Chapter 1Prehistory

Key terms

► Paleo-lithic: palaiós (Gk: old) líthos (Gk: stone).

► Meso-lithic: mesos (Gk: middle)

► Neo-lithic:néos (Gk: New)

► Mega-lithic mega (Gk: big)

► Parietal art parietes (Latin: walls)

Key Terms►Paleo-lithic: Old Stone Age ►Meso-lithic: Middle Stone Age►Neo-lithic: New Stone Age►Mega-lithic Built with large stones►Parietal art Paintings in the walls of

caves

1. Origins of human life and culture

a) Scientists estimate the Earth is between 4 and 5 billion years old.

b) Hominids first appeared in Africa only 5,000,000 years ago.

….but what is a “hominid”?

1. Origins of human life and culture

HOMINID

► Hominid refers to humans and their ancestors.

► What are the characteristics of hominids?

Origins of human life and culture

Characteristics of hominids:

► bipedal ► shorter arms► better dexterity► larger brains► smaller faces

Origins of human life and culture

►Early hominids ►(Australopithecus , homo habilis, homo

erectus). Flourished 1.5 million to 200,000 years ago,

East Africa Large brain, sophisticated tools, knew how

to control fire Developed language skills They were carnivores and hunted large

animals. Between 500,000 and 200,000 years ago

they migrated to Asia and Europe

Origins of human life and culture The homo sapiens evolved in Africa,

ca. 120,000 BCE during the Pleistocene (Ice Age).

The homo sapiens was extremely successful, had larger brain and a lighter skeletal structure.

They spread from Africa into Asia, Europe Australia and the Americas.

Timeline► (5 million years: first hominids)► Paleo-lithic: 2,500,000 up to c. 10,000 BCE

2,500.000: first stone tools 30.000 BCE cave paintings, 20,000 BCE sculpture

► Meso-lithic: c. 10,000-8,000 BCE- animal husbandry

► Neo-lithic: New Stone Age c. 8,000-3,000 BCE Full implementation of animal husbandry and

agriculture End of perido: 3,000 BCE writing and metallurgy

Timeline2,500,000 BCE 120,000 10,000 8,000 3,000BCE Today

First

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Paleolithic Mesolithic

Neolithic History

2- Life in the Paleolithic Period (2,500,000 up to c. 10,000 BCE)► hunter-gatherer nomadic cultures► individuals did not accumulate private property► lived an egalitarian existence (no accumulation of wealth)► lived in small bands, about 30 to 50 members in each

group ► created tools made of stone► buried their dead with rituals► created artistic forms of expression:

Cave paintings Stone carvings

3-Paleolithic Cave Paintings► Dates:

How old are they?► Location:

Where can Paleolithic Paintings be found in Europe?► Themes:

What do the paintings depict?► Form:

How are these animals represented?► Function:

What were these paintings for?► Meaning:

What do they mean?

Paleolithic Cave Paintings►How old are these paintings?► They appear towards the end of the Paleolithic

period (30,000-10,000 BCE)

Paleolithic Cave Paintings(30,000 up to c. 10,000 BCE)

►Where can I see these paintings?► The best examples are found in Southern France

and Northern Spain: Lascaux, France Chauvet, France Altamira, Spain

Form and Themes

► Do the animals form a scene?

► Were the animals painted at the same time?

► Are the paintings polychromatic?

► Are they descriptive or narrative?

► Are they realistic?

Lascaux Cave, France

Form and Themes

► Has the artist used any techniques to add volume to the paintings?

Form and Themes

► The animals do not form a group. They do not share the ground line and there is no common orientation.

► Overlapping: animals painted at different times. ►  There is not a narrative or indication of place.

Lascaux, France, c. 15,000-10,000 BCE.

Form and Themes

► The paintings are descriptive.

► They are a pictorial definition of the animals.

►  Animals are represented in profile.

► Use of composite view: profile of body and frontal for horns.

Form and Themes

► Perspective: they artists used protuberances in the rock and gallery shapes to create volume.

Meaning and Function► What is the meaning and function of these

paintings?

Meaning and Function

Penguins, Cosquer Cave

Bear and rhinoceroses, Chauvet Cave

Meaning and Function► Are the paintings part of a religious ritual? Did Paleolithic

people use sympathetic magic to propitiate a good hunt?► Are all these animals a source of food? Problem: what do the

pictures of predators represent then?

Meaning and Function► Decorative? Not likely. The

paintings and engravings are located in the most remote areas of the caves.

► Arrows and hand stencils: ritual based on the belief that harming the animal’s image is like harming the animal itself.

► But predators, not only animals hunted for their meat, are depicted.

► Other interpretations: shaman summoning powers, visions, dreams, calendar, shrine?

Themes: The Humans Figure► Representations of

the human figure are extremely rare in Paleolithic art.

► There are some stick figures and some body parts, but they are very unusual in cave painting. Lascaux Cave, France

Artistic ValueObserve these paintings from the Chauvet Cave. Are they artistically accomplished?

The Chauvet Cave Discovered in 1994 Oldest prehistoric paintings (30,000 BCE)

yet the most artistically accomplished. Great variety of animals (13 species)

The progression of ArtFelines in 30,000 BCE Felines 31,000 years later…

Conclusion: The progression of art is not linear. Older works can be more artistically accomplished than newer ones.

