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

WHAT IS ART?

PALEOLITHIC ART

NEOLITHIC

NEOLITHIC ART

With the melting of the ice, and the the Ice Recedes, [ the Paleolithic gives way around 9000 B.C. to the transitional period of the Mesolithic, which is followed by the Neolithic.

Ancient Near East:

The Neolithic first emerges in the ancient Near East.

The dawn of civilization:

At one time, researchers proposed that the area known today as the Middle East, the ancient Near East, dried out into desert and semi-desert climates after the last retreat of the glaciers.

A stone tower ten thousand years old:

The first known permanent stone fortifications were built at Jericho.
1-14 Great stone tower built into the settlement wall, Jericho, ca. 8000-7000 B.C.

  1. stone tower
  2. stone tower
  3. stone tower
  4. stone tower
  5. stone tower

Skulls with restored faces:

Plaster, seashells, and paint were used to "restore" the facial features on a human skull.

1-15 Human skull with restored features, Jericho, ca. 7000-6000 B.C. Features molded in plaster, painted, and inlaid with shell. Archeological Museum, Amman.

  1. skull
  2. skull
  3. skull
  4. skull
  5. skull

A neolithic town with no streets:

An early experiment in urban living, maintained continuously for 800 years.

1-16 Schematic reconstruction drawing of a section of level VI, Çatal Hüyük (Turkey), ca. 6000-5,900 B.C. (after J. Mellaart).

  1. Çatal Hüyük
  2. Çatal Hüyük
  3. Çatal Hüyük
  4. Çatal Hüyük
  5. Çatal Hüyük

Hunting deer in neolithic Turkey:

Artists employ a composite view of the human body, but show it as regular in appearance and in a variety of poses and settings. Humans are shown dominating animals. The paintings are done on a prepared wall surface.

1-17 Deer hunt, detail of a copy of a wall painting from level III, Çatal Hüyük (Turkey), ca. 5750 B.C.

  1. Deer Hunt
  2. Deer Hunt
  3. Deer Hunt
  4. Deer Hunt
  5. Deer Hunt

The first landscape?:

A picture of a natural setting without humans or animals present.

1-18 Landscape with volcanic eruption (?), detail of a copy of a wall painting from level VII, Çatal Hüyük (Turkey), ca. 6150 B.C.

  1. volcano
  2. volcano
  3. volcano
  4. volcano

Western Europe:

The Neolithic arrives in western Europe around 4000 B.C. It is marked initially by megalithic structures.

A neolithic astronomical observatory:

Stonehenge was aligned with the rising sun at the midsummer solstice. It may have served to predict both lunar and solar eclipses.

1-19 Stonehenge, Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England, aerial view, ca. 2 2550-1600 B.C. CIRCLE IS 97' DIAMETER; TRILITHONS APROX. 24' HIGH.

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

Image courtesy of Saskia, Ltd.

WHAT IS ART?

PALEOLITHIC ART

NEOLITHIC