Global Prehistoric Art

Enduring Human expression existed across the globe before the written record. While prehistoric art of Europe has been the focus of
Understanding many introductions to art history, very early art is found worldwide and shares certain features, particularly concern with the
1.1 natural world and humans’ place within it.

Essential Periods of time before the written record are often defined in terms of geological eras or major shift in
Knowledge climate and environment. The periods of global prehistory, known as the lithic or stone ages, are Paleolithic
1-1a (“old stone age”), Mesolithic (“middle stone age”), and Neolithic “new stone age”). A glacial period produced
European ice ages; Saharan agricultural grassland became desert; and tectonic shifts in southeast Asia
created land bridges between the continent and the now-islands of the Pacific south of the equator. Human
behavior and expression was influence by the changing environments in which they lived.

Essential Globally, the earliest peoples were small groups of hunter-gatherers, whose paramount concern was
Knowledge sheer survival, resulting in the creation of practical objects. From earliest times, these practical tools were
1-1b accompanied by objects of unknown purpose: ritual and symbolic works perhaps intended to encourage the
availability of flora and fauna food sources. People established many artistic media, from the first fired
ceramics, to painting and incised graphic designs (primarily on rock surfaces), sculpture (notably female and
animal figurines), and architecture (stone megalithic installations).

2
 Enduring First instances of important artistic media, approaches, and values occurred on different continents, with Africa and Asia preceding and influencing other
Understanding areas as the human population spread.
1-2

Essential In many world regions—including those not in direct contact with one another—art shows humans’ awareness of fundamental, stable
Knowledge phenomena, from the macrocosmic (e.g. astronomical cycles, such as equinoxes and solstices) to the microcosmic (e.g. exploitation of
1-2a permanent materials available in local environments , such as stone, hardened clay, and jade).

Essential Humanity is understood to have begun in Africa and radiated outward. Beginning around 77,000 years ago, the first “art” was created in
Knowledge the form of rock paintings and carved natural materials, such as ocher. Geometric patterns and representations of life forms, usually human
1-2b and animal, were typically two-dimensional creations. Three-dimensional forms were sculpted, and monuments, large-scale objects, and
environments were assembled and/or constructed. Art making was associated with activities such as food production (hunting, gathering,
agriculture, animal husbandry) and patterns of behavior, such as settlement, demonstration of status, and burial. For example, places of
gathering or settlement and/or objects found in such places may be painted and/or incised with imagery related to their use.

Essential Humans established Paleolithic communities in West, Central, South, Southeast, and East Asia between 70,000 and 40,000 BCE.
Knowledge Paleolithic and Neolithic cave paintings featuring animal imagery are found across Asia, including in the mountains of Central Asia and Iran
1-2c and in rock shelters throughout central India. In prehistoric China, ritual objects were created in jade, beginning a 5,000 year tradition of
working with the precious medium. Ritual, tomb, and demoralizing arts are found across Neolithic Asia, including impressive funerary steels
from Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Asia’s greatest contribution to early world art is in ceramic technology, with some of the earliest pieces (dating
to 10,500 BCE) produced by the Jomon culture in Japan. Even earlier pottery continues to be found, particularly in China. Ceramics were also
produced in Iran beginning in the eighth millennium BCE and refined vessel forms arose from the adoption of the potter’s wheel in the fourth
millenium BCE.

Essential In the pacific region, migrations from Asia approximately 45,000 years ago were possible because of lowered sea levels and existence
Knowledge of land bridges. The earliest created objects have been dated to about 8,000 years ago. The Lapita people, who moved eastward from
1-2d Melanesia to Polynesia about 4,000 years ago, created pottery with incised geometric designs that appear across the region in multiple media
today.

Essential Paleolithic and Neolithic Europe’s artistic statements were made in small human figural sculptures (central Europe), cave paintings
Knowledge (France and Spain), and outdoor, monumental stone assemblages (British Isles). These provide glimpses into the beginning of ritual life
1-2e (15,000 BCE) as people tried to influence and integrate with the natural cycles of cosmos and promote both animal and human fertility. These
works establish the dynamic interplay of naturalism and abstraction found throughout art’s history.

Essential On the American continent, from the Arctic to Tierra del Fuego, indigenous peoples who had recently migrated from Asia
Knowledge (before 10,000 BCE) first made sculptures from animal bone and later from clay, with animals and sacred humans as dominant
1-2f subject matter. Similar to European expressions, ancient American art adapts animal images to the natural contours of the chosen
materials and features fecund females. The fact that female figurines may also display unusual or supernatural characteristics
suggest the importance of shamanic religion3brought from Asia very early in human history.
 Enduring Over time, art historians’ knowledge of global prehistoric art has developed through interdisciplinary collaboration with social
Understanding and physical scientists.
1-3

Essential Ongoing archaeological excavation and use of carbon-14 dating has illuminated interconnections of art
Knowledge across the world. Due to the understandably small number of surviving and located monuments, however, reasons
1-3a for similarity or difference in form remain largely conjectural. Nonetheless, comparisons of groups of objects and
the application of ethnographic analogy (considering modern cultural practices and models for ancient ones) and
reconstruction of religious history (noting shamanism as the earliest, most persistent worldwide spiritual approach)
can be applied to help establish general theories of function and meaning of prehistoric art.

