AP Art History 1: Global Prehistory

Title – 1.  Apollo 11 Stones

Artist – Unknown

Date – 25,000-25,000 B.C.E 

Medium – Charcoal on Stone 

Location – Namibia 

Size - 4 ¼” X 5”

Form: Brought from another place (mobile rock art); zoological representations (kinda therianthrope)

Function: “Hunting Magic” perhaps part of shamanistic hunting rituals

Content: Therianthropic representations, maybe shamanistic, surprisingly precise, possible ritual significance

Context: One of the oldest figurative art, buried in a cave with other artwork in stone age Africa. Cave was found during the time of the Apollo 11 launch.

Title – 2. Great Hall of the Bulls

Artist – Unknown

Date – 16000-14000 B.C.E.

Medium – Charcoal and ocher on stone

Location – Lascaux Cave, France

Size - 62’ X 18-25’

Form: Series of cave paintings in France, depictions of various animals, perhaps migration, usage of twisted perspective, lots of movement, early spray paint (spat pigment)

Function: Possible ritual significance, more “hunting magic” and shamanistic practices, relevant b/c hunting and foraging super important for the prehistoric people

Content: Massive depictions of bulls, stags, horses, and cattle perhaps migrating in the same direction, maybe shamanistic. Prehistoric people utilized scaffolding for this

Context: Thousands of years old cave housing people who witnessed the migration of diverse wildlife. Discovered in the 40s after someone lost their dog or something.

Title – 3.  Camelid Sacrum in the Shape of a Canine

Artist – Unknown

Date – 14000-7000 B.C.E.

Medium – Bone

Location – Tequixquiac, Mexico

Size - 7.4”

Form: Camelid sacred that is carved in the shape of a canine. Carved after sacrum was fossilized. Symmetry achieved through usage of sharp tool

Function: IDK, maybe ritual, maybe someone wanted to honor their dog (my guess)

Content: Possibly made b/c the sacrum bone is considered sacred b/c of proximity to reproductive organs in some ancient meso-American culture.

Context: Accidentally discovered in the valley of Mexico by an engineer, at the site of an ancient lake. Fossilized state and lack of info led to debates about when it was modified.

Title – 4.  Running Horned Woman

Artist – Unknown

Date – 6000-4000 B.C.E.

Medium – Pigment on rock

Location – Tassili n’Ajjer, Algeria

Size - n/a

Form: Painted onto a rock shelter high up on a massif. Faceless horned woman, various garments denoted by a lighter pigment, patterns on body maybe scarification, smaller humans below. Above her dots of maybe grain .

Function: Maybe spiritual/ritual purposes, maybe rock shelter was a sanctuary for a female deity

Content: Horned woman maybe a goddess, lots of body decoration, hierarchical scale as the largest figure. Found at an elevated height, maybe spiritual significance.

Context: 1930s, French were observing the art of the area in Algeria, eventually properly attributed to ancient Africans, with the local population aware of the art for years

Title – 5. Bushel with Ibex Motifs

Artist – Unknown

Date – 4200-3500 B.C.E.

Medium – Painted terra cotta

Location – Susa, Iran

Size - 28.90 cm X 16.40 cm

Title – 6.  Anthropomorphic Stele

Artist – Unknown

Date – Fourth millennium B.C.E.

Medium – Sandstone

Location – Arabian Peninsula

Size - 3’

Title – 7.  Jade Cong

Artist – Unknown

Date – 3300-2200 B.C.E.

Medium – Carved Jade

Location – Liangzhu, China

Size - 

Title – 8. Stonehenge

Artist – Unknown

Date – 2500 B.C.E.

Medium – Sarsen Stone

Location – Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England

Size - 13’ X 7’

Title –9. The Ambum Stone

Artist – Unknown

Date – 1500 B.C.E.

Medium – Greywacke

Location – Ambum Valley, Enga Province, Papua New Guinea

Size - 20 X 7.5 X 14 cm

Title – 10.  Tlatilco Female Figurine

Artist – Unknown

Date – 1200-900 B.C.E.

Medium – Ceramic with pigment

Location – Central Mexico, North America

Size - 9.5 X 4.8 X 2.1 cm

Title – 11.  Terracotta Fragment

Artist – Unknown

Date – 1000 B.C.E.

Medium – Red-slip Earthenware

Location – Santa Cruz Islands

Size