Chapter 6 Summary-Cotner Page 1 of 3

Chapter 6: Art in Focus Summary

Cynthia Cotner

UNM English 112-Cotner

January 6, 2016.

Chapter 6 Summary-Cotner Page 2 of 3

“Chapter 6: Art of the Earliest Times” from the textbook Art

in Focus highlights the history of art from the Paleolithic Pe-

riod called the Stone Age ranging from 30,000 BC—

10,000BC and ending in 2500BC. (Mittler 2000) This period

is between the end of the ice age and the beginning of the

stone age. One example of this early period was the cave

paintings. According to Collins (2000( the Lascaux cave paintings were discovered in 1941 acci-

dentally by a boy and his dog. The paintings are of bison and deer through the ceiling of the

caves which were probably used as a basis for hunting rituals. The most surpris-

ing is the size of the paintings some of which are seven feet tall.(149) The pig-

ments were clay mixed with animal blood and fat. (149) A later example of this

periodic art were rock carvings and standing stones. For example, the Woman of

Willendorf is a 4 inch statute of a female fertility figure.(http://www.visual-arts-

cork.com/prehistoric/venus-of-willendorf.htm) She was carved from limestone found in Willen-

dorf, Austria.(151) Lastly, the large megaliths, large

monuments created from large stones, were part of

the later period. These include Stonehenge 4000

B.C, an unusual circular arrangements of huge,

rough-hewn stones erected in western Europe. The

tallest of these are 17 feet and weight 50 tons which exhibit a post and lintel construction sup-

porting massive crossbeams or posts. Scholars are uncertain to their purpose but some believe

they were an astronomy observatory. (Mittler, 170) These artifacts show the value of art

throughout this period in culture and a pre-historic belief systems through crude mediums in pig-

ments and rock. Although this period was the hallmark of art’s beginning, it opened the advent

of Art of the Fertile Crescent which followed the development of writing and ziggurats.

(Collins 2016)

Collins

(Collins)

Chapter 6 Summary-Cotner Page 3 of 3

Works Cited

Colliins, Neil MA LLB (2016), Art Enclylopedia, “Venus of Willendorf, ” Retrieved from

http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/index.htm1.4.2016.