Essential Since it was first practices circa 1900, modern stratigraphic archaeology (recoding precisely each level and
Knowledge location of all objects) has served as a basis for art historical studies. Archaeology support understandings of how
1-3b people, culture, and therefore art travelled across the globe well before highly organized societies were formed.
Important monuments, such as the caves at Lascaux,and media, particularly ceramics, were first discovered and
described by archaeologists and then became available for interpretation by art historians—the two disciplines are
highly complementary.

Essential The function of artistic expression prior to written records is inferred from evidence of technology and
Knowledge survival strategies and based on the relation of tools and their function (whether task related or expressive),
1-3c available food sources, the rise of sophisticated culture, and humans’ capacity to shape and manage the
environment. Basic art historical methods can be applied to prehistoric by comparing works of art, imagery,
materials, and techniques to identify patterns (such as a prevalence of transformational animal-human
iconography), then ethnographic approaches can be used to propose hypotheses (e.g. certain iconography is
shamanic in nature.) Cross-cultural comparison can help establish wider generalization (e.g. that South African,
Asian, and indigenous American peoples all participated in rock/cave expressions of a visionary aesthetic). In this
way, the apparent paucity of evidence can be mitigated and theories proposed, tested, refined, and potentially
rejected by conflicting evidence or new information, as in other periods of art history and in other disciplines.

4
Vocabulary
• Paleolithic
• Mesolithic
• Neolithic
• Naturalism
• Abstraction
• Shamanism
• Iconography
• Ethnography
• Composite view
• Polychrome
• Post and lintel
• Henge
• Trilithon
5
 1. Apollo 11 stones. Namibia. C.25,500-25,300 BCE Charcoal on stone
Quartzite slabs depicting animals, Apollo 11 Cave, Namibia. continent. More recent discoveries of incised ocher date back almost
Image courtesy of State Museum of Namibia.
The earliest history of rock painting and engraving arts in Africa is
uncertain. Increasing archaeological research in Africa demonstrates
that many sites remain to be discovered. In addition, artworks on
exposed rock walls are vulnerable to damaging weather and harsh
climates, and although many do survive, only tentative steps have
been made toward direct dating techniques.
Much more easily datable are painted and engraved rocks that have
been buried deliberately, or that have fallen off the wall and become
submerged in soil. Radio-carbon dating provides an estimate of
when these rocks were buried, although it is still not possible to
determine how old the images were before burial.
The seven slabs of rock with traces of animal figures that were found
in the Apollo 11 Cave in the Huns Mountains of southwestern
Namibia have been dated with unusual precision for ancient rock art.
Originally brought to the site from elsewhere, the stones were
painted in charcoal, ocher, and white. Until recently, the Apollo 11
stones were the oldest known artwork of any kind from the African
as far as 100,000 B.C., making Africa home to the oldest images in
the world.
Incised stones found at the Wonderwerk Cave in the Northern Cape
province of South Africa suggest that rock engraving has also had a
long history on the continent. The stones, engraved with geometric
line designs and representations of animals, have been dated to
circa 8200 B.C. and are among the earliest recorded African stone
engravings.
Rock paintings and engravings are Africa's oldest
continuously practiced art form. Depictions of elegant
human figures, richly hued animals, and figures
combining human and animal features—called
therianthropes and associated with shamanism—
continue to inspire admiration for their sophistication,
energy, and direct, powerful forms. The apparent
universality of these images is deceptive; content and
style range widely over the African continent.
Nevertheless, African rock art can be divided into
three broad geographical zones—southern, central,
and northern. The art of each of these zones is
distinctive and easily recognizable, even to an
untrained eye.
Not all rock art in these three zones is prehistoric; in
some areas these arts flourished into the late
nineteenth century, while in other areas rock art
continues to be made today. In the Drakensberg
Mountains of South Africa, a number of rock paintings
depict clashes between San (Bushmen) people and
European colonists mounted on horses and armed
with rifles. Many of the Drakensberg works use subtle
polychrome shading that gives their subjects a hint of
three-dimensional presence. The product of many
authors, time periods, and cultures, the flowing
naturalism and lively sense of movement of the best
rock art attests to the conviction of masterful hands
Southern Zone
This zone stretches from the South African Cape to the border
between Zimbabwe and Zambia formed by the Zambezi River. The
rock painting of this region is characterized by exquisitely minute
detail and complex techniques of shading. Engravings are also found
in this zone, generally on boulders and rocks in the interior plateau of
southern Africa, while paintings are found in the mountainous
regions that fringe the plateau. There are only a few places where
paintings and engravings are found in the same shelter. Aboriginal
San hunter-gatherers made most of these paintings and engravings.
While the rock art of southern Africa is different from that of the
central and northern zones, it is not homogenous. There is, for
example, great diversity between the art of the Matopo Hills in
Zimbabwe, the Brandberg in Namibia, and the Drakensberg
Mountains in South Africa. Nevertheless, scholars have suggested
that a great deal of San art throughout southern Africa may be
explicitly and implicitly linked to San shamanic religion. Principally, a
great deal of San art depicts their central most important ritual, the
healing or trance dance, and the complex somatic experiences of
dancers.
In addition to San rock art, there are also rock paintings and
engravings made by closely related Khoi pastoralists. These people
acquired domestic stock through close interaction with Bantu-
speaking people some 2,000 years or more ago. Although there is
some evidence that they also made engravings, Bantu-speakers'
rock art is characterized by finger painting in a thick, white pigment.
Often found superimposed over San or Khoi paintings, this art is
implicated in initiation rituals and in political protest and is not a
shamanistic art. 8
2. Great Hall of the Bulls. Lascaux, France. Paleolithic Europe. 15,000-13,000 BCE. Rock Painting
A virtual revolution occurred in the
creation of art during the period of
the Upper Paleolithic in Europe.
Beginning around 40,000 B.C., the
archaeological record shows that
anatomically modern humans
effectively replaced Neanderthals
and remained the sole hominid
inhabitants across continental
Europe. At about the same time, and
directly linked to this development,
the earliest art was created. These
initial creative achievements fall into
one of two broad categories.
Paintings and engravings found in
caves along walls and ceilings are
referred to as "parietal" art. The
caves where paintings have been
found are not likely to have served
as shelter, but rather were visited for
ceremonial purposes. The second
category, "mobiliary" art, includes
small portable sculpted objects which
are typically found buried at
habitation sites.
• Best known cave paintings, found
in 1940
• Opened to the public after WWII as
a prehistoric “museum”, closed to
the public in 1963 because of
damage caused by heat, humidity,
and breathing
• Later opened Lascaux II where
visitors can view copies without
harming the originals
• Utilized the curving wall to suggest
space
• Has about 600 paintings and 1,500
engravings
• Most characteristic of different
species have been emphasized
• Accurate outlines
• Worked in large caverns and small
chambers as well
• Small stone lamps, over 100, have
been found; worked by flickering
light by burning animal fat
• http://www.lascaux.culture.fr/#/en/0
0.xml
In the painted caves of western Europe, namely in France and Spain, we witness the earliest unequivocal evidence of the human
capacity to interpret and give meaning to our surroundings. Through these early achievements in representation and abstraction, we see
a newfound mastery of the environment and a revolutionary accomplishment in the intellectual development of humankind.

