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PREHISTORIC ART
SCULPTURE AND CARVING
Carving: a subtractive technique used on stone, wood, or bone
Sculpture: 2 types
1. In the round – sculpture completely detached from its original material; can be seen
on all sides
2. In relief – at least one angle from which the image cannot be seen, material
remains to form a background plane
RELIEF
High Relief – image stands out relatively far from the background
Low Relief (Bas Relief) – the image is closer to the background
Sunken Relief – image is slightly recessed into surface plane
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VENUS OF WILLENDORF
Dated from 25,000 to 21,000 B.C. – Limestone - and only 4 3/8 inches in height
Found in Willendorf, Austria, in 1908
30 meters above the Danube river
Exaggerated hips and breasts, suggesting preoccupation with fertility, on which
survival depends
Possibly fertility idol
These same exaggerated features appear in depictions for approx. 20,000 years
Images like Willendorf are seen all over Europe (Russia, France, Slovakia, Czech
Republic, etc.)
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VENUS OF LAUSSEL
Dated from 25,000 to 23,000 B.C. – Limestone – and 17 3/8 inches in height
Found in Laussel, Dordogne, France
Traces of red ochre pigment; also seen on the Venus of Willendorf
Pigment: basis of colour – coloured powders made from organic substances (plant
and animal matter) and inorganic substances (semiprecious stones), added to a
binder (liquid)
Why the red pigment?
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LAUSSEL CON’T
discovered in 1911 by a physician named J. G. Lalanne
Carved in wall of a limestone shelter
Not a dwelling, but a ceremonial centre
NOT JUST ABOUT THE FEMALES
representations of animals were also produced
Most often found are horses, bison, oxen
Not so common are deer, mammoths, antelope, boar, rhinoceri, foxes, wolves, and
bears
occasionally fish or bird has also been found
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BISON WITH TURNED HEAD
Dated from 11,000 – 9,000 B.C. – Reindeer horn – 4 1/8 inches long
Found in La Madeleine, Tarn, France
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Found in La Madeleine, Tarn, France
Shows very detailed observation and attention to detail
The detail makes the illusion of the animal turning in space
Probably a part of a spear thrower
BISON CON’T
Makes this artifact both practical and artistic
What does the carving tell us about the person who carved it?
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
To be able to draw/paint a picture of something, you need to know what a picture is;
but how can you know what a picture is if you have never seen one before?

How did images come into existence?
Or how did humans get the ability to create images?
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ALTAMIRA
Located in central region of Cantabria, Northern Spain
270m long
Features drawings, paintings, and engravings
Discovered by Modesto Cubillas around 1868
Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola (Spanish nobleman and amateur archaeologist), did
some of the first excavations in 1875
But it was his daughter Maria (age 9) who made the discovery of the cave paintings
The paintings are considered to be the
most beautiful cave
paintings in the
world
The paintings date
from 34,000-12,000
B.C.
ALTAMIRA CONT.
Majority of paintings are of aurochs (prehistoric bison), but there are also horses,
boar, and deer
There are a number of anthropomorphic (humanlike) figures – humans with animal
heads; as well as hand prints (negative images)
Also present are signs, symbols and abstract shapes (cube shaped images)
Images were rendered in minute detail, down to texture of fur and manes
Varying shades of pigment used
Gives images a startling realism
Artists used contours of natural rock in cave to make images as 3D as possible
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LASCAUX CAVE
cave walls of Lascaux, in Dordogne, France
Some of the most famous cave paintings
Discovered in 1940 on Sept. 12, by four teenagers
Paintings date from 15,000 – 13,000 B.C.
Consist of a wide
range of animals,
as well as a few
human stick
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human stick
figures
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LASCAUX CON’T
CO2 breathed out by visitors had an affect on paintings
deteriorating them
Fungus and black mold began invading cave
Now only a few scientists are allowed in the cave for a few days per month
Removal of mold left dark patches on the walls, and damaged the pigment
WHY WERE THE CAVE PAINTINGS MADE?
