Prehistoric Art

Stone Age unit :^)

What is prehistory?

Prehistoric means before written/recorded history.

• Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) 30,000-8,000 B.C.E.

• Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) 8,000-6/4,000 B.C.E.

• Neolithic (new Stone Age) 8,000-3,000 B.C.E.

2 main types of archaeological dating...

Stratigraphic and Carbon-14 dating.

Stratigraphic

Recording the precise placement of artifacts in layers of ancient sediment.

Carbon-14 Dating

Developed in 1946, and can date objects from 500 to 50,000 years old using data from the radioactive half-life of Carbon 14.

Pictogram

a pictorial symbol for a word or phrase

In-The-Round

a 3D piece of art you can view from all sides, and you can walk around

Subtractive Sculpture

removing material to create a finished sculptural work

Apollo 11 Stones

paleolithic, Nambia, charcoal on stone

Venus of Willendorf

paleolithic, limestone, Czech Republic

Great Hall of the Bulls

paleolithic, France, rock painting

Camelid Sacrum in the shape of a canine

Paleolithic to Mesolithic, Mexico, bone

Running Horned Woman

pigment on rock, Algeria, mesolithic

Mother Goddess

clay, from Catal Huyuk (a Neolithic city in Turkey) and is therefore neolithic

Beaker with Ibex Motifs

Iran, neolithic, painted terracotta

Anthropomorphic Stele

Arabian peninsula, mesolithic, sandstone

Jade Cong

China, carved jade, neolithic

Stonehenge

United Kingdom, neolithic, sandstone

Parts of Stonehenge

Ambum Stone

Papua New Guinea, neolithic, greywacke (type of sandstone)

Tlatico Female Figures

central Mexico, neolithic, ceramic

Terracotta Fragment

made by the Lapita (ancient Pacific Islander culture), Solomon/Reef Islands, neolithic, incised terracotta

Relief

a wall-mounted sculpture in which the 3D elements are raised from a flat base

Shamanism

a religion practiced by indigenous peoples that is characterized by belief in an unseen world of gods, demons, and ancestral spirits responsive only to the shamans

Anthropomorphic

the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities

Stele

standing stone slab used in the ancient world primarily as a grave marker but also for dedication, commemoration, and demarcation

Composite View

a pose that combines 2 or more viewpoints in a single representation

Hierarchical Scale

technique used in art in which the artist uses unnatural proportion or scale to depict the relative importance of the figures in the artwork

Additive Sculpture

adding material to create a sculptural work

Frieze

a broad horizontal band of sculpted or painted decoration

Megalith

A large stone used to construct a structure or monument, such as a tomb or a stone circle

Post and Lintel

a building system where strong horizontal elements are held up by strong vertical elements with large spaces between them