The painted walls of the interconnected series of caves in Lascaux in southwestern France are among the most impressive and well-
known artistic creations of Paleolithic humans. Although there is one human image (painted representations of humans are very rare in
Paleolithic art; sculpted human forms are more common), most of the paintings depict animals found in the surrounding landscape, such
as horses, bison, mammoths, ibex, aurochs, deer, lions, bears, and wolves. The depicted animals comprise both species that would have
been hunted and eaten (such as deer and bison) as well as those that were feared predators (such as lions, bears, and wolves). No
vegetation or illustration of the environment is portrayed around the animals, who are represented in profile and often standing in an alert
and energetic stance. Their vitality is achieved by the broad, rhythmic outlines around areas of soft color. The animals are typically shown
in a twisted perspective, with the heads depicted in profile but the pair of horns or antlers rendered frontally visible. (In contrast, a strictly
optical profile would show only one horn or antler.) The intended result may have been to imbue the images with more visual power and
magical properties. The combination of profile and frontal perspectives is an artistic idiom also observed in ancient Near Eastern and
Egyptian art.

At Lascaux and Chauvet, another magnificently painted cave in France, images of animals are superimposed on top of earlier depictions,
which suggests that the motivation for the paintings may have been in the act of portraying the animals rather than in the artistic effect of
the final composition. However, their purpose remains obscure. Most of the paintings are located at a distance from the cave's entrance,
and many of the chambers are not easily accessible. This placement, together with the enormous size and compelling grandeur of the
paintings, suggests that the remote chambers may have served as sacred or ceremonial meeting places.

The pigments used to paint Lascaux and other caves were derived from readily available minerals and include red, yellow, black, brown,
and violet. No brushes have been found, so in all probability the broad black outlines were applied using mats of moss or hair, or even
with chunks of raw color. The surfaces appear to have been covered by paint blown directly from the mouth or through a tube; color-
stained, hollowed-out bones have been found in the caves.

10
3. Camelid sacrum in the shape of a canine. Tequixquiac, central Mexico. 14,000-7,000 BCE Bone
Discovered in 1870 by the Mexican naturalist
Mariano Bárcena, this piece is of particular
importance, given the fact that it is one of the
earliest cultural artifacts to have ever come to
light in Mesoamerica. Carved from the sacrum of
a now extinct American relative of the camel, its
original use remains unknown.