One theory is that they were painting/drawing animals they were hunting
Believed painting animals would increase chances of a successful hunt
However bones found around caves didn’t match the animals being painted
Ex. Altamira – most paintings are of bison, but bones found in area of cave were
of deer
Ex. French caves feature paintings of Wooly Mammoth, but bones in the area
were wild goats
Little correlation between animals depicted and diet
Many caves also contain images that don’t depict anything in natural world or
anything at all
Dots and lines, abstract shapes, and patterns (these patterns are often repeated
in other places or across recognisable images (animals)
Ex. Peche Merle cave, France, features a pair of horses, but spots are placed
across the entire image
WHY WERE THE CAVE PAINTINGS MADE?
Another theory is that they could have been used as a teaching tool, depicting what
certain animals look like
Why then are most paintings found in the darkest, narrowest, deepest areas of
caves (sometimes in nearly inaccessible areas)? Why not in places people could see
them?
Newer theory that seems to have solid support (both cultural and scientific) is cave
paintings begin as a way to depict what is seen during spiritual trances (altered states
of consciousness)
Like when shaman enter trances; traveling to another world
During a trance it is sometimes said that the person dies and enters the spirit
world
Hallucinations began to take on form of things with great emotional importance
(animals)
culture plays role in what is hallucinated (ex. what animal becomes focus)
Paintings are then a depiction of spiritual experience in trance
Ex. Drakensberg Cave art, South Africa and Lesotho
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WHY WERE THE CAVE PAINTINGS MADE?
Scientific studies of altered states of consciousness have shown that the first thing
people see on entering this state is bright flashing zigzag lines, vivid colours, or
clouds of dots, or grids (or a mixture of several things)
Can be induced by overstimulation or when there is too little stimulation (sensory
deprivation)
Could the artists have been reproducing images created in their brains during
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Could the artists have been reproducing images created in their brains during
trances?
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STONEHENGE
Dated from 2800 – 1500 B.C. – 97 feet in diameter, approx. 13 feet 6 inches in height
Example of what is known as a cromlech
Constructed in three stages
Megalith
STAGE 1
In around 3000 B.C
2 banks and a ditch constructed in a circle with a northeast entrance
Ditch approx. 320 ft. in diameter
Deer antler picks have been found in ditch
Outer bank made of earth
Inner bank made of chalk rubble from ditch
 56 pits were dug in a circle inside ditch
filled with rubble or cremated human bones
Station stones might have been set up in this stage (probably 4 originally, only 2
remain)
2 barrows (North and South) existed at this time
STAGE 2
Began ca. 2500 B.C.
At this stage, bluestones (82) were brought to the site
Imported from Wales some weighing 5 tonnes each
160 km journey
Post holes scattered around monument appear to have been dug at this point
Bluestones arranged in a double half circle
The old ditch bank entrance was widened by 25 ft.
40 ft. wide avenue lined with parallel banks and ditched 47 ft. apart was created
Pointed northeast and curved right slowly for 2 miles
STAGE 3
Began ca. 2400 B.C. (there were 6 subphases of this stage)
Sarsen stones (sandstone) brought to the site
Brought from Marlborough Downs, a journey of 32 km
Largest stones weighed 50 tonnes
Subphase A
Bluestones (82) placed in 2 concentric circles
Altar stone believed to be placed during this phase
Subphase B (approx. 100 yrs after subphase A)
Bluestones dismantled
Ring of sarsens built outside the ring of bluestones (with continuous ring of sarsens
on top)
100 ft. diameter
Largest sarsens used to create Trilithons
placed in horseshoe pattern
Subphase C & D
Inner bluestone circle rearranged into oval shape inside sarsen horseshoe
Bluestone circle placed inside sarsen circle
Subphase E
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Subphase E
Inner bluestone circle rearranged into horseshoe inside Trilithon horseshoe
Construction (and final configuration) finished ca. 1800 B.C.
