Definition: Prehistoric means "before writing."
Duration: Homo sapiens demonstrated limited mental abilities for about 150,000 years.
Major Change: Occurred around 50,000 years ago.
Contributing Factors:
Physical: Improved brain and larger voice box.
Mental: Enabled symbolic reasoning and questioning.
Social: Increased cultural and technical innovations.
Context: No written language existed.
Timeframe: 50,000 - 10,000 BCE.
Terminology: "Venus" refers to the Greco-Roman goddess but predates her.
Characteristics: Small, portable figures representing women.
Quantity: Over 200 known figurines.
Discovery: Found in Laugerie-Basse Cave, France (1864).
Age: Approximately 16,000 years old.
Size: 3.15 inches; called "Immodest Venus."
Significance: Earliest human image; oldest known figurative art.
Discovery: Found in Germany (2008).
Age: 35,000 - 40,000 years old; 2.4 inches long.
Discovery: Czech Republic (1925).
Age: 29,000 - 25,000 years; 4.4 inches large.
Materials: Made of clay; oldest ceramics known.
Discovery: Austria (1908).
Age: 25,000 years; made of limestone; size 4.4 inches.
Distinct Features: Painted with red ochre; no face, possible hair or cap.
Discovery: France (1911).
Age: 29,000 - 22,000 years; 18.11 inches tall.
Characteristics: Carved in limestone; holds horn with 13 notches.
General Note: Not all early humans lived in caves; art found within.
Discovery: France (1994).
Significance: Best-preserved Paleolithic art.
Age: Art dates from 37,000 - 33,500 years.
Discovery: France (1940).
Significance: Contains stunning Paleolithic art.
Age: Art dates back 17,000 years.
Discovery: Northern Spain; significance revealed over time.
Age: Art dates from 14,820 - 13,130 years.
Definition: Large stones used in prehistoric structures/monuments.
Significance: Over 35,000 in Europe; key to Neolithic Period (10,000-3,000 BCE).
Location: Turkey; discovered in 1994.
Age: Dated to 9,500 - 8,000 BCE.
Significance: Possibly the world's first temple.
Location: Northern France; dates from 4,500 - 2,000 BCE.
Composition: 3,000 standing stones in alignments.
Location: Southern England; constructed in stages from 3000 - 1520 BCE.
Structure: Stone circle in post-and-lintel formation.
Functions: Communication, signaling, and symbolic behavior.
Questions Raised: Relation between agriculture and civilization.