In Mesoamerica, the sacrum is seen as sacred (“os

sacrum,” Latin for sacred bone); or “worthy of
reverence…and protected by tradition and ritual
against symbolic or actual abuse on the other.”
Supports the human torso and is designed to take
great physical stress
Located next to reproductive organs, could have
been thought to transport material from the brain to
the organs
Also belief that it is the “resurrection bone” from
which residual raw material remaining after death a
person will be reborn (because it resists
disintegration and is among the very last visible
remains of a body)
Head of an animal carved from an extinct camelid hipbone Today in Mesoamerica, ceremonial masks are
Unknown sometimes made from animal pelvic bones.
Early hunters & gatherers period (before 1800 B.C.) Contemporary Mayans believe that the body has
Tequixquiac, State of Mexico
two “skulls” one at the top, and one at the bottom
National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico.
and they are connected by a “serpent” (the spinal
column), two sacred points are the mouth at the
top and the base of the spine, where the soul
enters and leaves the body.
Background of the area
• A sacrum bone found in Tequixquiac is considered a work of
prehistoric art. The town was inhabited in 35,000 BCE by humans who
had crossed the Bering Strait from Asia. These people were nomadic,
hunting large animals such as mammoths and gathering fruits as
evidenced by archaeological evidence found at the site. One of the
most salient discoveries of primitive art in America was found here,
called the Tequixquiac Bone, which had no purpose but which
reflected the ideological sense of the artist who carved the piece of
bone from a camelid around 22,000 years BCE. The first indigenous
settlers of Tequixquiac were the Aztecs and Otomi, who decided to
settle here permanently for the abundance of rivers and springs. They
were engaged mainly in agriculture and the breeding of domestic
animals.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQm4MLy2ET4
4. Running horned woman. Tassili n’Ajjer, Algeria. 6,000-4,000 BCE Pigment on rock.
• Found in the central Sahara
• Accurately naturalistic renderings as well as
stylized images on rock surfaces show
animals and humans in many different
positions and activities, singly or in groups,
stationary or in motion.
• When it was painted, the Sahara was a
green savannah
• Animated and detailed
• Dotted marks on arms and legs probably
indicate she is wearing body paint applied
for ritual
• Face is featureless
• White parallel patterns represent flowing
raffia decorations and raffia skirt
• Twisted perspective or composite view
• Field of smaller humans behind her
• Difficult to date because people would often
return and paint over

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/179

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEtnJHeocK
g
Context
• During the Neolithic period, this area in Northern Africa had greater
rainfall than it does today
• Savannah, grasslands
• Rock paintings that show domestic and wild animals in the area
• Evidence of human habitation have been found in burial mounds and
tools, household goods
• Present-day pastoralists move their herds from one grazing spot to
another using seasonal water spots (streams, ponds) until it runs out
• Can assume Neolithic pastoralists moved their herds to the top of
the plateau where there was sufficient grass and water
Context
• What else is around the Running Horned Woman
• Humans, both Caucasian and African in clothing similar to present
day rural West African style of clothing (flowing dresses); and
wearing body paint similar to dancers in rural West Africa
• Village life scenes: people gathering in front of their huts to talk,
pregnant women delivering babies, people harvesting, taking care
of domestic animals, hunting, and ceremonies and rituals
• Livestock and wildlife
• Divinities
Susa
• Susa is one of the oldest cities in the world. Excavations have uncovered evidence of continual habitation dating back to 4200 BCE.
Susa was a principalcity of the Elamite, Persian and Parthian empires (capital of the Elamites) and was originally known to the
Elamites as 'Susan’ or 'Susun’. The Greek name for the city was Sousa and the Hebrew, Shushan. The modern city of Shush, Iran,
presently occupies the ancient site. The old city, is situated between the modern rivers Karkheh and Dez (the rivers Choaspes and
Eulaeus mentioned in the Biblical Book of Daniel 8:2, where Daniel received his vision), which bring mud down from the Zagros
Mountains making the area one of the most fertile in the region. It was the political center of Elam early in the fourth millennium
and there is a fortress, still extant, which dates back to this period.
• The Assyrian king Ashurbanipal destroyed Susa completely between 645-640 BCE to avenge the perceived wrongs the people
of Mesopotamia had suffered at the hands of the Elamites. The city was rebuilt and inhabited sometime after Ashurbanipal’s attack
only to be conquered by the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 538 BCE. It was made the capital of the Persian Empire by Cambyses
II and was expanded by the Persian king Darius the Great favored it over other residences.
• There were other capitals in Persia (Pasargadae, Persepolis, and Ecbatana), but it is clear that Susa was the best known and most
mentioned (Persepolis, owing to its location, was unknown to the Greek historians until it was destroyed by Alexander the Great).
After the defeat and destruction of the Achaemenid Empire by Alexanderthe Great, and then Alexander’s death, Susa became part
of the Seleucid Empire. It was then known as Seleucia on the Eulaeus and Greek architecture and styling began to appear beside
the older works of the Elamites and the Persians. The city remained an important intellectual and cultural center until it was sacked
by Muslim armies in 638 CE and destroyed. Rebuilt yet again, it thrived until 1218 CE when it was utterly destroyed by invading
Mongols.
• There were other capitals in Persia (Pasargadae, Persepolis, and Ecbatana), but it is clear that Susa was the best known and most
mentioned (Persepolis, owing to its location, was unknown to the Greek historians until it was destroyed by Alexander the Great).
After the defeat and destruction of the Achaemenid Empire by Alexander the Great, and then Alexander’s death, Susa became part
of the Seleucid Empire. It was then known as Seleucia on the Eulaeus and Greek architecture and styling began to appear beside
the older works of the Elamites and the Persians. The city remained an important intellectual and cultural center until it was sacked
by Muslim armies in 638 CE and destroyed. Rebuilt yet again, it thrived until 1218 CE when it was utterly destroyed by invading
Mongols.
5. Bushel with ibex motifs. Susa, Iran. This large painted vase, magnificently
4200-3500 BCE Painted terra cotta Neolithic decorated, was among the funerary objects
of the first inhabitants of Susa. On a
secondary burial, the deceased received
bushels (cylindrical earthenware pots),
bowls and metal objects indicative of the
prosperity of the city, then at its height. The
style of the pottery is in keeping with that of
the Susian plain, dominated since its
foundation by the city of Susa.
A representation of the world
This large, handthrown vessel with thin walls has a stylized decoration that constitutes
a kind of synthesis of the environment of the first agricultural communities of the
ancient Orient. A frieze of aquatic birds runs around the top; the parallel lines of their
necks suggest a whole flock on the water's surface, a sight that must have been
common at the time in the low, reed-carpeted valleys. Underneath are running dogs
with long, narrow bodies, perhaps the ancestors of the slender salukis, hunting dogs
that were adapted to the steppe plateaus. The main part of the vase is decorated with
large panels divided up with meander patterns; these may symbolize the settlement of
the land by men, showing the borders of fields and villages and watercourses. In the
center of the panels is the majestic figure of the goat, omnipresent in both its wild or
domesticated forms. Traced with simple shapes, triangles and circles, small details
such as a goatee beard or tail add a personal touch. Within the oversized circle of its
horns is an abstract motif, perhaps a topographical or clan-related sign, serving to
identify the vase and its owner as belonging to a particular group or a family.
Louvre https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/prehistoric-art/neolithic-art/v/susa-ibex
Susa, a regional metropolis