Subphase F
ca. 1600 B.C. two concentric circles of puts were dug around the stones
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Sarsen structures constructed using “post and lintel” construction
two vertical posts supporting a horizontal element
sarsen circle was made using post and lintel, with an added feature for added
support
Called lintel and tenon with a tongue and groove feature
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HOW WERE THE STONES MOVED?
Bluestones, thought to have been dragged on a sledge over rollers to a river, then
put on rafts
When back on land, moved by sledge and rollers to the site
Sarcen stones moved on sledge and log rollers
For each stone - 500 men needed to pull, and another 100 men needed to lay the
rollers in front
How were the pillars raised?
Probable method:
Hole was dug and stone was dragged until it hung over the hole
Levers used to tip stone, and gravity took the stone into the hole (stone at 30%
angle at that point)
Ropes attached to top of stone and groups of men pulled stones upright
Packing stones or earth then used to secure the pillar in place
How did they get the lintel’s atop the pillars though?
Probable method:
earth mounds were constructed around two pillars and the lintels were hauled up
an earthen ramp
Levers were used to shift lintels into position
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ALIGNMENT
Stonehenge was aligned with the solstice axis
On Summer Solstice the sun rises over the heel stone (once a pair of standing
stones)
The rays of light extending down the avenue and centre of the structure
The “Altar Stone” which now lays horizontal is thought to have stood as a pillar
along the axial line
Recent discoveries have shown that Stonehenge is also aligned with ridges
created by ice age
melt water
The ridges point directly
at the mid-winter sunset
in one direction and the
mid-summer sunrise in
the other.
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the other.
Other stones align
with the
northernmost and
southernmost
points of moonrise
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PURPOSE OF STONEHENGE
Cannot identify purpose absolutely
Possible uses include:
rites, processions, and ceremonial dances were held here
celebrating spring and summer
astronomical observatory used to predict lunar eclipses and keep track of time
New theory proposed by Mike Parker Pearson (National Geographic Film)
OTHER FEATURES RELATING TO STONEHENGE
More recent research has shown Stonehenge to be part of a larger Neolithic complex
Containing an avenue leading to the River Avon, the Woodhenge 3.2km away; as
well as another henge called Durrington Walls
Durrington Walls has been dated to 2500 B.C.
Measures 500m in diameter; 1.5km in circumference (not quite circular)
Originally had 4 entrances
Interior ditch was 5m deep and 10m wide
Material from ditch was used to construct external bank 3m high
An avenue ran 100m from the River Avon to the Southern Circle entrance
Made of a compressed double layer of flint (making it the oldest metal led road in
Europe)
Lines up perfectly with the Winter Solstice
Seems to have been constructed in 1 season
Houses have been round within and outside (the house floors and features being
well preserved)
Gi-hugic amount of pig and cattle bones (believed to originate during feasting),
pottery, flint arrowheads, and lithic (stone) debris have been found
Evidence (seasonal alignment, feasting remains) suggests seasonal occupation
NEW FINDS RELATING TO STONEHENGE
The Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project (using ground penetrating radar) has
found 17 new monuments, and thousands of uninterpreted features (small shrines,
burial mounds, and massive pits) all within 5 square miles of Salisbury Plain
Suggests Stonehenge wasn’t a lonely monument, but part of larger ceremonial area
Recently a stone monument at Durrington Walls has also been found
Large stone monuments were revealed beneath the banks
Evidence of a row of up to 100 standing stones (approx. 30 are still there) some
originally 4.5m high (stones probably originating locally)
Placed along southern side of a naturally occurring chalk scarp that created a cshaped area surrounding springs and a dry valley leading to River Avon
Possibly been constructed at same time as sarsen circle at Stonehenge
Seems the stones were later pushed over and the bank constructed over top
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RESPONSE AFTER STONEHENGE DECODED
What are your thoughts regarding the theory presented by Mike Parker Pearson? Be
specific.
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specific.
Does this influence how you see Neolithic peoples?
What does it tell you about their culture and society (how they viewed themselves,
nature, the afterlife, how power and leadership were organised, etc.)?
*Be specific and clear in the explanation of your ideas
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