Prehistoric Art Flashcards (Vocabulary)

Vocabulary-style flashcards summarizing key prehistoric artworks and their basic attributes.

Apollo 11 Stones

Charcoal drawings on small stone slabs from Namibia (c. 25,500–25,300 BCE); among the earliest known figurative artworks; depict animal figures in profile and possibly hybrids; may have ritualistic or symbolic purposes.

Great Hall of the Bulls

Large-scale Paleolithic cave paintings in Lascaux, France (c. 15,000–13,000 BCE); animals like bulls and horses depicted in motion using natural pigments; likely used for ritual or storytelling.

Camelid Sacrum in the Shape of a Canine

Sacrum bone carved in Tequixquiac, central Mexico (c. 14,000–7000 BCE) to resemble a canine; possibly spiritual or ceremonial; reflects symbolic transformation and association with reproduction.

Running Horned Woman

Stylized female figure from Tassili n’Ajjer, Algeria (c. 6000–4000 BCE); composite profile with horns, adornments, and body paint; may represent a deity or ceremonial figure.

Beaker with Ibex Motifs

Painted terra cotta beaker from Susa, Iran (c. 4200–3500 BCE); geometric and stylized animal motifs (ibex, birds, dogs) arranged in registers; likely funerary or ceremonial vessel.

Anthropomorphic Stele

Vertical sandstone slab from the Arabian Peninsula (Fourth millennium BCE); carved simplified human figure with belt and weapon; likely a grave marker or commemorative monument.

Jade Cong

Liangzhu culture, China (c. 3300–2200 BCE); carved jade cong with a cylindrical inner form and square outer section, created by abrasion; possibly a ritual object symbolizing earth and heaven; found in tomb contexts.

Stonehenge

Neolithic England (c. 2500–1600 BCE); circular and semicircular arrangement of massive stones with a surrounding ditch; post-and-lintel construction; ceremonial or astronomical site aligned with solstices.

Ambum Stone

Greywacke sculpture from the Ambum Valley, Papua New Guinea (c. 1500 BCE); carved to resemble an animal; likely used in ritual or as a fertility symbol; found in a sacred context.

Tlatilco Female Figurine

Ceramic figurine from Tlatilco, Central Mexico (c. 1200–900 BCE); small, detailed female figure with dual faces and incised features; often painted; associated with fertility, spirituality, or duality in burial contexts.

Terra Cotta Fragment

Incised terra cotta fragment from Reef Islands, Solomon Islands (c. 1000 BCE); stylized face motif on pottery fragment; part of a larger vessel for storage or ritual; evidence of Lapita culture and early Pacific migration.