4. Paleolithic Sculpture

Clay bison. Cave of Tuc d'Audoubert, France, c. 13,000 BCE

Apart from painting, the peoples of the Paleolithic period created sculptures in clay, rock, and bone.

Sculpture appears between 20,000 up to c. 10,000 BCE

Sculpture depict animals and female human figures.

4. Paleolithic Sculpture (20,000 up to c. 10,000 BCE)

Bison Licking an Insect Bite. La Madeleine, France, 20,000-12,000 BCE

Paleolithic sculptures are also of great artistic quality They depict animals realistically

4. Paleolithic Sculpture (26,000 up to c. 10,000 BCE)

► Figurines representing women are common in this period.

► They are often called “Venus figurines”

► The Venus of Willendorf (c. 20,000 BCE) is the most famous one.

Venus FigurinesHere are other examples. Are these representations symbolic or realistic? Are they abstract? Do they represent historical women (i.e., a queen), a

goddess (i.e., “Venus”), or an idea (fertility)? How big do you think they are? Why?

Venus Figurines

They are symbolic and abstract. They seem to represent feminine

features rather than a particular woman.

They are unrealistic (exaggerated proportions, absence of facial features).

Venus Figurines

► These figurines are really small.► They were portable► Some look like charms that

could be hanged from an necklace.

4 3/8 inches (11.1 cm)

Venus Figurines

Çatal Hüyük, c. 6,000 BCE

If they were amulets, they may have been used to propitiate fertility or to protect women in childbirth.

Artemis of Ephesus, 1st c. CE

Venus of Willendorf,c. 20,000 BCE

They maybe fertility goddesses like the later examples above, or just amulets.

5. Life in the Mesolithic and Neolithic Periods (c. 10,000-3,000 BCE)► Agrarian Revolution

End of the Ice Age Permanent settlement Domestication of animals Farming replaces hunting Pottery, weaving develop The wheel is invented At the end of this period metal tools

appear; copper and tin are made into bronze

5. Life in the Mesolithic and Neolithic Periods (c. 10,000-3,000 BCE)

With the use of animal husbandry and agriculture, the first settlements appear in the Middle East

Reconstruction of the settlement of Chatal Huyuk (Turkey).

5. Life in the Mesolithic and Neolithic Periods (c. 10,000-3,000 BCE)

Reconstruction of the interior of a Neolithic house in Chatal Huyuk (Turkey).

5. Life in the Mesolithic and Neolithic Periods (c. 10,000-3,000 BCE)

► Agriculture results in awareness of seasonal change.

► Preoccupation with regeneration (life/death of crops).

► Religious cults associated with fertility and the contributing forces (rain)

► Cult of ancestors?: human skulls covered in plaster.

6- Mesolithic/ Neolithic PaintingsPaintings in the Mesolithic/ Neolithic periods present some

new features. What has changed?

Valtorta Gorge, Spain, c. 8,000-3,000 BC

Cingle de la Mola, Spain. 7,000-4,000 BCE

Paleolithic vs. Mesolithic/Neolithic cave paintings

► Compare the Paleolithic painting above with the Mesolithic painting on the right.

Paleolithic vs. Mesolithic/Neolithic cave paintings

► Which one is more realistic? ► Which one is more schematic?► Which one narrates a scene?► Which one features humans interacting with

animals?

Paleolithic

Mesolithic

6. Mesolithic and Neolithic Paintings (c. 10,000-3,000 BCE)

► Human representation in communal scenes

► Interaction among humans and humans with animals

► Record of memorable events or rituals

► Located in shelters rather than in the interior of caves

► Less realistic, more schematic

► Usually monochromatic (use of just one color)

3. Mesolithic and Neolithic Periods (c. 10,000-3,000 BCE)

Megalithic monuments are typical in Northern Europe during this period:-They maybe burial sites-They are frequent in France, Ireland, and England.

Menhir/ monolith

3. Mesolithic and Neolithic Periods (c. 10,000-3,000 BCE) Megalithic monuments: Dolmen

3. Mesolithic and Neolithic Periods (c. 10,000-3,000 BCE)

Dolmen from Antequera, Spain, c. 2800 BCE.

3. Mesolithic and Neolithic Periods (c. 10,000-3,000 BCE)

Alignments

Carnac, France, c. 2,800 BCE

3. Mesolithic and Neolithic Periods (c. 10,000-3,000 BCE)

Megalithic monuments:

Cromlech/ Circle of stones

Stonehenge (England), c. 2750-1500 BCE

Did you know? In 1991 hikers found a

dead body in the Italian Alps and called the police.

The body was that of a man who had died in 3300 BCE!

Scientists discovered that he had been wounded in his back by an arrow. After all the discovery turned into a murder investigation!

The study of Otzi the Iceman has allowed us to learn about the life of Neolithic people in Europe

Read more about Otzi here.

Did you know that…?► By the time the outer circle

in Stonehenge was completed in 1500 BCE…

► …the Great Pyramid of Khufu in Egypt had been standing for 1,000 years?

1500 BCE 2560 BCE BCE

The Ice Age lingered in Northern Europe longer and made development in that region slower and more difficult than in the more temperate areas of Middle East and Northern Africa.