Prehistoric Art: Mesolithic and Neolithic Art Notes

Mesolithic Art (c. 8000–c. 6000/4000 BCE)

Transitional period after the Ice Age, marked by cultural and environmental changes.
Forests expanded, and people congregated around water bodies, relying on fishing.
Nomadic hunter-gatherer societies transitioned to settled agricultural communities.
Art features more human figures in groups, engaged in activities like hunting, dancing, and rituals.
Figures are non-naturalistic and stylized, often resembling stick-figures.

Shift to farming led to monumental stone architecture.
Religious beliefs heavily influenced the character of stone structures.
Megaliths ("made of big stones") were assembled without mortar.
Pottery became widespread for food storage.
Art expanded into homes as decoration(painting, small statues, pottery, and textiles).
Three distinctive types of megaliths:
- Menhirs: Upright, unhewn stones, arranged individually or in rows.
- Dolmens: Chambers of vertical stones supporting a large single stone, often used as tombs.
- Cromlechs: Megalithic structures with menhirs forming circles or semicircles.

Stonehenge: A famous cromlech in England, possibly used for predicting seasonal changes and astronomical phenomena, and as a ritual site.
Ġgantija Temples: Located in Gozo, Malta. Exceed five meters in length and weigh over fifty tons. Included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Tarxien Temples: Temple complex built between 3800 and 2200 BC. Indicate worship and burials
Hagar Qim: Consists of C-shaped rooms and has remains suggesting a date between 3800 – 2200 BC

Hagar Qim and Mnajdra Temples: During solstices and equinoxes, the sun's rays align with specific parts of the passageways, possibly intentional for marking seasons.