Art In the Stone Age The Dawn of art Early Paleolithic Later Paleolithic 40,000-20,000 BCE 20,000-9000 BCE Paleolithic Period
No one knows why humans began to paint and carve images or what they meant to them. No one really knows the life our ancestor lead. However, we see that the subject of animals and female figures dominated their art during the Paleolithic period.
Stone tools The development of stone tools allowed Paleolithic Diet early humans to create many new If i were an early human objects. what would i eat?
● Nuts ● Seeds ● Plans ● Fruit ● Vegetables ● Roots ● Grass ● Insects What is a Hunter and Gathers society? ● Fish ● Shellfish A hunter and gatherer society is a society where most or all food is ● Some meats obtained by forging. Early humans would collect wild plants, nuts, barriers and vegetables. Another source of food came from hunting animals. Medium- what is this object made of? Usually stone / earth materials. Ivory
Technique- how is this object made? Sculpted or painted? size/ scale- how big or small is the object? Small (can be taken with Nomads.)
Color-What is the color of the object? Earth Tone
Texture- What is its texture? Does it appear smooth, bumpy or shinny? Many small female sculptures have been found dating from the old stone age. They range in different shapes and sizes. Some are made of mammoth tusk or bone while others are made of different types of stones. Some are relief sculptures while others are three dimensional. Venus of Willendorf , Austria, 28000-25,000 BC,
Limestone The Venus of Willendorf is a small figurine made of Limestone. She was found in Willendorf, Austria in 1908. She is round in shape. The focus is on the body, particularly on the large breasts and stomach. Some believe she is wearing a reed hat on her head. Though at first glance it looks like she has no arms, they are actually resting above her breasts. Residue left on the stone suggest She once was painted red.
Venus of Willendorf, Austria, 4.4 in, 25,000-28,000 BCE, Limestone What do we see?
Exaggeration of human body. Large Breasts and hips.
The sculpture is very small in size.
The sculpture is yellowish brown in color.
The figure has no face/ but there seems to be a representation of hair.
Small or no feet knees facing inward. The Venus of Brassempouy is a very small ivory figurine of a female head. She was found in 2008 in a cave in Hohle Fels, in Germany Some art historians believe she is wearing a hat. Others, believe the lines on her head represent her hair. She is a rare example of a sculpture representing a female face - in contrast to the body being the main focus.
Venus of Brassempouy/Head of Women, France,1.43 in 20,000-25,000 BCE,Ivory The Venus of Hohle Fels, is a type of small figurine made of mammoth ivory. She was found in 2008 in Hohle Fels, a cave near Schelklingen Germany. She is one of the oldest figurines. The focus of the figure is on the body, mostly the breasts and stomach area. Her head is very tiny!
Venus of Hohle Fels Germany, 2.4 in,35,000- 40,000 BCE,Mammoth Ivory Relief sculpture
The Venus of Laussel is a relief sculpture of a female nude holding what appears to be a bison horn. She is carved out of a limestone rock shelter. Residue on the stone suggest she was once painted red. There are many theories about the object she is holding, for one it was believed to be a crescent moon depicting the cycle of the moon. Now, it is believed to be a horn with markings that represent the cycles of a woman's menstrual period.
Venus of Laussel/Woman Holding a Bison, France, 18.11in, 25,000- BCE, Limestone
There are many similarities between the figures found, for one, they are solely female. Another, is that many are small in size. They are small enough to fit in someone's hand. Today, Historians debate that perhaps the figures would have been carried around by our nomadic ancestors. The figurines also have very exaggerated proportions. For example, large breasts, hips and stomachs. This may represent fertility. Lascaux Cave in France 16,000-14,000 BCE
Outline/ contour Painting in the dark?
-Light- large Fire/ animal fat Torches/ moss wicks
-Drawing- Charcoal/ ash mixed with water. Earth tones made with crushed materials
-Brushes- made from reeds/ sticks
-Pallets- Made of stone
-Bone tubes to blow paint onto walls
Rhinoceros Wounded Man and Disemboweled Bison Lascaux Cave, France, 16,000-14,000 BCE Animal Facing to the left.
What do we see? Perhaps a bull?
Animal is outlined in a darkish color.
