Art in the Stone Age

Makapansgat pebble

A pebble resembling a face, Makapansgat in South Africa, 3,000,000 BCE

Though it is not manufactured but naturely formed, it is the earliest evidence of human recognition of pictorial image if not art.

People usually divide Stone Age into 3 periods by the development of stone implements. Another division is based on food source, from gathering to production.

Paleolithic

40,000 - 9000 BCE

Africa

Apollo 11 Cave

More yet to be found.

Painted stone plaques, animal facing left, from the Apollo 11 Cave, Namibia, Africa, ca. 23,000 BCE. Charcoal on stone, 5" × 4 14 ". State Museum of Namibia, Windhoek.

Europe

Lion-man

One of the oldest sculptures ever discovered.

Human with feline (lion?) head, restored view, cave at Hohlenstein-Stadel, Germany, ca. 40,000–35,000 BCE. Woolly mammoth ivory, 11 58 " high. Ulmer Museum, Ulm.

Experts estimate this ivory figure required about 400 hours (two months) of skilled work.

Venus of Willendorf

Nude woman (Venus of Willendorf ), from Willendorf, Austria, ca. 28,000–25,000 BCE. Limestone, 4 14 " high. Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna.
Head of a woman(?), Brassempouy, ca. 25,000–20,000 BCE. Ivory. Preserved in the Musée d'Archéologie Nationale at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris

Also important in Paleolithic art is the over 200 sites of painted caves. Some of the most famouts caves:

Paleolithic France and Spain

Pech-Merle Cave

Negtive hand prints:

Spotted horses and negative hand imprints, wall painting in the cave at Pech-Merle, France, ca. 23,000– 22,000 BCE. 11' 2" long.

Lascaux Cave

Most animals in Paleolithic are painted in strict profile view. But the bulls from Lascaux cave are using composite view: horns from the front so both horns are shown, rest of the body in profile.

Left wall of the Hall of Bulls, Lascaux II (replica of the original cave, which is closed to the public), France, original cave: c. 16,000-14,000 BCE. Largest bull 11'6'' long.

First appearance of man (as opposed to woman) in the history of art. Bird-faced, bird staff (?), four fingers and one prominent penis:

Rhinoceros, wounded man, and disemboweled bison, painting in the well of the cave at Lascaux, France, ca. 16,000–14,000 BCE. Bison 3' 4 12" long.

Check out the cool guide tour: https://archeologie.culture.fr/lascaux/en.

Chauvet Cave

MIght be the oldest cave found. Also it has the most advanced art style.

Aurochs, horses, and rhinoceroses, wall painting in the Chauvet Cave, Vallon-Pont- d’Arc, France, ca. 30,000–28,000 or ca. 15,000–13,000 BCE. Right rhinoceros 3' 4" long.

Meolithic and Neolithic

9000 BCE - 8000 BCE are a transition period from Paleolithic to Neolithic, called Meolithic. Around 9000 BCE climate warmed. The sea level rose more than 300 feet, separating England from continental Europe, and Spain from Africa. The reindeer migrated north, and the woolly mammoth disappeared. Food gathering intensified and dogs are tamed.

Then it's 8000 BCE - 2300 BCE the Neolithic period. Agriculture and livestock became humankind’s major food sources.

Anatolia and Mesopotamia

The oldest known settled communities are here.

Neolithic Anatolia and Mesopotamia

Göbekli Tepe

The oldest temple discovered.

Göbekli Tepe, ca. 9000 BCE

Many of these T-shaped pillars:

T-shaped pillars with animal reliefs, Göbekli Tepe, ca. 9000 BCE

Some famous settlements:

  • Neolithic Jericho, ca. 8000-7000 BCE.

  • Ain Ghazal, ca. 7200-5000 BCE.

  • Çatal Höyük, ca. 6000-5900 BCE.

At Ain Ghazal, three dozen of these plaster statuettes and busts are found:

Human figure, from Ain Ghazal, Jordan, ca. 6750–6250 bce. Plaster, painted and inlaid with bitumen, 3' 5 38" high. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

At Çatal Höyük, many of these interesting figurines are found:

Seated mother goddess figurine (head was restored.), Çatal Höyük, Tureky, ca. 5800 BCE. Made out of clay, height 16.5 cm (without head).

Also the wall paintings here are very different from Paleolithic paintings. Human figure appears much more:

Deer hunt, detail of a wall painting from level III, Çatal Höyük, Turkey, ca. 5750 BCE. Museum of Anatolian Civilization, Ankara, Turkey.

First landscape painting:

Landscape with town and volcanic eruption(?), wall painting in situ (top) and watercolor copy (bottom), from level VII, Çatal Höyük, Turkey, ca. 6150 BCE.

Europe

No town of similar scale discovered. But many megalithic (great stones) architectures exist:

  • Newgrange tomb, Newgrange, Ireland, ca. 3200-2500 BCE.

  • Skara Brae village, Skara Brae, Orkney Islands, UK, ca. 3100-2500 BCE.

  • Hagar Qim temple, Malta, ca.3200-2500 BCE

  • Stonehenge, Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England, UK, ca.2550-1600 BCE.

Both at Hagar Qim and Stonehenge, lots of post-and-lintel styles are used. 3 stones, 2 vertical posts and 1 horizonal lintel, formed an arch.

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