Global Prehistory
images 1-11
Content:
Form:
Context:
Function
Terms:
Themes:
1. Apollo 11 stones. Namibia. C.25,500-25,300 BCE Charcoal
on stone 4 ½” x 5”
Content:
Form:
Context:
Function
Terms:
Themes:
2. Great Hall of the Bulls. Lascaux, France. Paleolithic
Europe. 15,000-13,000 BCE. Rock Painting
Form
Context
Content
Function
Themes
Terms
3. Camelid sacrum in the shape of a
canine. Tequixquiac, central Mexico.
14,000-7,000 BCE Bone
Form
Context
Content
Function
Themes
Terms
4. Running horned woman. Tassili n’Ajjer,
Algeria. 6,000-4,000 BCE Pigment on rock
Form
Content
Context
Function
Terms
Themes
5. Bushel with ibex motifs. Susa, Iran.
Painted terra cotta Neolithic
4200-3500 BCE
Form
Functio
n
Content
Context
Terms
Themes
6. Anthropomorphic stele. Arabian Peninsula. Fourth millennium BCE
sandstone
Form
Content
Context
Function
Terms
Themes
7. Jade cong. Liangzhu, China.
3,300-2,200 BCE carved jade
Form
Content
Function
Context
Terms
Themes
)
Form
Content
Function
Context
Terms
Themes
9. The Ambun Stone, Ambun Valley, Enga Province, Papua New Guinea c.1500 BCE, Greywacke
Form
Content
Function
Themes
Context
Terms
10. Tlatilco female figure. Central Mexico, site of Tlatilco, 1200-900 BCE Ceramic
Form
Content
Function
Context
Terms
Themes
11. Terra cotta fragment. Lapita. Solomon
Islands, Reef Islands. 1000 BCE terra cotta
(incised)
Ancient Mediterranean
images 12-47
Form
Individual portrait
that is naturalistic and
abstract,
Function
Mblo
performan
ce
Themes
Portraiture
Private and
Public
Content
Individual portrait expressing
beauty, respect for
Context
Performance
Terms
Mblo
174. Portrait mask (Mblo). Baule peoples (Cote d’Ivoire).
Early 20th century CE Wood and pigment. (2 images).
Baule Portrait Mask of Moya Yanso (ca. 1890-1973) by Owie Kimou (d. 1948)
Height: 14 1/4 in (36.2 cm)
Form
Three zones,
Function
Masquerade or
performance called
Bundu or Sowei, Life
Transition, Moral
Guidance
Content
Idealized beauty and moral
goodness combined, danced by a
young woman, knowledge of
dance.
Zone 1: neck rolls
Zone 2: face (small mouth, high
forehead, nearly closed eyes,
scarification on cheeks (though
not found on Mende people)
Zone 3: complex coiffures, many
elements can be added (horns,
animals,
Context
Kept private
until performed,
Terms
Themes
Gender
Beauty
Ritual
Water
Bundu/Sowei
Mende
Raffia
Sande
175. Bundu Mask. Sande Society, Mende peoples (West African forests
of Sierra Leone and Liberia). 19th to 20th century CE Wood, cloth, and
fiber. (2 images).
Form
Tall,
abstracted
male figure
Content
Male Power, Personal
Large horns (often ram), right
hand often holds sword, left
hand often holds severed head,
often seated, surfaces encrusted
from , can be attended to daily
with offernings
Function
Igbo Personal
Shrine Figure
Themes
Religion/Sacr
ed
Moveable
Shrine
Male Power
Context
Personal Shrine,
Igbo public shrines
such as
Terms
Igbo
Ikenga
Shrine
176. Ikenga (shrine figure). Igbo peoples (Nigeria).
c.19th to 20th century CE Wood.
Form
Wood, beads,
metal
Content
Function
Divination Board
Royal History
Context
Themes
History
Terms
Luba
Lukasa
Mdudye Society
177. Lukasa (memory board). Mdudye Society, Luba peoples
(Democratic Republic of the Congo). c.19th and 20th century
CE Wood, beads, and metal. (2 images).
Content
Form
Geometric beading on long,
vertical fabric, large round
ears, highly stylized
Context
Performance
Function
Royal Power
Terms
Themes
Royal Power
Performance of
Power
Men Society
Aka
Bamileke
178. Aka elephant mask. Bamileke (Cameroon, western grassfields region).
c.19th to 20th century CE wood, woven raffia, cloth, and beads. (2 images)
Form
Bilateral Symmetry,
Stylized Geometric
shapes,
Function
Content
Context
Guardian of ancestral
bones in container
Themes
Death
Ancestral Spirits
Terms
Byeri
Fang
Reliquary
Figure
179. Reliquary figure (byeri). Fang peoples (southern Cameroon).
c.19th to 20th century CE wood
Form
Content
King seated on
throne, senior wife
behind, junior wife
at his feet, trickster
Esu playing the
flute
Function
Architectural Sculpture
Context
Was one of four
carved posts by
Olowe of Ise for
the royal palace
at Ikere
Themes
Royal Power
Royal Family
Terms
Esu/Eshu
Olowe of Ise
Opo Ogoga
Palace at Ikere Yoruba
180. Veranda post of enthroned king and senior wife (Opo Ogoga).
Olowe of Ise (Yoruba peoples). c.1910-1914 CE Wood and pigment.