The Birth of Art: Africa, Europe, and the Near East in the Stone Age

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.

Painted animals of great antiquity:

The oldest paintings in Africa were portable objects.

1-2 Animal facing left, from the Apollo 11 Cave, Namibia, ca. 23,000 B.C. Drawing in charcoal on stone of an animal facing left. Approx. 5" x 4 1/4".

1. fragment of Apollo 11 plaque
2. fragment of Apollo 11 plaque
3. related
4. related

Western Europe:

Some of the earliest surviving artworks from the Paleolithic period in Europe are small statuettes of humans.

The first sculptures in Europe:

1-3 Human with feline head, from Hohlenstein-Stadel, Germany, ca. 30,000-28,000 B.C. MAMMOTH IVORY, 11 5/8" HIGH. ULMER MUSEUM, ULM.
A statuette carved from mammoth ivory of a human with a feline head.

1. statuette
2. statuette
3. statuette
4. statuette
5. statuette
6. 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

B.C. LIMESTONE, APPROX. 4 1/4" HIGH. NATURHISTORISCHES MUSEUM, VIENNA.
A limestone statuette with exaggerated anatomical features.

1. Venus of Willendorf
2. Venus of Willendorf
3. Venus of Willendorf
4. Venus of Willendorf
5. Venus of Willendorf [image only]

A rock shelter in France:

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 B.C. PAINTED LIMESTONE, APPROX. 1' 6" HIGH. MUSE'E D'AQUITAINE, BORDEAUX.
A relief sculpture of a nude woman with exaggerated breasts, abdomen, and hips.

1. Venus of Laussel
2. Venus of Laussel
3. Venus of Laussel
4. Venus of Laussel
5. Venus of Laussel
6. Venus of Laussel
7. Venus of Laussel

Women and bison in French caves:

Relief sculptures of women and animals are also found inside caves.

1-6 Reclining woman, rock-cut relief, La Magdelaine cave, Tarn, France, ca. 12,000 B.C. APPROX. HALF LIFE-SIZE.
Rock-cut relief of a reclining nude woman.

1. reclining woman
2. reclining woman
3. reclining woman

1-7 Two bison, reliefs in cave at Le Tuc d'Audoubert, Ariège, France, ca. 15,000-10,000 B.C. CLAY, EACH APPROX. 2' LONG.
Two bison modeled in clay.

1. bison
2. bison
3. bison
4. bison
5. bison

An atler becomes a bison:

Prehistoric sculptors also carved antlers.

1-8 Bison with turned head, from La Madeleine, Dordogne, France, ca. 12,000 B.C.
A relief carving of a bison on a reindeer antler, approx. 4" long.

1. carved bison
2. carved bison
3. carved bison
4. carved bison
5. carved bison

A little girl discovers paintings in a cave:

Paintings of bison on the ceiling of a cave.

1-9 Bison, detail of a painted ceiling in the Altamira cave, Santander, Spain, ca. 12,000-11,000 B.C. EACH BISON APPROX. 8' LONG.

1. Altamira bison
2. Altamira bison
3. Altamira bison
4. Altamira bison
5. Altamira bison

The birth of writing?:

What do the checks, dots, squares, and other marks made on cave walls mean?

1-10 Spotted horses and negative hand imprints, wall painting in the cave at Pech-Merle, Lot, France, ca. 22,000 B.C. APPROX. 11' 2" LONG.

1. horses
2. horses
3. horses
4. horses
5. horses

The "running of the bulls" at 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 B.C. LARGEST BULL APPROX. 11' 6" LONG.

1. Lascaux
2. Lascaux
3. Lascaux
4. Lascaux
5. Lascaux [image only]

1-12 Aurochs, horses, and rhinoceroses, wall painting in Chauvet Cave, Vallon-Pont-d'Arc, Ardèche, France, ca. 30,000-28,000 B.C. APPROX. HALF LIFE-SIZE.

1. Chauvet
2. Chauvet
3. Chauvet
4. Chauvet
5. Chauvet

Paleolithic narrative art?:

Are the rhinoceros, the wounded bison, and the man painted in the well at Lascaux part of a story?

1-13 Rhinoceros, wounded man, and disemboweled bison, painting in the well, Lascaux, Dordogne, France, ca. 15,000-13,000 B.C. BISON APPROX. 3' 8" LONG.

1. well scene [image only]
2. well scene
3. well scene [image only]
4. well scene