Unit 1: Global Prehistory and the Pacific
1.1
Global Prehistory
“I believe that the arts of those who attempt to create images and likenesses … originated in the following way. They
probably observed in a tree-trunk or clod of earth and other similar inanimate objects certain outlines in which, with slight
alterations, something very similar to … nature was represented. They began … [to] take away or otherwise supply
whatever seemed lacking to effect and complete the true likeness.”
Alberti in On Sculpture (Renaissance theory as to the origins of art)
Readings:
Gardner’s Chapter 1
Miner, Horace Mitchell. “Body Ritual of the Nacerima”
Resources:
2: “Lascaux Prehistory of Art” – YouTube video
8: “Secrets of Stonehenge” – Nova Documentary
Context:
1. What is the role of written language as a source for understanding the past?
2. What is the importance of understanding the relationship of context and function when
studying art?
3. What are the basic definitions of painting, sculpture, and architecture?
Works of art:
1. Apollo 11 Stones
2. Great hall of the Bulls
3. Camelid Sacrum
4. Running horned woman
5. Beaker with ibex motif
6. Anthropomorphic stele
7. Jade cong
8. Stonehenge
9. The Ambum stone
10. Tlatilco female figurine
11. Terra cotta Fragment
(CC) Venus of Willendorf
Namibia
Lascaux, France
central Mexico
Algeria
Susa, Iran
Arabian Peninsula
China
England
Papua New Guinea, Melanesia
central Mexico
Solomon Islands, Micronesia
Germany
Vocabulary:
Paleolithic
Neolithic
Animism
Shaman/ shamanism
/shamanistic
Mimetic
Abstraction
Anthropomorphic
Techniques: (art making techniques and terms)
Architecture: (Stonehenge)
2-D art work:
3-D work:
post and lintel
silhouette
aerial view
additive vs. subtractive
relief sculpture
megalith
trilithon
frontal view
contour / contour line
twisted perspective/“composite view”
statuette / figurine
“in the round”
1.2 The Pacific
“Behold the gods…Gods inside, gods outside. Gods above, gods below. Gods oceanward, gods landward. Gods
incarnate, gods not incarnate. Gods punishing sins, gods pardoning sins. Gods devouring men, gods slaying warriors,
gods saving men. Gods of darkness, gods of light, gods of the ten skies. Can the gods all be counted? The gods cannot
all be counted!”
– Society Island Chant
“The artist alone sees spirits. But after he has told of their appearing to him, everybody sees them.”
– Goethe
Readings:
Gardner’s Chapter 36
Nan Madol readings: “The City Built on Coral Reefs”, “Nan Madol.” Heilbrunn Timeline of
Art History , “Mysterious Nan Madol, Pohnpei”, “The Mystery Behind the Ancient Stone
City of Nan Madol”
Resources:
222: “Queen Elizabeth’s Visit to the Tonga” – YouTube video, Funeral of King George
photomontage
219: Tongan Arts – YouTube video, Tapa making video
218: Buk mask ceremony , Tribute to Buk Buk video
221: “The Ocean Shows Us the Way” video, “The Pathfinders” YouTube video
213: “Nan Madol from the Sky” – YouTube video
215: “Captain’s Chiefly Gift” – YouTube video
214: Explanation of Easter island video, “Easter Island” documentary – YouTube video
Context:
1. How does the geographic region influence the materials, forms, and themes of the works?
2. What role does ritual and performance play in determining the meaning of a work?
3. How does the art of the Pacific reflect the power and authority of its specific people?
a. Nan Madol (Micronesia) – residential and ceremonial architectural complexes
b. Hawaii – rulers’ clothing announces status and protects them
c. Polynesia (New Zealand, Rapa Nui, Samoa) – sacred ceremonial spaces to contain
legitimacy, power, and life force
d. Melanesia – status and power through exchange of objects, commemorative
performances
4. How do these works preserve history and social continuity while evoking memory?
Works of art:
213. Nan Madol
214. Moai on platform
215. ‘Ahu ‘ula (feather cape)
216. Staff god
217. Female Deity
218. Buk (mask)
219. Hiapo (tapa)
220. Tamati Waka Nene
221. Navigation chart
222. Malagan display and mask
223. Fijian mats and tapa cloths
Micronesia
Easter Island (Polynesia)
Hawaii (Polynesia)
Cook Islands (Polynesia)
Micronesia
Torres Strait (Melanesia)
Niue (Polynesia)
Maori Chief, New Zealand (Polynesia)
Marshall Islands (Micronesia)
New Ireland, Papua New Guinea (Melanesia)
Fiji (Polynesia)
Vocabulary:
Mana (force, strength)
Tapu (protective behaviors)
Micronesia (micro=small,
nesia=islands)
Polynesia (poly=many)
Melanesia (mela=black