Prehistoric Art Notes

Prehistoric Art (30,000 BCE - 2500 BCE)

  • Art created before written language.

Defining Prehistory and History

  • Prehistory: Events before written records; interpretation challenges.
  • History: Period after written records; more detailed resources for historians.

Key Questions Addressed by Prehistoric Art

  • Who are we?
  • Where do we come from?
  • Where are we going?
  • These questions are about time and the human condition.

Divisions of Human Prehistory

  • Stone Age: Divided into Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic periods.
  • Bronze Age
  • Iron Age
  • Dates vary by region.

Paleolithic Period (Old Stone Age)

  • Longest phase of Stone Age.
  • Hunter-gatherer culture divided into:
    • Lower Paleolithic (1,500,000-200,000 BCE)
    • Middle Paleolithic (200,000-40,000 BCE)
    • Upper Paleolithic (40,000-8,000 BCE)
  • Paleolithic Art refers to the Upper Paleolithic period (40,000 - 8,000 BCE).

Paleolithic People

  • Nomadic hunters and gatherers living communally.
  • Shelters: cave entrances, rocky overhangs, animal skin tents, mud huts.
  • Used stone, shells, ivory, wood.
  • Fire was in use.
  • Followed animal migratory patterns.

Stone Tools

  • First cultural artifacts for reconstructing Paleolithic worlds.
  • Names of Paleolithic periods based on tool progression.
  • Insight into culture: hunting, foraging, communal labor.

Upper Paleolithic Art (40,000 – 8,000 BCE)

  • Appearance of human painting and sculpture.
  • Homo sapiens sapiens (e.g., Cro-Magnon Man) replaced Neanderthals.

Purpose of Upper Paleolithic Art

  • Objects made for utilitarian purposes; aesthetic value inseparable from function.

Sculpture Techniques

  • Carving: Subtractive technique using sharp instruments.
  • Modelling: Additive process using pliable materials like clay.

Categories of Sculpture

  • Sculpture in the Round: Detached from original material, viewable from all sides.
  • Sculpture in Relief: Attached to original material, forming a background plane.

Media

  • Pigment: Basis of color; colored powders from organic or inorganic substances.
  • Medium/Binder: Liquid mixed with pigments for adherence (animal fats, vegetable juices, water, blood).
  • Support: Surface of painting (cave walls).

Categories of Stone Age Art

  • Parietal Art: Pictures on cave walls and ceilings.
  • Mobiliary Art: Portable prehistoric sculpture, e.g., Venus figurines.

Prehistoric Venus Figurines (30,000-20,000 BCE)

  • Stone Age statuettes of women, 2-8 inches.
  • Represented prehistoric idea of feminine beauty/fertility.
  • Carved from stone, bone, ivory, wood, or ceramic clays.

Venus of Willendorf (c. 25,000–21,000 BCE)

  • Limestone sculpture tinted with red ochre pigment.
  • Sculpture in the round.
  • Portable.
  • Emphasis on reproduction-related anatomy.

Venus of Dolní Věstonice (29,000 BCE – 25,000 BCE)

  • One of the oldest known ceramic articles.

Venus of Lespugue (c. 23,000 BCE)

  • Carved from ivory.
  • Focus on female reproductive organs, suggesting fertility symbol.

Venus of Laussel (ca. 25,000–20,000 BCE)

  • Relief sculpture carved into limestone block.
  • Red ocher applied to the body.
  • Woman holding a bison horn.

Paleolithic Animal Sculptures

  • Horses, bison, oxen, deer, mammoths, etc.
  • Reflect naturalism of Paleolithic animal art.

Lion Man of Hohlenstein-Stadel Cave (ca. 30,000-28,000 BCE)

  • Anthropomorphic figure (human and lion hybrid).
  • Oldest known representation of a supernatural being.

Cave Paintings

  • Common themes:
    1. Abstract signs
    2. Figure paintings (mostly animals)
    3. Painted hands

The Meaning of Cave Paintings

  • Art for art’s sake (less accepted today).
  • Boundary markers.
  • Manifestation of magic for hunting.
  • Religious purpose/ceremonies.

Locations of Paleolithic Cave Paintings

  • Northern Spain (Pyrenees Mountains).
  • Périgord and Dordogne regions of France.
  • Well-preserved due to limestone caves sealed for thousands of years.

Altamira Cave, Spain

  • Discovered in 1868.
  • Closed to public due to preservation issues.
  • Polychrome bison representations achieved through engraving, charcoal drawing, and colored pigments.
  • Used foreshortening to create depth.

Lascaux Cave, France

  • Discovered in 1940.
  • Famous for paintings, including human figures, large images (Great Black Bull), and abstract signs.
  • Contains approximately 2,000 images.

Chauvet Cave, France

  • Discovered in 1994.
  • Extensive cave with vast chambers.
  • Panel of the Horses: woolly rhinoceroses, felines, horses, bison, reindeer, aurochs, and possibly a mammoth.
  • Abstract red daubs and handprints; volcano picture carbon dating.