Western and Classical Art Traditions: Prehistoric to Megalithic Architecture Notes

What to Know

  • In this lesson, you will learn about the characteristics, functions and types of art forms (painting, sculpture, architecture) from Prehistoric (including ancient Egyptian art forms) up to the medieval era (Baroque and Romanesque art forms). Analyze the art form and discover how they develop in every period.

Prehistoric Era

  • Prehistoric includes all human existence before the emergence of writing. Their art is of interest not only to art historians but also to archaeologists and anthropologists, for whom the art is only one clue alongside fossils, pollens, and other finds to understand early human life and culture. Note: Prehistoric era includes ancient Egyptian art forms.

Stage of Earliest Human Culture Development

  • Paleolithic (Greek: Paleo = old; lithos = stone)

  • Mesolithic (Greek: Meso = middle)

  • Neolithic (Greek: Neo = new)

  • Stone Age

Paleolithic Period (Old Stone Age)

  • Homo sapiens

  • Hunters and gatherers

  • Lived in caves; used fire and made tools with stones

  • Relics: 2.5\times 10^{6} years old

Upper Paleolithic

  • Homo sapiens

  • Hunters and gatherers; shelter was manmade

  • Used fire and made tools with stones

  • Relics: 2.5\times 10^{6} years old

  • Belief in supernatural or magic

10,000 B.C. – 3,000 B.C.

  • Cultures are in continuity with Paleolithic and Neolithic periods

  • Beginnings of settled communities and domesticated plants and animals

  • Hunting: use of bow

  • Making of pottery introduced

  • Transition to the Mesolithic Period (Middle Stone Age)

Mesolithic Period (Middle Stone Age)

  • Began in Asia: 8{,}000\text{ B.C.} and spread to Europe between 6{,}000\text{ B.C.} and 2{,}000\text{ B.C.}

  • Development of agriculture

  • Increase in population stability and elaboration of social structure

  • Tools were of polished stone

  • Farming and men working in mines

  • Leads into the Neolithic Period

Neolithic Period (New Stone Age)

  • A phase in which metal was first used to make tools and weapons

  • Copper and bronze were used interchangeably in the first stage (Copper Age)

  • Bronze casting began in the Middle East around 3500\text{ B.C.} and in the Americas around 1100\text{ A.D.}

  • Bronze Age

Bronze Age

  • (Continuity of metalworking advances) Tools and weapons made of copper and bronze; early advances in metallurgy and settlement patterns

Ancient Art

  • Lesson 1 header for Ancient Art content

Cave of Lascaux

  • Dated to the period 15000\text{ B.C.}–10000\text{ B.C.} (Stone Age)

  • Found inside caves; may have been their way of communicating with each other

  • Religious or ceremonial purposes

  • First created art

  • Discovered on 12 September 1940; given statutory historic monument protection

  • Category: Prehistoric Paintings

Prehistoric Sculptures: Materials and Significance

  • Materials used in sculptures vary according to region and locality

  • Archaeologists believed that sculpture results from natural erosion and not solely human artistry

  • Frequently, carving may have mythological or religious significance

Prehistoric Sculptures: Notable Works

  • Venus of Brassempouy

    • 25{,}000\text{ years old}

    • Fragmentary ivory figurine from the Upper Paleolithic era

    • Realistically represents the human face and hairstyle

    • Displayed at Musée d'Archéologie Nationale at Saint-Germain-en-Laye

  • Venus of Willendorf

    • Date range: 28{,}000\text{ B.C.E.}–25{,}000\text{ B.C.E.}

    • Carved from limestone with disproportionately large breasts and abdomen

    • Interpreted as a fertility symbol or charm

Megalithic Architecture

  • Humans developed architecture based on megaliths (Greek: lithos = stone; megas = big)

  • Architecture made of huge stone blocks

  • Likely intended for burial or ritual purposes

  • Megalithic monuments provoke legends and superstition

  • Stones and rocks were associated with divinity in this era

Types of Megalithic Stones

  • Three main types of megalith stones:

    1. Menhir: a single, huge stone standing vertically; often placed in fields or arranged in rows

    2. Dolmen: from Breton roots; means "stone table"; two tall standing stones support a horizontal capstone; believed to serve as a grave or altar

    3. Cromlech: Brythonic word; "crom" = bent/curved, "llech" = slab/flagstone; a circle of standing stones

Stonehenge

  • Best preserved megalithic site in Europe

  • Group of stones arranged in concentric circles, with a large external circle of triliths (Greek: trilithon = three stones) and two internal circles built similarly, plus an altar-shaped stone at the center

  • Likely functioned as a temple where rituals were held

  • The arrangement relates to the movement of the sun in the sky, enabling identification of seasonal changes

  • This solar alignment aided primitive rituals and agricultural practices