prehistory content

Apollo 11 Stones

• charcoal animal depiction of different parts

• found in cave, rock shelter

• art mobilier

Great Hall of the Bulls

• animals in twisted perspective

• Breuil theory “hunting magic”

• bisons, rhinos, horses, deer, elk, lions, bear

Camelid sacrum in the shape of a canine

• holes carved into camelid sacrum

• uncertain date; was not analyzed immediately after discovery

• may be sacred, related to reproduction

Running horned woman

• female with two horns, dots (scarification), garments possibly for dance

• groups of smaller humans

• wheat/raining grain

• elevation suggests ritual

• hierarchical scale

• falsely believed to have had Egyptian influence

Bushel with ibex motifs

• clay vessel with geometric animal forms

  • goat, dog, birds

• found in a burial

Anthropomorphic stele

• abstracted robed human figure with awl, dagger on belt

• likely a grave marker

Jade cong

• bi, discs placed on the body; cong, tubes with outer square and inner circle

• square for earth, circle for heaven

• face pattern may refer to spirits or deities

• abrasive sand

• found in burial sites

Stonehenge

1. circular ditch with entrances, Aubrey holes

2. wooden posts, burial, more pits

3. stones erected

• solar/lunar calendar

• burial site for elites

Ambum Stone

• ritual object where spirits resided

• burial object

• revalued through colonization as primitive art

Tlatilco figurines

• wide hips and thighs

• elaborate hair

• two faced, duality

Terracotta fragment

• materials from other places

• design motifs and grammar