Lecture One: The Paleolithic Period, Mesolithic and Neolithic Period

Map of Pre-historic Europe

Life in Paleolithic and Neolithic Europe
Paleolithic Neolithic

Circa
40000-8000 BCE
Climate not conducive to growing Crops.
Hunter/gatherer society. No population
growth. Representational images appear in
caves (question 1)
8300-5000 BCE
Climate change enables crop/food production and
pastoralism. Farming begins. Population grows.
Class Status
Not Evident. Elders of any clan are respected.
Much evident according to job specialization, heroism,
ability to interpret religious symbols, personality type.
Nobility begins.
Gender Status
Male/female bones buried together, sign of equality.
Sometimes matriarchal, sometimes patriarchal, polygamy
begins, patriarchal outlives matriarchal.
Religion/Religious
Practices
Role of Shaman may have existed (Lascaux).
Very apparent. Priests, priestesses, sacrifices, rituals, burial
practices around cathedral, graveyards exist.
Role of Children Care-free until mating age of 15. Child labor begins.
War fare
Preferred conflict resolution due to limited
population.
Hierocracy imposed laws and punishment,
including death sentence. Life not as precious due
to population explosion.
Diet
Meat, gathered food, healthier diet than in
Neolithic. Age expectancy is 35 years.
Beginning of crippling deceases such as spinal bifida due to
unhealthy diet of little healthy grains and fruits. Life
expectancy is 30 years.
Trade, Economy
Not evident. Self sufficient communities
Develops in Near East and spreads to Europe. Local crafts,
resources, animals, slaves are traded making some
communities wealthy and others dependent.
Movement Moved with herds, food source. Made permanent homes, sense of homeland.
1. Representational images began appearing in chambers within caves around ___________ BCE.
5. What evidence exists that many Neolithic societies were stable and communal rather than nomadic (3 numbered examples)?

Lascaux Caves, Dordogne, France
Circa 15,000-13,000 BCE

Purpose for paintings: Unknown. Perhaps to aid in the hunt. Shamans may
have interpreted interaction between hunter and
artwork.
Materials used: Ochre, hallow reeds, scaffolding.
Religious/cult
significance
May have worshipped the life-giving animals or a god
who could ensure an abundant herd.
Community Men and women worked in small groups on an equal
basis. Shaman may have enjoyed special status.
Lasting Impact Caves were discovered intact in 1940. Hidden entrance
kept them safe and preserved.
Ariel view of the land area of the Lascaux Caves
Map of the Lascaux cave, Dordogne, France, c.
15,000-13,000 BCE.
Hall of Bulls c. 15,000 BCE Paint on limestone Length of largest auroch (bull) 18 5.50 m
Lascaux Cave. Dordogne, France.
The hall of the Bulls is the first gallery in the cave.
Each painting in the hall is between 10 and 16 feet long.

2. Explain how the animal
paintings found in the
Lascaux cave paintings are
depicted:
3. How was the human
imagination in cave painting
and sculpting stimulated?
Swimming Stags using natural cave formation as water.
Hall of the Bulls, Lascaux Caves
The figure of the unicorn seems to be chasing a herd of horses linked with a large, partially drawn bull. The movement is directed
toward the back of the Hall.
The Painted Gallery (below) is considered to be the pinnacle of Paleolithic cave art. The figures cover the entire upper
reaches of the walls as well as, in the case of the first third of the Gallery, the surface of the vault.
Bird-Headed Man with Bison and Rhinoceros
From the Shaft of the dead man, located beyond the lateral passage
and chamber of engravings.
4. What are some of the explanations for the painting of the bird faced man in the Lascaux Cave (three
numbered examples)?
Ariel View of Stonehenge
Sun rising over Stonehenge, Summer Solstice
6. What is the assumed date of the first construction
phase of Stonehenge?
b. in what age did construction age?
c. how many building phases were
involved in the building of Stonehenge?
7. Scholars see the transport of bluestones to Stonehenge
from more than 150 miles
away as a sign of ________________.
Three major building phases of Stonehenge.
Phase One, c. 2950-2750 BCE (top left).
Built by the Windmill Hill Culture. Henge
proper, 56 ditches known as the Aubrey Holes
(moon guide), heel stone.

Phase Two, 2900-2600 BCE (center): Built
by the Beaker people. Bluestones from
Wales, Avenue to Avon River. 30 Sarsen
stones arrive c. 2500 BCE.

Phase Three, 1500-1300 BCE: Built by the
Wessex Culture. Upright Menhirs, 5
Trilithons

There were up to eight building phases of
Stonehenge, with those listed here considered
the most significant.



