Prehistory Events, Art and Architecture

Prehistory
Events, Art and Architecture

Prehistory Events, Art and Architecture
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Dating Conventions and Abbreviations
B.C.=before Christ
B.C.E.=before the Common Era
A.D.=Anno Domini (the year of our Lord)
C.E.=Common Era
c. or ca.= circa C.=century
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Prehistory
2,000,000 BCE first tool making hominids (homo habilis)
1,900,000 BCE homo erectus appears first hominids that walk upright
315,000 BCE first modern humans appear in Africa(homo sapiens)
200,000-100,000 BCE other types of homo sapiens sub species appear (Neanderthals, Rhodesiensis, Heidelbergensis, Denisova, Red Deer cave people)
100,000 BCE first evidence of religious practices (serious burials)
50,000 BCE fully modern language appears (vocal cords in skeletal remains)
Prehistory
40,000 BCE small portable stone figures first appear (sculptures), some cave painting (Indonesia, France)
35,000 10, 000 BCE homo sapiens become dominant species over Neandertal and others
28,000 BCE first known large series of European cave paintings appear at Chauvet in France
15,000 10, 000 BCE Lascaux and Altamira cave paintings in France and Spain respectively appear
9000 BCE animals begin to be domesticated
8000 BCE agriculture and animals domesticated cause the Neolithic Agricultural Revolution
Prehistory
9000-7500 BCE Jericho develops as worlds oldest continuously inhabited city
7000 BCE Pottery develops
3300 BCE earliest writing develops in Mesopotamia (Sumer) ends prehistoric period begins historic period
3000 BCE Bronze Age begins in Mesopotamia
2300 BCE by this point most cultures have moved into the Bronze Age end of Stone Age
Three Eras of Prehistory
Paleolithic Old Stone Age 40,000 10, 000 BCE
Characterized by nomadic hunting and gathering, no permanent dwellings.
Mesolithic Middle Stone Age 10,000 8,000 BCE
Characterized by early domestication of animals; hunting and fishing settlements begin
Neolithic New Stone Age 8,000 2,300 BCE
Development of full scale agriculture and settlements
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Megalithic Monument Types
Menhirs simplest megalithic form, upright slabs that served as grave markers, parts of circles or made patterns.
Anonymous. Neolithic menhir alignments at Mnec, Carnac, Brittany, France. ca. 4250-3750 BCE.
Anonymous. Neolithic menhir alignments at Mnec, Carnac, Brittany, France. ca. 4250-3750 BCE.
Megalithic Monument Types
Dolmen two upright slabs with one single slab placed on top; used as houses of the dead, for stone circles and for tombs.
This is an example of post and lintel architecture
Anonymous. Neolithic dolmen. Poulnabrone Dolmen, on the Burren limestone plateau, County Clare, Ireland. ca. 2500 BCE.
Anonymous. Neolithic dolmen. Poulnabrone Dolmen, on the Burren limestone plateau, County Clare, Ireland. ca. 2500 BCE.
Materials & Techniques: Post-and-lintel and corbel construction in the Neolithic period (line drawing). ca. 27501500 BCE.
Materials & Techniques: Post-and-lintel and corbel construction in the Neolithic period (line drawing). ca. 27501500 BCE.
Megalithic Monument Types
Cromlech either menhirs or dolmens set up into a circular pattern; used as calendars, tombs and for ritual religious ceremonies.
River Valley Civilizations
Tigris and Euphrates River Valley Mesopotamian Civilization
Nile River Valley Egyptian Civilization
Indus River Valley Indian Civilization
Yang Tze (Yellow) River Valley Chinese Civilization
Map: The Great river valley civilizations ca. 2000 BCE.
Map: The Great river valley civilizations ca. 2000 BCE.