This pot comes from a cemetery at the foot of the Susa acropolis, where thousands of secondary-
burial places have been found, each containing painted ceramic vases and a few metal objects. This
cemetery dates back to the original settlement of Susa, in the late 5th and early 4th millennium BC. At
first a simple village lying in a plain where the land was worked by other agricultural communities,
Susa seems very quickly to have become the leading community. Its superiority is visible in the
construction of a high terrace of unbaked bricks of which only traces remain - sufficient, however, to
identify it as one of the first monumental buildings of a public and probably religious nature, also found
in Mesopotamia. At the foot of this high terrace, the Susians gathered the remains of their dead after
the defleshing that probably took place farther away. The reasons for these funerary practices remain
uncertain, as does the exceptional nature of the offerings. Because no dwellings places contemporary
to the graves have been found, we do not know if painted ceramics were in common use or if the
served specifically funerary purposes. They all have similar, highly recognizable forms, styles and
motifs, but each vase bears the stamp of an individual craftsman: although specialized workshops
mass-produced objects over several generations, each artist gave free reign to his personal genius.
The painted earthenware of the Susa graves raises questions about the first villages of the ancient
Orient, their lifestyle and thinking. Susa, a prosperous city in the 5th millennium BC on the arrival of
Islam, provides a rare opportunity to study the development of some of these villages, which, on the
advent of writing, became political, economical and religious centers.
 6. Anthropomorphic stele. Arabian Peninsula. Fourth millennium BCE sandstone

-Measures approximately 3 feet high

-Both sides are sculpted with emphasis on the front, particularly the
chest, face, and waist
-Trapezoidal head resting on squared shoulders, closely-spaced eyes
and a flattened nose
-Around the neck is a necklace and two-diagonal cords, criss-crossing t
he body with an awl (small pointed tool) and a double bladed dagger
-Stele- a vertical stone monument or marker inscribed with text or a reli
ef carving
-Found in a village in Saudi Arabia
-One of three found in the area
-Many were found in areas that stretched thousands of miles, but had s
imilar features
-Other works in the area are depicted with the same cords and awl,
Showing influence and traveling of ideas
-Not typical to have figural representations in, what would later become
Islamic areas

Anthropomorphic stele Near Al-Ula,

Mada'in Saleh, Tayma, Saudi Arabia,
 6. Anthropomorphic stele. Arabian Peninsula. Fourth millennium BCE sandstone

-Meanings of symbols would not be the same everywhere, different

groups and regions would have different meanings
-Focused on local culture, social and ritual practices
-Probably associated with ritual or burial practices
-Grave marker in an open air sanctuary
-Most likely made by a specialist stone carver among mobile pastoral
herders
-Could also be used for dedication, commemoration, and demarcation

