Abad, Isel Jhian E.

Amparo, Andrea L.

Amazona, Andrea

Ateneo de Davao University

PREHISTORIC ART

PREHISTORIC ART

Art created before writing

systems, or records of history

were created.

Prehistoric Art 35,000 B.C.E. to 1,500 B.C.E.

The Beginning of Art Prehistory

-before writing.

STONE AGE ART

• The first known period of prehistoric human culture, during

which work was done with stone tools. The period began with

the earliest human development, about 2 million years ago. It is

divided into three periods:

The Palaeolithic period, or Old Stone Age

The Mesolithic period, or Middle Stone Age,

The time periods and cultural content of the Neolithic period, or

New Stone Age

The Palaeolithic period, or Old Stone Age, was the longest phase of

human history. Its most outstanding feature was the development of

the human species-- Homo sapiens. Palaeolithic peoples were

generally nomadic hunters and gatherers who sheltered in caves,

used fire, and fashioned stone tools. Their cultures are identified by

distinctive stone-tool industries. By the Upper Palaeolithic there is

evidence of communal hunting, constructed shelters, and belief

systems centering on magic and the supernatural. Rock carving and

paintings reached their peak in the Magdalenian culture of Cro-

Magnon man.

WHO WERE THE ARTISTS?

• Cro-Magnon peoples from 30,000 BCE are currently

known as the world’s first artists.

• They lived in caves when it was cold.

• Hunted animals for food, clothing, tools, and shelter.

The First Discovery…

In the autumn of 1879, Spanish nobleman and

amateur archaeologist Marcelino Sanz de

Sautuloa and his young daughter, Maria, set

out to explore a cave in the hillside of Altamira,

not far from the family estate in northern

Spain. As a gentleman scholar, De Sautuola

took a serious interest in finding out more

about the prehistoric past.

• Little Maria was small enough to see into the

narrow opening of the cave in their backyard.

What she saw changed history…

Making history…

Maria had just

become the first

modern human to

set eyes on the first

gallery of prehistoric

paintings ever to be

discovered.

THE ALTAMIRA CAVE

• The Cave of Altamira is a cave in Spain famous for its

Upper Paleolithic cave paintings featuring drawings and

polychrome rock paintings of wild mammals and human

hands. It was the first cave in which prehistoric cave

paintings were discovered.

CAVE PAINTINGS

• Cave Paintings are found all over

the world. Western Europe,

primarily Southern France and

Northern Spain, are rich with

caves containing Stone Age wall

paintings.

THE ART• Rock paintings have been

found to include line

drawings in charcoal and

red ochre, painted images,

and negative images, which

are formed by painting the

rock area around an object,

such as a hand.

HOW WERE THEY MADE?

• These Palaeolithic artists made paint out of

natural substances such as red and yellow

earth, different colored minerals, and black

charcoal. They would grind these into a powder

and mix with water (scientists have found cave

water works really well for this).

SUBJECTS OF PAINTINGS

Aurochs- an ancient bull

Horses

Fish(rare)

Rhinoceroses and bisonAlso- ibex goats

hyenas turtles

people human

hands marks that

represent a

calendar

WHY WERE THEY MADE?

• We don't know why the painters made cave paintings.

• The theories include:

Hunting

Part of their spiritual beliefs

Ceremonial - coming of age

As an aid to memory and pass on

LASCAUX, FRANCE (CAVE)

LASCAUX CAVES

• 15,000-13,000BCE

• Researchers think that this horse

was part of a magic hunting ritual.

They believe that the artists threw

spears at the horse because

there are marks on the walls of

the cave.

• The Mesolithic period, or Middle Stone Age, began at the end of the last

glacial era, over 10,000 years ago. Cultures included gradual domestication

of plants and animals, formation of settled communities, use of the bow, and

development of delicate stone microliths and pottery.

• The time periods and cultural content of the Neolithic period, or New Stone

Age, vary with geographic location. The earliest known Neolithic culture

developed from the Natufian in Southwestern Asia between 9000 and 7000

BCE. People lived in settled villages, cultivated grains and domesticated

animals, developed pottery,spinning, and weaving, and evolved into the

urban civilizations of the Bronze Age. In Southeast Asia a distinct type of

Neolithic culture cultivated rice before 2000 BCE. New World peoples

independently domesticated plants and animals, and by 1500 BCE Neolithic

cultures existed in Mesoamerica that led to the Aztec and Inca civilizations.

• Making generalizations about the visual culture of any group of people is a

crude endeavor, especially with a culture as diverse as that of the Stone Age.

With this thought in mind, know that this survey, as any must be, is

tremendously limited in its breadth and depth.

EXAMPLES OF STONE AGE ART:

Among the earliest pieces of prehistoric

sculpture that has been found is the Venus

of Willendorf , c. 30,0000 - 25,000 BCE,

limestone, height 11 cm, found in lower

Austria, now in Naturhistorisches Museum,

Vienna. Clearly the female reproductive

anatomy has been exagerrated, and

therefore experts think it likely that it

represented a fertility symbol, perhaps

carried by a male hunter/gatherer as a

reminder of his mate back home. [Short

videos of this sculpture.]

THE ALTAMIRA CAVE

• The Cave of Altamira is a cave in Spain famous for its

Upper Paleolithic cave paintings featuring drawings and

polychrome rock paintings of wild mammals and human

hands. It was the first cave in which prehistoric cave

paintings were discovered.

CHINA, PAINTED TWIN-JAR

• Yangshao culture (c.5000 -

2000 BCE), pottery, height 20

cm, Henan Museum, China.

Unearthed at Zhengzhou,

Henan. This jar was used for

drinking wine. Two people,

each holding a side of the jar,

would drink simultaneously.

This custom is still practiced

in various cultures today —

symbolizing love and

friendship.

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