How the Art Work Slides Look
Title
Date created (if known)
City created in (if known)
Style (Painting, etc)
Artist (if applicable)
Important Information (lots of test questions come from here)
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Paleolithic Art Characteristics
Tends to be more realistic rather than abstract
Sculptures are usually small and portable
Humans rarely depicted
Focus on natural not spiritual world
Prehistoric Art
Prehistory
Chauvet Cave Panorama
28,000 BCE
Chauvet, France
Oldest known full scale paintings
Found deep inside cave
Rituals?
Education?
Paleolithic Cave Art
In the absence of a written history, there are only educated, well-reasoned suppositions regarding arts meaning and function. Assembling the clues, archaeologists know the following about Old Stone Age people and their art:
1) People lived near the entrances of caves.
2) Wall murals are found in the deepest recesses within the caves.
3) The vast majority of the images are of animals.
4) Many of the images have been nicked, suggesting that spears or arrows may have been hurled at them.
5) The images seem to be superimposed one over another, suggesting that they may have been executed at different times and perhaps over long periods of time as opposed to a single decorative campaign resulting in a single unified artistic design.
6) Most of the European caves are found in southern France and north western Spain.
The most famous of the more than 130 caves found in the region of the Pyrenees are Chauvet, Lascaux and Altamira.
Recent discoveries of ever more remote caverns within Chauvet have revealed older yet very sophisticated cave paintings, thus challenging the idea that Paleolithic art skills progressed in a linear manner.
7) Prehistoric artists often incorporated natural rock formations on cave walls, sometimes incising lines.
8) Sticks of charcoal and naturally occurring minerals (such as red iron oxide) were commonly used for the drawings. Tallow was at times mixed with the minerals, making a kind of ancient oil pastel.
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Chauvet Cave paintings
Vallon-Pont-dArc, Ardche, France
ca. 30,000-28,000 B.C.E.
pigment on stone
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Chauvet Cave
Prehistory
Hall of the Bulls
15,000 10, 000 BCE
Lascaux, France
Realistic portrayal of animals hunting aid, education or ritual use
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Lascaux
Bird headed man
Chinese Horse
Pech-Merle Cave paintings
Lot, France
ca. 22,000 B.C.E.
pigment on stone
Use of natural features to create the art
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Prehistory
Wounded Bison
15,000 10,000 BCE
Altamira, Spain
Bison in middle is hurt by arrow
Realism portrayed
1 of 3 great cave painting sites
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Prehistoric Art
Venus of Willendorf
25,000-20,000 BC
Willendorf, Austria
One of the earliest depiction of human figure
Symbolizes fertility
Only 4 inches tall served as charm
Various European Venus figures
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Neolithic Art Characteristics
Tends to be more abstract than realistic
Architecture develops
Art for utilitarian purposes
Humans depicted frequently
More focus on the spiritual aspects of life
Prehistory
Herd crossing river, hunters with bows & arrows
8,000 3,000 BCE
Valtorta Gorge, Spain
Neolithic art portrayed more interaction between men and their environment
Not deep inside caves any longer
Mammoth Bone House – Ukraine
Anonymous. Reconstruction of a mammoth-bone house, Mezhirich, Ukraine. ca. 16,000-10,000 BCE.
Anonymous. Reconstruction of a mammoth-bone house, Mezhirich, Ukraine. ca. 16,000-10,000 BCE.
Prehistoric Art
Newgrange
C. 3000-2500 BCE
Newgrange, Ireland
Originally a stone circle, now a tomb
Calendar to tell equinoxes and solstices
NewGrange Entrance
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Anonymous. House Interior, Skara Brae, Orkney Islands, Scotland.
ca. 3100-2600 BCE.
Anonymous. House interior, Skara Brae, Orkney Islands, Scotland.
ca. 3100-2600 BCE.
Village of Skara Brae, Orkney Islands, Scotland. Plan. 1776.
Village of Skara Brae, Orkney Islands, Scotland. Plan. 1776.
Prehistoric Art
Stonehenge
2950 BCE
Salisbury Plain, England
Used as calendar
Most significant stone circle in Europe; used in ritual sacrifices for sun cult
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Prehistoric Art
How the stone trilithons at Stonehenge were built (7 color ills.).
ca. 27501500 BCE.