Anthropomorphic stele Near Al-Ula,

Mada'in Saleh, Tayma, Saudi Arabia,
-Landscape was originally green and
lush, more like a savannah than a
desert
-Shifted from hunter-gatherers to
settled society that domesticated
animals, and settled in oases and mou
ntainous regions linked by caravan
trails
-Sites were often temporary due to
changing climate
-Constant movement stimulated
communication and interaction
between societies, interacted with other
societies like Egypt and Mesopotamia
-Saudi Arabia has only recently been o
pened to archaeological excavations
-
From the “Roads of Arabia”
• End of the 4th millennium: societies in the Arabian peninsula transformed: the use of metal became general
and the landscape became dotted with constructions of uncut stone with thousands of tombs rising more
than 6 feet from the ground, these became sanctuaries
• The representation of human beings seems to have first appeared here
• Various types are found all over the region (Saudia Arabia and Yemen)
• Represents an upright man, two flat sides are sculpted but the emphasis is on the front, particularly the face,
bust, and hips
• Trapezoidal head rests on shoulders, suggested by the projection
• Closely spaced eyes and long, flattened nose
• Torso has a necklace and two cords with an awl attached (small pointed tool for piercing holes)
• Double bladed dagger in a belt, cords and belt go around to the rear
• Statues in the north are taller than in the south
• Costume was probably tribal, these elements still show tribes today
• Probably exchanged ideas and traded goods
• Representation of reality and lack of female representations reveal that it was the beginning of a patriarchal
society
We will refer to Ancient China as the time between the Organized warfare on a massive scale began. In its rise to
Neolithic period (ca. 6,000‒ ca. 1750 B.C.E.) and the Han civilization, China developed a system of writing, various
dynasty (206 B.C.E.‒220 C.E.), which is roughly beliefs about heaven and the cosmos, as well as
equivalent to the period of the Roman Empire in the West. technological breakthroughs that allowed for political
This is the formative stage of Chinese civilization. During control and economic expansion.
this time, what we now call China developed from a The rise of civilization in China meant a gradual process
collection of isolated cultural communities to a set of of organizing disparate groups around a set of common
organized states which eventually coalesced around the beliefs, first by force, and then by articulating what it
idea of a single unified state, and then expanded to meant to be Chinese. This self-consciousness first
include contact with other civilizations. occurred during the Eastern Zhou dynasty (770‒221
B.C.E.) when a ‘hundred schools’ of philosophy debated
The first step was the development of agriculture. This everything from the nature of man to notions of proper
resulted in settled life which produced surplus or stored conduct and the ideal ruler. This period was so influential
goods. As more and more cultures came into close that later dynasties would refer back to it as a measure of
contact, the need for defense arose, and communities their own worth.
were walled in for protection. Societies became stratified
around rulers and subjects, with allegiances and authority
based on clan lines.
Jade
• English term translated from the word yu, which refers to numerous minerals
including nephrite, jadeite, serpentine, and bowenite.
• Chemically nephrite is a calcium magnesium silicate and is white in color.
However, the presence of copper, chromium and iron gives colors ranging from
subtle grey-greens to brilliant yellows and reds.
• Nephrite is found in metamorphic rocks in the mountains in rocks that have
washed down to the foot of the mountain
• Has always been highly prized by the Chinese, is worked into many ornaments,
ceremonial weapons and ritual objects
• Extraordinary levels of development were achieved at a very early date
• Worn by kings and nobles after death and placed with them in their tomb, so
became associated with royalty and high status, thought to protect the body from
decay
• Later became less recognized for its supernatural powers, and rather valued
for its use and connection with antiquity
• https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-asia/imperial-china/neolithic-art-
china/v/working-jade
7. Jade cong. Liangzhu, China.
3,300-2,200 BCE carved jade
Back in the early 20th century, in Shanghai, adventurers and merchants
from the West were able to buy some jade artifacts unique in shape and strange in
design. One is a long hollow piece of jade carved with images so strange that it was
difficult, if not impossible, to tell whether they were human or supernatural. People had
no idea of where, when and for what purpose the jade piece was produced, including
even the person who sold it.
Two or three decades later, in Yuhang County of Zhejiang Province, east
China, archeologists found some jade artifacts identical in shape and design to the piece
mentioned in the proceeding paragraph, but they were still at a loss for when such
objects were produced. It was not until the 1980s did experts conclude that these relics
belong to the Liangzhu culture dating back to 3,500-4,000 years ago in some areas on
the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. This came after excavations on Mt. Caoxie and
Mt. Zhangling in Wuxian County, Jiangsu Province, during which numerous jade artifacts
of the Neolithic Age were found, including cong (long, hollow pieces with triangular
sides), bi (round piece with a hole in the middle), as well as yue (battle-ax). Likewise, the
Shanghai jade piece sold in the early 20th century was identified as a typical art object of
the Liangzhu culture.
Jade artifacts of the Liangzhu culture are found mainly in Jiangsu, Zhejiang
and Anhui provinces on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. A social estate system
was already in place in these areas when these were produced, under which the
privileged depended, in addition to forces of arms, on divine power and witchcraft to run
roughshod over their subjects, the majority of the local people. That may explain why we
attribute most jade artifacts of the Liangzhu culture –– cong, bias well as objects that
take the shape of hats, semi-circles or three-throng spears –– to primitive witchcraft and
worshipping of the supernatural. As a matter of fact, these artifacts are often geometrical
in shape with symmetrical patterns engraved on them, in a style that denotes solemnity.
While the largest in size, Cong pieces – those long, hollow pieces with triangular sides ––
outnumber jade artifacts of all other types belonging to the Liangzhu culture.
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-asia/imperial-china/neolithic-art-
china/v/jade-cong
One of the most recognizable monuments, visited by over 1 million people per year
At least three phases of construction
Unknown who planned it, or who worked it (local farming towns do not show various social
classes) may have been an egalitarian project
People buried were adult males, ages 25-40, good health, little indication of disease or hard labor
Required very high level of planning and organization, work, technical sophistication
Upright sarsens were dressed differently on each side, inward facing side was more smoothly
finished than outer; are also gently widened at the top which makes their mass constant when
viewed from the ground
Lintel stones also curve slightly to echo the circular outer henge
Stones in the horseshoe of trilithons arraigned by size, effect creates a pulling inward

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/373/video

https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/asset-viewer/stonehenge-
avebury/lwGP4VDwqTSnkg?projectId=world-wonders

