Paleolithic
• Old Stone Age = Paleolithic period (Greek
paleo = old and lithos = stone)
• Works from this period vary greatly
• Focus on animal representation with some
human representation
Human with Feline Head
from Hohlenstein-Stadel, Germany
ca. 30,000-28,000 B.C.E.
mammoth ivory
11 5/8 in. high
Venus of Willendorf
• 28,000-25,000 BC
• Limestone carved with simple tools
• Found in Austria
• Old Stone Age –preoccupation with women and importance of fertility
Venus of Hohle Fels
• 38,000-33,000 BCE
• Found in
Wurttemberg,
Germany
• 2.4’’
• Sculpted from a
woolly mammoth
tusk
• What differences do
you see?
Bison reliefs
from a cave at Le Tuc d’Audoubert,
Ariége, France
ca. 15,000-10,000 B.C.E.
clay
each approximately 2 feet long
Bison Reliefs cont.
• 15,000-10,000 BCE
• Each are about 2 feet long
• Sculptor pressed clay to rock and used
both hands to form the shape
• Used fingers for shapes and a tool to
create the smooth body
• Among the largest sculptures of the
Paleolithic era
Mesolithic Period• Middle Stone Age (Greek mesos = middle
and lithos = stone)
• Between Paleolithic and Neolithic
• Remains from this period are few and far between
• Characterized by small tools, fishing tackle, and wooden objects (canoes and bows)
• Domestication of animals and the beginning of agriculture.
Neolithic
• New Stone Age (Greek neo=new and
lithic=stone)
• Human beings began to settle in homes
and domesticate animals
• Many groups changed from hunters to
herders to farmers and to townspeople
Turkey, Çatal Höyük
• Most extensively excavated Neolithic sites
• “Urban living”
• Houses were constructed of mud brick
with painted floors and walls (decorated
with mural paintings and relief)
• Living buried the dead beneath the floors
• Area flourished between 7000-5000 BCE
Deer Hunt
• Human figures
• Movement (variety of poses)
• Humans are dominating animals
• Other paintings show garments, bows, and
arrows
Megaliths• As early at 4000 BCE Neolithic populations
began to create monumental architecture with massive stones
• Due to the size and mass of the stones, historians call these monuments megaliths.
• Megaliths – literally means great stones
• Megalithic – the culture that produced these monuments/megaliths
• Henge - arrangement of huge stones in a circle
Types of Megalithic Structures
• Dolmen—several great stones set on end
with a large covering slab.
• Menhirs—single stones set on end
• Trilithon—a structure consisting of two large
vertical stones (posts) supporting a third
stone set horizontally across the top (lintel)
Stonehenge• Stones are 24 feet tall and made of sarsen (a
form of sandstone) and smaller “blue stones”(various volcanic rocks)
• Some weighed up to 50 tons
• What is it?
– The creation of an ancient race of giants
– Conjured by Merlin the Magician who transplanted it
from Ireland
• Stonehenge today is regarded by
archaeologists as an accurate solar calendar
Journal #4
• How will improving technology continue
to influence archeological findings?
– Think positive and negative
• How does all of this research change
how we view and interact with ancient
monuments/art?
• http://www.cbsnews.com/news/stonehe
nge-mystery-radar-finds-more-stones-
hidden-landscapes-project/