prehistoric art history study

Upper Paleolithic

The later part of the Old Stone Age, roughly 40,000–10,000 BCE in Europe.

Upper Paleolithic dates

c. 40,000–10,000 BCE.

Prehistory

The period before written records existed.

Paleolithic

“Old Stone Age”

Upper Paleolithic sculpture

Small, portable sculptures made from materials such as stone, bone, ivory, antler, and clay.

Mobiliary art

Small, portable prehistoric artworks, usually found buried at habitation sites.

Woman (Venus) of Willendorf

Small limestone female figure from Austria with exaggerated breasts, abdomen, and hips.

Woman of Willendorf date

c. 28,000–25,000 BCE according to the course materials.

Woman of Willendorf material

Limestone, with traces of red ochre.

Woman of Willendorf size

About 4⅜ inches (11.1 cm) tall.

Woman of Willendorf significance

Its exaggerated female features may have been associated with fertility or reproduction, although its exact meaning is unknown.

Monumental

Exceptionally large or imposing in size or scale.

Sculpture in the round

A fully three-dimensional, freestanding sculpture that can be viewed from all sides.

Relief sculpture

Sculpture in which figures project from a background but remain attached to it.

Prehistoric sculpture materials

Stone, bone, mammoth ivory, antler, and clay.

Modeling

An additive sculptural process in which a soft material such as clay or plaster is shaped to create a form.

Carving

A subtractive sculptural process in which material is removed to create a form.

Upper Paleolithic portable sculpture locations

Found across Europe from Spain to Siberia, often buried at habitation sites.

Woman of Willendorf discovery

Discovered near Willendorf, Austria, in 1908.

Horse from Vogelherd Cave

Small Upper Paleolithic sculpture from Germany made from mammoth ivory.

Woman from Brassempouy

Small female head from France carved from ivory, c. 22,000 BCE.

Spear Thrower with Interlocking Ibexes

Upper Paleolithic object from France made from reindeer antler, c. 16,000 BCE.

Parietal art

Paintings and engravings created on cave walls and ceilings.

Upper Paleolithic cave paintings

Images created primarily on cave walls and ceilings, especially in France and Spain.

Main region of European cave art

Southern France and northern Spain.

Why cave paintings survived

Protected cave environments preserved pigments and images for thousands of years.

Common cave-painting animals

Horses, bison, deer, cattle, lions, rhinos, bears, mammoths, ibex, and other large animals.

Purpose of animal cave paintings

Unknown

Humans in Paleolithic cave art

Usually rare, simplified, abstract, and much less detailed than animals.

Animals in Paleolithic cave art

Often depicted with considerably more detail and naturalism than humans.

Cave-painting media

Charcoal, red and yellow ochre, mineral pigments, and other natural materials.

Ochre

A natural earth pigment containing iron oxide, producing yellow, brown, or red colors.

Cave-painting techniques

Painting, drawing, engraving, applying pigment directly, and blowing pigment onto walls.

Chauvet Cave

Major Upper Paleolithic cave-art site in the Ardèche region of southern France.

Chauvet Cave discovery

Discovered in December 1994 by three cave explorers.

Chauvet Cave dates

c. 30,000–28,000 BCE in the course materials.

Chauvet Cave animals

Includes lions, bison, bears, rhinoceroses, mammoths, horses, and an owl.

Chauvet Cave media

Charcoal and red ochre were used for many drawings.

Lascaux Cave

Famous Upper Paleolithic cave complex in the Dordogne region of southwestern France.

Lascaux discovery

Discovered September 12, 1940.

Lascaux paintings dates

Many examples date approximately 15,000–13,000 BCE.

Lascaux Hall of the Bulls

c. 15,000–10,000 BCE

Lascaux animals

Primarily large animals native to prehistoric Europe.

Rhinoceros, Wounded Man and Bison

Lascaux scene, c. 15,000–13,000 BCE, notable for its rare human figure.

Pech-Merle Cave

French cave famous for its Spotted Horses and Human Hands.

Spotted Horses at Pech-Merle

Paintings dating to approximately 16,000 BCE.

Human Hands at Pech-Merle

Hand images dating to approximately 15,000 BCE.

Altamira

Famous Upper Paleolithic cave-art site in northern Spain, especially known for paintings of bison.

Les Trois Frères

French cave containing numerous overlapping animal engravings.

Tuc d'Audoubert

French cave containing two famous clay bison sculptures.

