Paleolithic and Neolithic Art
Paleolithic art (Old Stone Age) (Paleo =old + lithic =stone)
(35,000-10,000 B.C.)
1-4. Hall of Bulls, Lescaux, France, 15, 000 –13,000 B.C.
•There is much that is still unknown about
the purposes of these paintings but most
scholars believe they were used as part of
ceremonies and rituals before hunting
and/or in initiation rites for young men.
•It seems clear from their locations deep in
the caves--often in areas difficult to
access--that they were not intended as art
for art's sake.
http://departments.ozarks.edu/hfa/slgorman/HIstudyaids.htm#chap1paleo
1-7 Rhinocerous, wounded man, and
disemboweled bison, Lescaux,
15000- 13,000 B.C.
1-2 Dead Bison, Altimira, Spain.
14,000 –12,000 B.C.
Subjects: primarily animals (rhinos, felines, bison, horses, bear, ibex, reindeer, auroch,
mammoths; signs
human representation is rare--negative and positive hand prints, half animal/half
human figures
Techniques: dirt pigments combined with animal fat sprayed or brushed on
figures outlined or modeled with pigment;
perspective (twisted or composite) and frontal views; no ground line or landscape.
http://www.rose.edu/faculty/nmiller/Svy1/Svy1wk1.html
There is no evidence to suggest these
images were narrative (tell stories),
since the images were painted in
random order, and many times
superimposed one over the other.
The animals convey no sense of
movement (like running or walking),
even though you see four legs. This was
more to describe the animal more
accurately.
You can note that the images also show
two horns on the bulls or goats, even
though the body is in strict profile.
http://www.rose.edu/faculty/nmiller/Svy1/Svy1wk1.html
1-11 Two Bison, clay relief at Le Tuc d’Audoubert,
12,000 B.C.
Many of them make artistic use of color and texture,
using the natural contours of the rocks to suggest
the shapes and curves of the animal's body and
create surprisingly “naturalistic” drawings
1-1 Bison ceiling,
Altimira, Spain
Central focus was on the hunt, with the clan
moving from place to place (nomadic) with
changing climate, seasons, and availability of
animals and food sources.
There is a close relationship between animal and
man in these early cultures and killing an animal
sees often to have been a ritual act. It is a
relationship of reverence that is far different from
our relationship with animals today. Killing, then,
becomes not simply slaughter but a recognition of
your dependency on the voluntary giving of this
food to you by the animal who has given its
life. The hunt is a ritual.
http://departments.ozarks.edu/hfa/slgorman/HIstudyaids.htm#chap1prehist
1-4. Hall of Bulls, Lescaux, France,
15, 000 –13,000 B.C.
1-12 Bison with turned head, incised bone,
from La Madeleine, Dordogne, France, 12,000
B.C.
1-5 Chinese Horse
c. 15,000-10,000 BC
Lascaux, France
http://www.rose.edu/faculty/nmiller/TV1103/TVwk1.html
3-4 inches =
meant to be portable
The Lady of Brassempouy
Carved in ivory. Size: 1 1/2 inches
Brassempouy, France,
22,000-20,000 B.C.
1-8 Venus of Willendorf,
c. 28,000-23,000 B.C.
Sculpture found is in relief and in-the-round. It was small enough to carry
in a pouch or your hand. Possibility the animals functioned as totems,
while the female figures (no male figures have been found) were fertility
symbols. They are called "venus" figures, but their symbolism was
different from the Greek goddess of love. They are considered to be an
expression of sexual power and childbirth (mother-earth symbol).
http://www.rose.edu/faculty/nmiller/TV1103/TVwk1.html
Neolithic art (New Stone Age--(6,000-1,500 B.C.)
Human beings learned to manipulate nature, they invented agriculture,
which allowed production of a food surplus which allowed human to begin
to live in such fixed village settlements.
Post and lintel construction
http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/m/megaliths.html
Passage graves have corridors built with
Series of “dolmens” made of large stone
slabs. These constructions were covered
with earth to create a mound
1-21 Stonehenge
It took mathematical calculations to align the
major heel stone with the rising of the sun on
Mid-Summer's Eve (Summer Solstice), and
setting of the sun on Mid-Winter's Eve. We can
understand how important it would be to
Neolithic man to have an awareness of natural
phenomena's like eclipses, and the cycle of the
seasons.
Stonehenge (Salisbury Plain), c. 2000 B.C.
Purpose? calendar? astronomical computer? ceremonial center?
http://www.rose.edu/faculty/nmiller/art1103_nmiller/course/CDlec1.html
References:
http://departments.ozarks.edu/hfa/slgorman/HIstudyaids.htm#chap1prehist
http://www.rose.edu/faculty/nmiller/art1103_nmiller/course/CDlec1.html
http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/m/megaliths.html
http://www.unm.edu/~artdept/lecture3.html