lecture 1 prehistory

8/10/2019 Lecture 1 Prehistory

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Lecture One: The Paleolithic Period, Mesolithic and Neolithic Period

Map of Pre-historic Europe


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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

PracticesRole 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 farePreferred 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 inNeolithic. 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 communitiesDevelops 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)?


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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.


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Ariel view of the land area of the Lascaux Caves


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Map of the Lascaux cave, Dordogne, France, c.

15,000-13,000 BCE.


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Hall of Bullsc. 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.


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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.


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Bird-Headed Man with Bison and Rhinoceros

From the Shaft of the dead man, located beyond the lateral passageand 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)?


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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 wereinvolved in the building of Stonehenge?

7. Scholars see the transport of bluestones to Stonehenge

from more than 150 miles

away as a sign of ________________.


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Three major building phases of Stonehenge.

Phase One, c. 2950-2750 BCE (top left).

Built by the Windmill Hill Culture. Hengeproper, 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 ofStonehenge, with those listed here considered

the most significant.


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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.


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Remains of Stonehenge

Raising of Trilithons, Stonehenge


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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 Housesc. 16,00010,000 BCE Ukraine.

atalhyk, Turkey74006200 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.

Compare and contrast: the image of hunting between the paleolithic and the neolithic.


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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.

p g g p

Catal Huyuk c 7400-6200 BCE Antolia (modern Turkey)


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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.

10 C d t t th fi i P l lithi d N lithi A t th l f h


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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 Figure6500 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?

The origins of tattoos and body piercing.


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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.


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(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.

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


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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

Slides for the mid term exam: You will need to know the artist (or culture), title, date, medium and identifying characteristic or function

( h t h t i ti d th bj t th t id tifi it t f th t lt ) f th lid li t d h


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(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.

lecture 1 prehistory

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