Two Bison at Tuc d'Audoubert

Clay sculptures dating to approximately 13,000 BCE.

Positive handprint

Created by covering a hand with pigment and pressing it directly against a cave wall.

Negative hand stencil

Created by placing a hand against a wall and blowing pigment around it.

Hand Dots at Chauvet

Made by covering the palm with paint and pressing it against the cave wall.

Meaning of prehistoric handprints

Unknown

Shamanism

Spiritual practice involving a shaman believed to communicate with the supernatural or spirit world.

Shaman

A spiritual or religious specialist believed to communicate with the supernatural world.

Cave art and shamanism

One theory proposes that some cave images were connected with shamanistic rituals or spiritual experiences.

Most famous European cave-art region

Southern France and northern Spain.

Major cave-art sites

Chauvet, Lascaux, Pech-Merle, Altamira, Les Trois Frères, and Tuc d'Audoubert.

Hunting-magic theory

Theory that cave images were created as rituals intended to promote successful hunting.

Storytelling theory of cave art

Theory that cave images recorded or communicated stories and events.

Ritual theory of cave art

Theory that cave paintings were created as part of ceremonial or religious practices.

Symbolic theory of cave art

Theory that images and abstract signs communicated symbolic meanings.

Current understanding of cave-art purpose

There is no single proven explanation

Why cave-art interpretations are uncertain

Paleolithic people left no written records explaining the meaning of their artwork.

Modern Stone Age peoples

Older term for modern societies whose traditional technologies were compared with prehistoric Stone Age lifeways.

Locations associated with “modern Stone Age” peoples

Historically applied to some hunter-gatherer societies in Africa, Australia, and other isolated regions.

Studying modern hunter-gatherer societies

May suggest possible interpretations of prehistoric hunting, rituals, social organization, tools, and art.

Ethnographic analogy

Using observations of living cultures to develop possible interpretations of past societies.

Limitation of ethnographic analogy

Modern societies cannot be assumed to represent exactly how prehistoric people lived.

Mesolithic

“Middle Stone Age”

Mesolithic dates

Begins around 10,000 BCE in Europe and ends with the adoption of Neolithic agriculture.

Mesolithic environment

Warmer post-Ice Age conditions required humans to adapt to changing landscapes and resources.

Mesolithic human advances

More specialized tools, fishing, gathering, hunting technology, and increasingly settled communities.

Mesolithic art

Increasingly depicts humans, groups, movement, hunting, rituals, and everyday activities.

Mesolithic significance

Represents the transition from mobile hunter-gatherer societies toward settled agricultural communities.

Neolithic

“New Stone Age.”

Neolithic Revolution

Transition from nomadic hunting and gathering to settled farming and animal domestication.

Neolithic revolutionary shift

Humans began farming, domesticating animals, and establishing permanent settlements.

Agriculture

Cultivation of crops for food, allowing populations to establish more permanent settlements.

Domestication

Human control and breeding of plants and animals for food and other purposes.

Effects of permanent settlement

Led to villages, food storage, pottery, larger populations, and permanent architecture.

Neolithic art developments

Pottery, larger sculpture, decorated architecture, and monumental construction became increasingly important.

Neolithic architecture

Permanent houses, villages, walls, towers, tombs, temples, and megalithic monuments.

Megalith

A very large stone used to construct prehistoric monuments.

Megalithic architecture

Architecture constructed using massive stones.

Malta

Mediterranean islands containing major Neolithic megalithic temple complexes.

Significance of Neolithic Malta

Contains some of the earliest surviving monumental freestanding stone architecture.

Maltese Neolithic temples

Large megalithic ceremonial structures composed of massive stones and rounded interior spaces.

Maltese Neolithic sculpture

Includes large-bodied human figures possibly associated with ritual or fertility.

Dolmen

Megalithic structure consisting of upright stones supporting a large horizontal stone slab.

Dolmen function

Often associated with prehistoric tombs and burials.

Dolmen meaning

Traditionally interpreted as “stone table.”

Cromlech

Prehistoric arrangement of large stones forming a circle or enclosure.

Cromlech meaning

A term referring to a curved or circular arrangement of stones.

Dolmen and cromlech terminology

Terms derived from Celtic/Welsh/Breton linguistic traditions.

Post-and-lintel construction

Architectural system using two vertical posts supporting a horizontal lintel.

Post

Vertical supporting element in post-and-lintel construction.

Lintel

Horizontal beam supported by vertical posts.