Stonehenge, Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England, 2750-1500BCE
Circa 1st phase: 2950-2750 BCE, 2nd phase: 2900-2600 BCE, 3rd phase: 1500-1300BCE
Purpose Religious, Astronomical (sun rises between (4) heel stones on NE entrance during
summer solstice).
Materials Used Menhirs: single standing megaliths.
Sarsen Stones: Large, grey sandstone, 30 feet long, from Marlborough Downs, 23 miles
away.
Blue Stones: brought from Wales, weighing 4 tons each.
Trilithons: Two upright stones with a cross-beam (lintel) stones placed across the top.
Religious
Significance
Ancient Cathedral, causeways evidence of ritual ceremonies. Human remains are
buried with prize possessions.
Cultural
Significance
Required massive effort. Evidence of labor distinctions, Ruler, priests, workers, food
service staff.
Lasting impact Smashed by Puritans, with the encouragement of the religious hierarchy.
Remains of Stonehenge
Raising of Trilithons, Stonehenge
8. Provide three numbered examples of how life changed between the Paleolithic period and the Neolithic period.
9. What does the change in dwelling styles between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic period tell us about the human relationship to nature during this
time (two numbered examples)?
Reconstruction Drawing of Mammoth-Bone Houses c. 16,00010,000 BCE Ukraine.
atalhyk, Turkey 74006200 BCE
PLAN OF STONEHENGE AND ITS SURROUNDING
SETTLEMENTS, c. 1500 BCE.

RECONSTRUCTION DRAWING OF
DURRINGTON WALLS
The settlement at Durrington Walls, near
Stonehenge, southern England. 2600 BCE.

BIRD-HEADED MAN WITH BISON
Shaft scene in Lascaux Cave. c. 15,000 BCE.
Paint on limestone, length approx. 9' (2.75 m).
MEN TAUNTING A DEER (?)
Detail of a wall painting from atalhyk, Turkey. c. 6000 BCE.
Museum of Anatolian Civilization, Ankara, Turkey.
Compare and contrast: the image of hunting between the paleolithic and the neolithic.
Catal Huyuk has been called one of humanities first essays in the development of town life. As a town, Catal Huyuk prospered as a well ordered society.
Bitumen, a glasslike substance that was collected from the site of nearby volcanic eruptions, was used in jewelry making as well as medical advances.
Members of Catal Huyuk practiced a great variety of arts and crafts. In addition to painting and sculpture, weaving, pottery, and copper smelting were well
established even before 6000 BCE.
Catal Huyuk, c. 7400-6200 BCE. Antolia (modern Turkey).

Plaster wall paintings from Catal Huyuk, found in shrines throughout the city.

Above, deer hunt, detail of a copy of a wall painting from level III, Catal Huyuk, c. 5750 BCE.
Below, View of town and volcano, reconstruction drawing, level III. The 10,600 foot mountain Hasan Dag is located in the background.
Figures of a Woman and a Man .
c. 4500 BCE. Height 4 1/2.
Woman from Brassempouy.
Probably c. 30,000 BCE . Height
11/4.
Woman from Doln Vestonice. 23,000
BCE. 4 1/4 1 7/10.
Woman from Willendorf.
c. 24,000 BCE. Height 4 3/8.
Lion-Human. c. 30,00026,000 BCE.
Height 11 5/8.
10. Compare and contrast the figure in Paleolithic and Neolithic Art: three examples of each.
Human Figure 6500 BCE Fired lime plaster with
cowrie shell, bitumen, and paint Ain Ghazal, Jordan.
10B. What possible
functions have been
suggested for pre-
historic sculpture,
male and female?
DECORATED OCHER
From Blombos Cave, southern Cape coast, South Africa.
75,000 years ago. [Fig. 01-04]
GOLD-ADORNED FACE MASK
From Tomb 3, Varna I, Bulgaria. Neolithic, 3800 BCE.
Terra cotta and gold. Archaeological Museum, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
The origins of tattoos and body piercing.
(Left) Christian Jankowski The Hunt, 1992/1997 Single-channel video Betacam SP (Master) with DVD viewing copy1:11
minutes, color with sound.
Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty (1969-70). Black rock, salt crystals, earth, and red water (algae). 160; coil length 1,500, width,
15. Great Salt Lake, Utah.
Communal
/Ceremoni
al
Sacre
d
Spac
e
Commissione
d by Royalty
Religio
us
Subject
Political/Pro
paganda
Art for
Art Sake
War/
Hero
Significanc
e
Perspectiv
e
Influenc
e
Ritual Permanen
ce
Story/
Epic
Functiona
l
Other
Pre-
History


An.
Near
East

Egypt


Africa


India


America


Greece


Rome


Religiou
s


Mediev
al


Roman-
esque



Gothic


Characteristics of Visual Art and Cultural Values I: Prehistory to c. 1310

Slides for the mid term exam: You will need to know the artist (or culture), title, date, medium and identifying characteristic or function
(what characteristic does the object possess that identifies it as part of that culture) for the slides listed here.
Information you provide must match that found in the textbook.