in one place, year after year.
Larger Dwellings had Designated Areas for Specific Tasks Cooking Eating Working stone Making cloth Sleeping Some cave dwellers colored their floors with powdered pigments. Why? Perhaps they were making an aesthetic choice. A colored floor might have been more visually pleasing to them.
Stonehenge 2500-1600 BCE
Ariel View of Stonehenge
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Skara Brae, 3100-2600 BCE Orkney Islands Scotland
Skara Brae Skara Brae was constructed of stone, which was plentiful in this austere region A long ago storm buried this seaside village under a thick layer of sand In 1850, another storm exposed the buried village This village presents a vivid picture of Neolithic Life Archeologists found beds, shelves, cooking pots, basins, and pottery
Skara Brae consists of a compact cluster of buildings linked together by covered walkways
Corbeling- each layer of stone projects slightly inward over the one below. Eventually the walls would meet creating a corbel vault
Stone House Skara Brae The walls are made entirely of stone with a type of construction called corbeling
Post and Lintel Shelves the vertical elements are posts and the horizontal one creating the bridge is the lintel
Resources Kleiner, Gardner s Art Through the Ages, Wadsworht, 2013 Marilyn Stockstad s Art History: Fifth Edition (Volumes one and two) Metropolitan Museum of Art s Timeline of Art History. Available online at http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/splash.htm Strickland, Carol. The Annotated Mona Lisa. 1992 The Web Gallery of Art. Available online at http://www.wga.hu Kahn Acdemy, https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/ap-art-history College Board