The Birth of Art: Africa, Europe, and the Near East in the Stone Age WHAT IS ART? PALEOLITHIC ART NEOLITHIC WHAT IS ART? Out of Africa: There is evidence that the earliest humans, originating in Africa, recognized abstract images in the natural world. 1-1 Waterworn pebble resembling a human face, from Makapansgat, South Africa, ca. 3,000,000 B.C. A reddish-brown jasperite pebble, approx. 2 3/8" wide, that resembles a human face, but is it "art"? Pebble Pebble Pebble Pebble Pebble [image only] WHAT IS ART? PALEOLITHIC ART NEOLITHIC