Art History Links - Prehistoric Art

Prehistoric Art  |  Ancient Art – General  |  Ancient Art – Near East and Egypt
Ancient Art – Greece and Rome  |  Art of the Middle Ages  |  Renaissance and Baroque Art
18TH, 19TH, AND 20TH Century Art  |  Non-European Art  |  Other Interesting Sites

The Cave of Lascaux - An excellent site by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication with a section on the discovery and history of the cave and an illustrated tour through its various parts.
www.culture.fr/culture/arcnat/lascaux/en/

A Palaeolithic painted cave at Vallon-Pont-d'Arc (Ardèche) Another very good site by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication on the discovery of this painted cave in 1994.
www.culture.fr/culture/arcnat/chauvet/en/gvpda-d.htm

La grotte Cosquer - Also by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication, this site shows a painted cave discovered recently near Marseilles on the south coast of France; it can be reached only through a long passage underwater. The paintings include pictures of penguins!
www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/archeosm/fr/fr-medit-prehist.htm

The "Venus" of Willendorf - An informative five-part essay by Chris Witcombe, Department of Art History, Sweet Briar College, discussing the discovery, naming, identity, and meaning of this famous Paleolithic figurine of a woman.
www.arthistory.sbc.edu/imageswomen/willendorfdiscovery.html

Mothers of Time - A discussion of seven Paleolithic figurines from the Louis Alexandre Jullien Collection by Jacques Cinq-Mars of the Archaeological Survey of Canada. The site is part of a Virtual Museum in the Canadian Museum of Civilization.
www.civilization.ca/membrs/archaeo/paleofig/pal00eng.html

Female Imagery from the Paleolithic: The Grimaldi Case An excellent essay in several parts by Michael Bisson, Department of Anthropology, McGill University, and Randall White, Department of Anthropology, New York University (part of the Institute for Ice Age Studies On-line Library).
www.insticeagestudies.com/library/materialstomeanin./index.html

The Stone Pages - Paola Arosio and Diego Meozzi's site catalogue of stone circles (including Stonehenge), dolmens, standing stones, cairns, barrows and hillforts in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France, and Italy. Plus some great QuickTime VR Panoramic view movies!
www.stonepages.com/

Stonehenge - A brief chronology of Stonehenge, plus pages with information about archaeoastronomy at Stonehenge and Stonehenge and the latter-day Druids.
witcombe.sbc.edu/earthmysteries/EMStonehenge.html

Stonehenge- A four-part essay probing the mystery, construction, function, and future preservation of the monument produced by The Discovery Channel Canada Online.
exn.ca/mysticplaces/Stonehenge.cfm

Prehistoric Art in the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia Great collection of prehistoric objects beginning with Paleolithic Art.
www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/03/hm3_2.html