Pregistoric Art and Culture

Paleolithic

• Old Stone Age period from 250,000 to 10,000 years ago.

• Sculptures and cave paintings were created

• Nomadic lifestyle

Neolithic

• New Stone Age from 10,000 to 3,000 years ago

• Advances in technology

• Settled life

Ocher

A type of pigment early humans drew, engraved, carved, and painted with

Fertility Figures

Highlighted the feminine principle of the life cycle and most directly connected to agriculture.

• Exaggerated feminine features

Venus of Willendorf

Type of Fertility Figure

• Dates back to 24,000 to 22,000 b.c.

Lascaux

Where cave paintings were found during the Paleolithic era

Bird-headed Man

Most unusual painting found in Lascaux

Shaman

Someone believed to have special powers for contacting spirits in the form of animals or birds

Naturalistic

The style of most paintings in Lascaux

• Lascaux paintings often focused on animals

• Hunter-gatherers looked at images of animals for strength and protection

Content

Possible meaning of a work of art

Function

Social or cultural purposes of an image

Caves

May have been a sacred place where people worshipped or held rituals

How did scholars interpret the content of early cave paintings?

Pictures that celebrate food gatherers hunting animals

What do scholars think was a function of cave paintings?

They were used for religious or ritualistic ceremonies

To identify the period, archaeologists looked for evidence of three conditions:

• Domestication of animals

• Agricultural systems

• Permanent settlements

During the Neolithic period, people changed from hunting and gathering to…

Farming

During the Neolithic period…

• Time of more stability

• Villages were larger

• Trading developed

• Advanced building technology resulted in architecture

Post-and-lintel method

Two posts support a horizontal element

• Simpler form of construction

Corbel

Rows of stones stacked with the end of each row projecting beyond the one below, creating a narrow opening

• Opening capped with a larger stone that rested across the top of the opening

Skara Brae

Vivid picture of Neolithic life in Europe

• Example of BOTH post-and-lintel and corbel construction methods

Megalithic Architecture

Ceremonial sites and tombs built with huge stones

• Almost always ceremonial

Dolmen

Simplest type of megalithic tomb chamber

• Built with the post-and-lintel method

• Tomb chamber formed of huge stones supporting one or more table-like rocks

Cairn (artificial hill)

Smaller rocks and dirt covering the tomb chamber

Stonehenge

Megalithic monument in Europe

• Most eye-catching example of ceremonial architecture

Which statement describes the Neolithic period?

A period of more stability and technological developments

Which statement describes the post-and-lintel method of construction

Two posts supporting a horizontal element