Prehistoric Art and Architecture Vocabulary

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts from the provided notes on prehistoric art and artifacts (Pages 1–5).

Lascaux

A Paleolithic cave complex in southwestern France famous for its wall and ceiling paintings, illustrating early European art.

Paleolithic Europe

The Old Stone Age period in Europe characterized by hunter-gatherer cultures and early cave art.

Great Hall of the Bulls

A chamber in Lascaux with naturalistic animal drawings and twisted perspective.

Apollo 11 Stones

Charcoal drawings of animals on stones found in Namibia’s Apollo 11 caves; among Africa’s oldest representational artworks (~25,500 BCE).

Camelid Sacrum

A carved hip bone shaped into a mask-like object used for spiritual or ritual purposes; symbolically powerful in some traditions.

In situ

In its original place or site; the artwork remains in its discovered position.

Nomads

People who move from place to place rather than settle permanently.

Twisted perspective

A depiction where parts of the figure are shown in profile and others in frontal view, creating a composite image.

Running Horned Woman

Sahara canyon painting (6000–4000 BCE) of a horned woman depicted in motion with body painting dots.

Beakers with ibex motifs

Beaker culture terra-cotta vessels decorated with geometric forms and animal motifs, often used as funerary objects.

Beaker (Beaker culture)

A type of pottery associated with a culture in Europe; decorated with motifs like ibex and used in rituals or burials.

Anthropomorphic stele

A sandstone monument featuring human-like form, often used in religious or burial contexts.

Jade Cong

A low-relief jade artifact: a square form with a circular inner hole, associated with high-status burials in Liangzhu culture.

Liangzhu culture

Neolithic Chinese culture (c. 3300–2300 BCE) known for jade craftsmanship and symbolic motifs.

Stonehenge

A prehistoric monument of large megaliths arranged in a circle, built using post-and-lintel techniques; linked to solstice events.

Cromlech

A circular or oval arrangement of standing stones, often used to describe Stonehenge’s layout.

Ambum Stone

A greywacke sculpture carved to resemble an anteater, used as a ritual/spirits object in Papua New Guinea (c. 1500 BCE).

Ambum Valley

Region in Papua New Guinea where Ambum Stone was discovered.

Greywacke

A dense, gritty sandstone-type rock used for sculpture like the Ambum Stone.

Tlatilco female figurines

Central Mexican ceramic figures with pinched waists, large hips, and usually two heads; symbolize fertility and life/death.

Terra cotta fragment

Terracotta shard with dentate stamping; decorative patterns of circles, dots, and lines; function unknown.

Dentate stamping

A decorative technique producing tooth-like (dentate) impressions on clay surfaces.

Lapita culture

Pacific Ocean peoples (Solomon Islands, Reef Islands) known for dentate-stamped pottery and voyaging culture.

Solomon Islands, Reef Islands

Geographic locations in the Pacific associated with the Lapita pottery tradition.

Cong (jade cong)

A tubular jade object with a circular hole set in a square cross-section with abstract decorations.

Henge

A Neolithic circular earthwork used for rituals and astronomical observations.

Lintel

A horizontal beam spanning an opening, supported by vertical posts (post-and-lintel construction).

Megalith

A very large stone used in prehistoric monuments and structures.

Menhir

A single, large, upright standing stone often part of prehistoric sites.

Mortise-and-tenon

A joining system where a hole (mortise) receives a projection (tenon) to join pieces.

Post-and-lintel

Construction method using two vertical posts to support a horizontal lintel.

Shamanism

Religious practice involving spirits and shamans who mediate between worlds to influence outcomes.

Stele (Stelae)

An upright stone slab marking a grave, site, or commemorative inscription.

Stylized

A method of representation that is nonrealistic and simplified, focusing on abstracted forms.