How the stone trilithons at Stonehenge were built (7 color ills.).
ca. 27501500 BCE.
The Design and Making of Stonehenge: Reconstruction of the complete monument, aerial view (color ill.). ca. 27501500 BCE.
The Design and Making of Stonehenge: Reconstruction of the complete monument, aerial view (color ill.). ca. 27501500 BCE.
Figures of Man and Woman
From Cernavoda, Romania
ca. 4,000-3,500 B.C.E.
ceramic
4 1/2 in. high
Pottery.
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Slide concept by William V. Ganis, PhD
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For publication, reproduction or transmission of images, please contact individual artists, estates, photographers and exhibiting institutions for permissions and rights.
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FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY
For publication, reproduction or transmission of images, please contact individual artists, estates, photographers and exhibiting institutions for permissions and rights.
Great Stone Tower of Settlement Wall
Jericho, Israel/Gaza
ca. 8,000-7,000 B.C.E.
Jericho is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world
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Catal Huyok First city
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Landscape with Volcanic Eruption
atal Hyk, Turkey
ca. 6150
watercolor copy of a wall painting
Oldest portrayal of a natural disaster
May be oldest city in the world
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Prehistoric Art
The End
Next lecture: Ancient Near East
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Anonymous. Neolithic menhir alignments at Mnec, Carnac, Brittany, France. ca. 4250-3750 BCE.
Anonymous. Neolithic dolmen. Poulnabrone Dolmen, on the Burren limestone plateau, County Clare, Ireland. ca. 2500 BCE.
Materials & Techniques: Post-and-lintel and corbel construction in the Neolithic period (line drawing). ca. 27501500 BCE.
Map: The Great river valley civilizations ca. 2000 BCE.
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FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY
For publication, reproduction or transmission of images, please contact individual artists, estates, photographers and exhibiting institutions for permissions and rights.
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FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY
For publication, reproduction or transmission of images, please contact individual artists, estates, photographers and exhibiting institutions for permissions and rights.
*
FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY
For publication, reproduction or transmission of images, please contact individual artists, estates, photographers and exhibiting institutions for permissions and rights.
*
For publication, reproduction or transmission of images, please contact individual artists, estates, photographers and exhibiting institutions for permissions and rights.
*
For publication, reproduction or transmission of images, please contact individual artists, estates, photographers and exhibiting institutions for permissions and rights.
Anonymous. Reconstruction of a mammoth-bone house, Mezhirich, Ukraine. ca. 16,000-10,000 BCE.
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Anonymous. House interior, Skara Brae, Orkney Islands, Scotland.
ca. 3100-2600 BCE.
Village of Skara Brae, Orkney Islands, Scotland. Plan. 1776.
*
FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY
For publication, reproduction or transmission of images, please contact individual artists, estates, photographers and exhibiting institutions for permissions and rights.
How the stone trilithons at Stonehenge were built (7 color ills.).
ca. 27501500 BCE.
The Design and Making of Stonehenge: Reconstruction of the complete monument, aerial view (color ill.). ca. 27501500 BCE.
*
FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY
For publication, reproduction or transmission of images, please contact individual artists, estates, photographers and exhibiting institutions for permissions and rights.
Slide concept by William V. Ganis, PhD
FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY
For publication, reproduction or transmission of images, please contact individual artists, estates, photographers and exhibiting institutions for permissions and rights.
*
FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY
For publication, reproduction or transmission of images, please contact individual artists, estates, photographers and exhibiting institutions for permissions and rights.
*
FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY
For publication, reproduction or transmission of images, please contact individual artists, estates, photographers and exhibiting institutions for permissions and rights.
*
FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY
For publication, reproduction or transmission of images, please contact individual artists, estates, photographers and exhibiting institutions for permissions and rights.
*
FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY
For publication, reproduction or transmission of images, please contact individual artists, estates, photographers and exhibiting institutions for permissions and rights.