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/prehistoric-art/neolithic-art/a/stonehenge
Woodhenge
• Built around 2300 BCE
• Timbers in the third ring were more deeply set
and may have held up a large roofed structure
with an open courtyard; also could have been
open to the sky
• Excavations found the skull of a three year-old
child buried at the center whose skull had
been split with an ax, probably a sacrifical
victim
• A structure similar to this may have stood at
the center of Stonehenge
• There are six concentric rings of post holes,
marked today by concrete blocks
• The rings are oval shaped, with the longer axis
pointing towards the winter and summer
solstice
• Circular ditch and bank cover an area of 360
feet in diameter with one entrance to the
northeast
 Megaliths

Trilithon
Cromlech or henge

Post and Lintel

Lintel

Post
 First 3100 BCE, great circular ditch about 6 ft deep was dug with a bank of dirt 360 degrees in diameter, with a
phase large entrance to the northeast and smaller one to the south. The ditch and bank together are called a
henge, within the henge are 56 pits, slightly more than 3 feet in diameter called Aubrey holes (after John
Aubrey, 17th century English archeologist who found them). The holes were either originally filled up with
upright bluestones or upright wooden beams (if stones filled them, they would have weighed 2-4 tons and
come from Preseli Hills, 250 miles away in Wales)

Second Occurred approximately 100-200 years later, set up upright wooden posts, possibly of a roofed
phase structure in the center, with more upright posts near the northeast and southern entrances. Was used for
burial; at least 25 of the Aubrey holes were emptied and used to hold cremation burials and another 30
cremation burial pits were dug into the ditch of the henge in the eastern portion of the henge enclosure

Third Occurred approximately 400-500 years later and lasted a long time. Remaining blue stones or wooden
phase beams were pulled and a circle 108 ft in diamater of 30 huge sarsen stones were erected within within the
henge (came from nearby Marlborough Downs); stones were capped with 30 lintel stones. Each standing
stone was 13 ft high, 7 ft wide, and weighed 25 tons. Ring enclosed 5 sarsen trilithons set up in a horseshoe
shape 45 ft across, each stone weighing 50 tons each. Bluestones, either reinstalled or freshly quarried,
were erected in a circle, half in the outer sarsen circle and half within the sarsen horseshoe. Created a long
processional avenue consisting of parallel banks with exterior ditches approximately 34 meters across,
leading from the northeast entrance to Stonehenge, dipping to the south, and eventually to the banks of the
Avon river

30
9. The Ambun Stone, Ambun Valley, Enga Provinc, Papua New Guinea c.1500 BCE, Greywacke
This exquisite and exceedingly rare sculpture, discovered in a cave
in the early 1960s, was made more than 3500 years ago and is one
of the earliest known Pacific works of art. Ancient stone mortars and
pestles from Papua New Guinea are often fashioned into the forms
of birds, humans and animals. However, the Ambum stone is on a
higher sculptural level than other prehistoric pestles and has a
greater level of figurative detail. When the process involved in
producing the Ambum stone is taken into consideration it is all the
more magnificent—working with the tough greywacke stone would
have involved many weeks of laborious chipping and hammering at
the surface with stone tools.
Despite the various animalistic features such as the nose tip, which
resembles that of a fruit bat, theAmbum stone may depict a juvenile
long-beaked echidna (spiny anteater), an animal thought to have
been revered for its useful fat deposits prior to the introduction of
pigs.
The significance and function of the Ambum stone remains obscure,
as little is known about the people who produced this beautiful work.
Such objects are often considered sacred and credited with
supernatural powers by present-day people in the region,
where they are used as spirit stones in sorcery and other
rituals.

Source: Collection highlights: National Gallery of Australia,

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 2014
National Gallery of Australia
The earliest known works of Oceanic sculpture are a series of ancient
stone figures unearthed in various locations on the island of New
Guinea, primarily in the mountainous highlands of the interior. To date,
no examples have been excavated from a secure archaeological
context. Although organic material trapped within a crack in one
example has recently been dated to 1500 B.C., firm dating and
chronology for the figures are otherwise lacking.

The stone sculptures fall into three basic categories: mortars, pestles,
and freestanding figures. The tops of many pestles are adorned with
images of human heads, birds, or bird's heads. The mortars display
similar anthropomorphic and avian imagery as well as geometric
motifs. Freestanding figures include depictions of humans, birds, and
phalluses, as well as long-nosed animals that some scholars identify
as echidnas (spiny mammals resembling hedgehogs). While the
original significance and function of these stone images remain
unknown, they possibly represent totemic species or ancestors and
were likely used in ritual contexts. When found by contemporary New
Guinea peoples, these early stone sculptures are often thought to be
of supernatural origin and are reused in a variety of religious contexts,
from fertility rituals to hunting magic and sorcery.
10. Tlatilco female figure. Central Mexico, site of Tlatilco, 1200-900 BCE Ceramic
Although the key food plants of Mesoamerica—maize, beans,
and squash—were domesticated by 5000 B.C., settled village
life only became widespread by around 2000 B.C. As the
Mesoamerican lifestyle grew increasingly sedentary, artists
began to produce ceramic objects, including vessels and small
figurines, in a variety of localized styles. The site of Tlatilco, in
the Valley of Mexico, is known for its distinctive figurines,
particularly the famous “pretty ladies” that were found in
abundance in burials. In addition to these local forms, Tlatilco
objects include vessels carved with stylized motifs as well as
figurines with slit eyes and downturned mouths—belying
awareness of the burgeoning Olmec civilization of the Gulf
Coast.

