Prehistoric Art - Ancient Near Eastern Art

Prehistoric Art

History of visual culture

• Sulawesi Pig

• Paleolithic Period

• Indonesia

• Earliest known figural representations

• About 45,000 years old

• For the longest time scholars thought the earliest paintings would be in European caves (broke expectations)

• Apollo 11 Cave Stones

• Mesolithic Period

• Namibia, Africa

• At time of discovery it was the oldest art found in Africa

• Example of art mobilizer: art that is portable

• Named after what the German archaeologists was doing (listening to the Apollo 11 mission) (also connects the discovery to something monumental like going to the moon)

• Hall of Bulls, Lascaux Caves

• Paleolithic period

• France

• The most recognizable features are being drawn most prominently (the horns)

• Largest bull is 18ft long

• It is intentional and utilizes a lot of space.

• Bird-Headed Man with Bison, Lascaux Caves

• Paleolithic period

• France

• 16ft down from the Hall of Bulls (it was intentional

• Ex: of a narratives meaning it tells a story

• Some of the earliest human representations of an animal

• Woman form Willendorf

• Paleolithic period

• Austria

• Ex: of art mobilier it is small, handheld, and portable

• focus is on her body not her extremities

• Ex: of a sculpture in the round meaning it carved from all shades, 3D

• Figure of a Woman and Figure of a Man

• Neolithic Period

• Romania

• First examples of ceramic (made of baked clay)

• Implies a level of sophistication bc you have to prepare your material, form it, then bake it

• Found in a group of graves, these were found in the same graves (meaning they served a different purpose)

• Hallmark of the Neolithic period, agriculture, domestication of animals, development of year round settlements

• Newgrange

• Neolithic Period

• Ireland

• Megalithic: architecture constructed of large stones

• Made of roughy 200,000 tons of stone

• Demonstrates advanced engineering by ancient farming communities

• Stonehenge

• Neolithic Period

• England

• Megalithic: made of large stones

• Post and lintel construction: made of two or more vertical elements and a supporting horizontal element

• Started as a cemetery for cremated remains

• A site of ceremony, has always had a connection with the dead

• Nanna Ziggurat

• Ancient Near East Period

• Modern Iraq

• It’s a Ziggurat which is a step pyramid structure w/a temple on top

• It was dedicated to the moon goddess Nanna

• Serves as a symbolic bridge to the gods

• Carved Vase

• Ancient Near East Period

• Modern Iraq

• Has registers which is a system of organizing using bands

• It’s a narrative and tells a story of celebrating to bring in the new year

• Said to be for Inanna, Nanna’s daughter the goddess of fertility.

• Votive Statues from the Square Temple

• Ancient Near East Period

• Modern Iraq

• Votive Figures: images created as a devotional offering

• They are in perpetual prayer: Sumerians believed you should approach the gods with wide open eyes

• They are substitutes for the donor to pray in their place.

• Great Lyre with Bull’s Head

• Ancient Near East Period

• Modern Iraq

• Narrative: it tells a story

• Ha