Unit 1

Global Pre-Historic Art

First came “Humankind”

Cro-Magnon

Then came “man/woman”.

Where did art begin?

The Paleolithic era (old stone age) (40,000-10,000 BC)

Africa

When?

Why did art begin?

Venus of Willendorfc. 25,000 BCE

Bison carved from reindeer horn, La Madeleine, FRc. 12,000 BCE

Swimming Reindeer, Ivory, 11,000 BCE. British Museum

Apollo 11 Stones, Animal Facing Left, from the Apollo 11 Cave, Namibia, c. 23,000 B.C.

Hall of the Bulls, Lascaux, Francec. 15,000 BCE

Altamira, Spain c. 12,000 BCE

Camelid sacrum in the shape of a canine,central Mexico. 14,000–7000 B.C.E. Bone.

Running horned woman, Algeria. 6000–4000 B.C.E. Pigment on rock.

Bushel/Beaker with Ibex motifs. Susa, Iran. 4200–3500 B.C.E. painted terra cotta.

Anthropomorphic stele, Arabian Peninsula, Fourth millennium B.C.E. Sandstone. Stele: a carved, stone slab used to mark graves and/or commemorate historical events

Jade cong. Liangzhu, China. 3300–2200 B.C.E. Carved jade.

The Ambum Stone, Papua, New Gunea, c. 1,500 B.C.

Tlatilco female figurine. Central Mexico, site of Tlatilco. 1200–900 B.C.E. Ceramic.

Terra cotta fragment, Lapita, Solomon Islands, Reef Islands. 1000 B.C.E. Terra cotta (incised).

StonehengeSalisbury Plain, Wiltshire, Englandc. 2,000 BCE (Neolithic)

A circular arrangement of stones is called a cromlech (or henge).A pair of monoliths (single large stone) topped by a third stone is a trilithon.

These trilithons are and example of the earliest method of construction: the post and lintel. A lintel is a beam used to span an opening.