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-americas/early-
cultures/tlatilco/v/tlatilco-figurines

Early Formative, Tlatilco

Place made: Central Mexico, Mexico, D. F., Mexico
Double-faced female figure, 1500–1200 B.C.
Ceramic with traces of pigment
h. 9.5 cm., w. 4.8 cm., d. 2.1 cm. (3 3/4 x 1 7/8 x 13/16 in.)
Gift of Gillett G. Griffin
1999-245 Princeton University Art Museum
Context
• Large, pre-Columbian village in the Valley of Mexico
• One of the first chiefdom centers to arise in the valley
• Discovered in the 1930s
• Over 200 burials had been found there, categorizing it as a necropolis
• Uses Olmec iconography
• Olmec is considered by some to be the mother culture of Mesoamerica
• In modern times it is used for brick-making as a source of clay
• The name of the town comes from the Nahuatl (formerly known as Aztec)
language which means “place of mounds”
• This was a name given to the area, not what the people called
themselves
11. Terra cotta fragment. Lapita. Solomon Islands, Reef Islands. 1000 BCE terra cotta (incised)
Lapita Culture is distinctive, first and foremost because of
the pottery style that emerged in the Bismark Archipelago
that is like no other of the time and region. Lapita pots are
low temperature earthenware which in addition to the
expected functional jars and bowls, included highly
decorated bowls with pedestal feet and flat-bottomed dishes
and jars with flaring rims. Stylized faces are easily
recognized and remarkable. Incised and sculpted designs
included abstractions of the human face, eyes, nose, arms
and fingers. Pots with complex designs may have been
used in ritual exchanges between clans.
Lapita faces on pottery are usually taken to be human faces
that might indicate ancestor worship, but there is another
interpretation that is possible. John Terrell of the Field
Museum of Natural History in Chicago has found striking
similarities between the design elements in Lapita
decorative motifs, and anatomical features of the Green Sea
Pottery Fragment 1000 B.C. Solomon Islands, Reef Islands Nenumbo site,
Turtle such as the carapace and markings behind the eye.
Lapita culture Terra Cotta; h.3in. (7.5cm). Terrell and colleagues propose that a creation myth has
One of the finest examples of the Lapita potter’s art, this fragment depicts a
human face incorporated into the intricate geometric designs characteristic of been recorded within this Lapita iconography, although
the Lapita ceramic tradition.
identification of who did what, and when, eludes us.
Department of Anthropology,
University of Auckland
Context
• The term Lapita refers to an ancient Pacific culture that
archaeologists believe to be the common ancestor of the
contemporary cultures of Polynesia, Micronesia, and some
areas of Melanesia. The culture takes its name from the site of
Lapita in New Caledonia (group of islands approx. 1,500 km
northeast of Australia).
• Around 1500 BCE, Lapita peoples began to spread eastward
through the islands of Melanesia, reaching Samoa around
1000 BCE.
• Lapita were a seafaring people who settled primarily on the
coast rather than inland.
• Best known for their ceramics, which feature intricate
repeating geometric patterns that occasionally include
anthropomorphic figures or faces.
• Patterns were incised into pots before firing with a comb-like
tool used to stamp designs into wet clay. Each stamp consisted
of a single design that was combined with others to form
elaborate patterns.
• Lapita ceramics were large vessels thought to be used for
cooking, serving, or storing food.
• Some designs found may be related to patterns seen in
modern Polynesian tattoos and barkcloth
Did you…
• Complete all parts of your graphic organizer for each work?
• Have definitions for all vocabulary words and the works to which they
apply?
• Understand how to apply each essential knowledge statement to each
work that required it?
• Complete all your observation journals for this unit?
 Kjellgren, Eric and Jennifer Wagelie. "Prehistoric Stone Sculpture from New Guinea". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art
History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ngss/hd_ngss.htm
(October 2001)

Tedesco, Laura Anne. "Lascaux (ca. 15,000 B.C.)". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/lasc/hd_lasc.htm (October 2000)
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/woodhenge/history /
Blundell, Geoffrey. "African Rock Art of the Southern Zone". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/sroc/hd_sroc.htm (October 2001)

Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collections (Princeton,
2013)

Michael D. Coe and Rex Koontz, Mexico from the Olmecs to the Aztecs (Seventh Edition) (London and New
York: Thames and Hudson, 2013)

Gordon Bendersky, "Tlatilco Sculptures, Diprosopus, and the Emergence of Medical Illustrations," Perspectives
in Biologly and Medicine 43, no. 4 (2000)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tlatilco
Department of Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. "Apollo 11 (ca. 25,500–23,500 B.C.) and Wonderwerk (ca. 8000
B.C.) Cave Stones". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–.
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/apol/hd_apol.htm (October 2000)

“The Origins of Polynesia”

http://scribol.com/anthropology-and-history/the-origins-of-polynesia

http://treasure.chinesecio.com/en/article/2010-01/06/content_99533.htm

Wagelie, Jennifer. "Lapita Pottery (ca. 1500–500 B.C.)". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/lapi/hd_lapi.htm (October 2002)

http://www.cvsanten.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=74&Itemid=77&limit=1&limitstart=4
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