The animal is in profile, however both of the animals horns are visible. (twisted perspective)
There appears to be an overlapping of other images
Color- earth tones / earth pigments. red/brown/black/ yellow Cave of Forgotten Dreams https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=NfF989-rW04
For homework watch the Cave of Forgotten dreams on youtube. The documentary is 1hr 30 mins long. After watching the film, please write a short paragraph. Answer some of these questions. 1. What do you think life was like for early humans? 2. What have we learned from these caves? 3. What are your favorite series of drawings? 4. Or explain the documentary to me in your own words. Human with Feline Head, from Hohlenstein Stadel Germany 40,000-35,000 BCE, Ivory Vocabulary: Paleolithic - Paleo- old Lithos- stone (old stone) Carbon Dating-Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon.
Nomadic- moving from place to place in search of food and shelter.
Hunter Gathers- A hunter and gatherer society is a society where most or all food is obtained by forging. Early humans would collect wild plants, nuts, barriers and vegetables. Another source of food came from hunting animals.
Prehistoric- Prehistory, pre writing Earth tones- yellow, browns, blacks, reds,. Silhouette- the shadow or outline of something Contour line- a continuous line Ancient Near East Mesopotamia the Land Between two rivers Ancient Mesopotamia and Persia
Mesopotamia is the presumed locale of the Biblical Garden of Eden and the region that gave birth to three of the worlds great modern faiths. Judaism, Islam and Christianity.
This region of southwestern Asia in present-day Iraq, lying between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The lands surrounding, were the site of the civilizations of Akkad, Sumer, Babylonia, and Assyria.
Mesopotamia is the site of the earliest developments of the Neolithic Revolution from around 10,000 BCE. It has been identified as having "inspired some of the most important developments in human history including the invention of the wheel, the planting of the first cereal crops and the development of cursive script, mathematics, astronomy and agriculture".
Table with Cuneiform writing
Cuneiform was the writing system that was used in ancient Mesopotamia. The name translates to Wedge Shape. The Cuneiform writing system started with more complexed pictures however as time went one these images were simplified into more abstract symbols.
The writing was mostly used as a way to mark down trades and accounting. Sumar White Temple, Uruk This is what it looks like today. Presentation of Offerings to Inanna(Warka Vase) 3200-3000 BCE made of Alabaster (3 feet, ¼ inches ) Inanna Goddess of fertility
Naked men bringing offerings to this Goddess. (priests? Or just nude men) nude= signifying their humility.
Important animals of Mesopotamia, this is the beginning of domestication of animals. They are male, followed by female=fertility
Crops that are essential to the Sumerians of Mesopotamia. The Standard of Ur,From Tomb 779,Royal Cemetery Ur, Iraq 2600-2400 BCE, wooden box inlaid with Lapis Louzi and Red Limestone
lapis lazuli Is a blue stone that if found in Afghanistan. War Side Peace Side Bull-Headed Harp. From the Tomb of Pu-abi , Iraq, 2600-2400 BCE, Hammered Gold Head (15 inch in height) What do we see? Akkad Head Of An Akkadian ruler, from Nineveb (modern Kuyunjik modern day Iraq) 2250-2200 BCE Victory Stele of Naram-Sin, 2254-2218 BCE, Pink Sandstone What do we see? Old babylon Code (laws) of Hammurabi Stele. 1780 Laws
BCE If a man puts out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out.
If a married woman dies before bearing anny sons, her dowry shall be repaid to her father, but if she gives birth to sons her dowry shall belong to them.
If a house builder builds a home and the home falls down and kills the family living inside, the builder must be put to death.
If a man strikes a freeborn women so that she loses her unborn child, he shall pay ten shekels for her loss. If the woman is killed, his daughter must be put to death. Assyria Palace of Sargon 11 721-705 BCE Lamassu Man Headed Winged Bull from Citadel of Sargon. 721-705 BCE, carved from Monolithic piece of stone What do we see? Neo Babylon Ishtar Gate Babylon, Iraq 575 BCE Photoshop reconstruction of gate
Detail of a lion found along the processional way from Ishtar Gate into the city of Babylon. The Ishtar Gate was constructed around 575 BC by King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon, made of fired bricks and decorated with animals made in glazed bricks. Detail of Gate
Uruk Bull (Aurochs) =God of Storms and beneficial rains. Dragon= Marduk= national deity chief God depicted as a dragon with a snake like head and tail, a scaled body of a lion and powerful talons for back feet.
He was an ultimate symbol of protection. Inscription by Nebakanezer I pulled down these gates and laid their foundations at the water table with asphalt and bricks and had them made of bricks with blue stone on which wonderful bulls and dragons were depicted. I covered their roofs by laying majestic cedars length-wise over them. I hung doors of cedar adorned with bronze at all the gate openings. I placed wild bulls and ferocious dragons in the gateways and thus adorned them with luxurious splendor so that people might gaze on them in wonder