chapter 1: prehistoric art

bitumen

a black tarlike substance used in Prehistoric and Ancient works of art

nomad

people of a tribe who move from place to place, usually following a food supply

shaman

a person who acts as an intermediary between the natural and supernatural worlds, using magic to cure illness, tell the future, or control spiritual forces

relief

in sculpture, figures project from the background of which they are a part. the degree of relief is high or low (bas relief)

fertile crescent

a very fertile agricultural area in Iraq, located between the Tigris and Euphrates and extending out to the Levant

neolithic

8,000 BCE, relating to the time period of the last years of the stone age

• marked by the domestication of animals, the development of agriculture, and the manufacture of pottery

venus figure

female figures made my Prehistoric people, often carved from pebbles and stones, which exhibit exaggerated female characteristics to emphasize fertility

narrative

visual imagery that tells a story

incising

marks or designs made by cutting into a surface

ivory

a hard white substance composing the tusks of animals, including the elephant and rhino

charcoal

a carbon-based drawing material created by heating wood in the absence of air

carbon-14 dating

also known as radiocarbon dating, it determines the age of materials based on measurer of radioactivity in their carbon content

mesolithic

a transitional period of the stone age, between the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods, it is characterized by adaptation to hunting and fishing

post-and-lintel

a system of architectural construction where two posts support a horizontal lintel

trilithon

a pair of monoliths topped with a lintel; found in megalithic structures

landscape

a picture of a natural setting, without any narrative content

composite view

a convention of representation in which part of a figure is shown in profile and another part of the same figure is shown frontally

portable

able to be carried

dry masonry

stones laid without mortar

mural

a large-scale wall painting

megalithic

“a great stone”, large and roughly cut, used the construction of monumental prehistoric structures