The Birth of Art: Africa, Europe, and the Near East in the Stone Age
	Paleolithic Art :: Neolithic Art
	PALEOLITHIC ART Humankind seems to have originated in Africa in the very remote past. From that great continent also comes the earliest evidence of human recognition of abstract images in the natural environment, if not the first examples of what people generally call “art.” In modern times, many artists have created works people universally consider art by removing objects from their normal contexts, altering them, and then labeling them. Evidence indicated that, with few exceptions, it was not until around 30,000 BCE, that human intentionally manufactured sculptures and paintings. 1-1: Waterworn pebble resembling a human face, from Makapansgat, South Africa, ca. 3,000,000 BCE. Reddish brown jasperite, approx. 2 3/8” wide. Pebble Pebble Pebble Pebble Pebble The several millennia following 30,000 BCE saw a powerful outburst of creativity. During the Paleolithic period, humankind went beyond the recognition of human and animal forms in the natural environment to the representations of humans and animals. Africa: Various types of artworks were created by Cro-Magnon peoples in the several millennia following 30,000 B.C. There is clear evidence of artworks that were made intentionally to represent humans and animals. Nambian animals: The oldest paintings in Africa were portable objects. 1-2: Animal facing left, from the Apollo 11 Cave, Namibia, ca. 23,000 BCE. Charcoal on stone, approx. 5” X 4 1/4”. State Museum of Namibia, Windhoek. fragment of Apollo 11 plaque fragment of Apollo 11 plaque related related Western Europe: Some of the earliest surviving artworks from the Paleolithic period in Europe are small statuettes of humans. Europe’s first sculptures: Some of the earliest surviving artworks from the Paleolithic period in Europe are small statuettes of humans. 1-3: Human with feline head, from Hohlenstein-Stadel, Germany, ca. 30,000–28,000 BCE. Mammoth ivory, 11 5/8” high. Ulmer Museum, Ulm. A statuette carved from mammoth ivory of a human with a feline head. statuette statuette statuette statuette statuette statuette Women in paleolithic art: A number of prehistoric sculptures depict nude women, dubbed "Venuses." 1-4: Nude woman (Venus of Willendorf), from Willendorf, Austria, ca. 28,000–25,000 BCE. Limestone, approx. 4 1/4” high. Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna. Venus of Willendorf Venus of Willendorf Venus of Willendorf Venus of Willendorf Venus of Willendorf The Laussel shelter: Some figures were carved in relief. Because precision in dating is impossible for the Paleolithic era, art historians usually can be no more specific than assigning a range of several thousand years to each artifact. 1-5: Woman holding a bison horn, from Laussel, Dordogne, France, ca. 25,000–20,000 BCE. Painted limestone, approx. 1’ 6” high. Musée d’Aquitaine, Bordeaux. Venus of Laussel Venus of Laussel Venus of Laussel Venus of Laussel Venus of Laussel Venus of Laussel Venus of Laussel Rock-cut women: Old Stone Age painters and sculptors frequently and skillfully used the caves naturally irregular surfaces to help give the illusion of real presence to their forms. 1-6: Reclining woman, rock-cut relief, La Magdelaine cave, Tarn, France, ca. 12,000 BCE. Approx. half life-size. Rock-cut relief of a reclining nude woman. reclining woman reclining woman reclining woman reclining woman Clay bison: Other Paleolithic sculptors created reliefs by building up forms out of clay rather than by cutting into stone blocks or stone walls.
	1-7: Two bison, reliefs in cave at Le Tuc d’Audoubert, Ariège, France, ca. 15,000–10,000 BCE. Clay, each approx. 2’ long. bison bison bison bison Antler sculpture: Prehistoric sculptors also carved antlers. 1-8: Bison with turned head, fragmentary spearthrower, from La Madeleine, Dordogne, France, ca. 12,000 BCE. Reindeer horn, approx. 4” long. Musée des Antiquités Nationales, Saint-Germain-en-Laye. carved bison carved bison carved bison carved bison carved bison The discovery of Altamira: The first examples of cave paintings were found accidentally by an amateur archaeologist 1-9: Bison, detail of a painted ceiling in the Altamira cave, Santander, Spain, ca. 12,000–11,000 BCE. Each bison approx. 5’ long. Altamira bison Altamira bison Altamira bison Altamira bison Altamira bison “Floating” bison: Like the animal representations on the plaque from Nambia (10,000 years earlier), every Altamira bison is in profile. Signs and hands: Signs, consisting of checks, dots, squares, or other arrangements of lines often accompany the pictures of animals. Representations of human hands also are common. 1-10: Spotted horses and negative hand imprints, wall painting in the cave at Pech-Merle, Lot, France, ca. 22,000 BCE. Approx. 11’ 2” long. horses horses horses horses horses related The bulls of Lascaux: Paintings of bulls dominate the first chamber in the extensively decorated caves at Lascaux. Other animals are painted on the walls of the Chauvet Cave. 1-11: Hall of the Bulls (left wall), Lascaux, Dordogne, France, ca. 15,000–13,000 BCE. Largest bull approx. 11’ 6” long. Lascaux Lascaux Lascaux Lascaux Lascaux 1-12: Aurochs, horses, and rhinoceroses, wall painting in Chauvet Cave, Vallon-Pont-d’Arc, Ardèche, France, ca. 30,000–28,000 or ca. 15,000–13,000 BCE. Approx. half life-size. Chauvet Chauvet Chauvet Chauvet Chauvet Paleolithic narrative art?: Perhaps the most perplexing painting in all the Paleolithic caves shows a man, a rhinoceros, and a wounded bison. Researchers can be sure of nothing, but if the figures were placed beside each other to tell a story, then this is evidence for the creation of complex narrative compositions involving humans and animals at a much earlier date than previously imagined. 1-13: Rhinoceros, wounded man, and disemboweled bison, painting in the well, Lascaux, Dordogne, France, ca. 15,000–13,000 BCE. Bison approx. 3’ 8” long. well scene well scene well scene well scene well scene
	Paleolithic Art :: Neolithic Art