ART OF THE EARLIEST TIMES

CHAPTER 2

PREHISTORY

LESSON 1

VOCABULARY1. CROM = bent.2. DOLMEN = is a type of single-chamber

megalith tomb.3. LITHOS = stone.4. LLECH = flagstone.5. MEGALITHS = large stone slabs used in or

as monuments.6. MENHIR = a large upright standing stone.7. MESO = middle.8. NEO = new.

VOCABULARY9. PALEO = old.10.POST AND LINTEL SYSTEM = a

method of construction in which a crossbeam is placed across the opening .

11.POTTERY = is the art of making objects of clay and similar materials treated by firing.

12.PREHISTORY = before the existence of written records.

13.SOCIETIES = large human groups whose members share a common purpose and similar ideas.

PREHISTORY• Life was filled with danger and

fear.• They were at the mercy of wild

beast, hunger, and disease. • The most important purpose of

life was to find food for survival.

PREHISTORY PERIODS• PHALEOLITHIC – 30,000 to 10,000 B.c.– Used caves for shelter.

• MESOLITHIC– 10,000 - 5,000 B.c.– Nomadic hunting and gathering.

• NOELITHIC– 7,000 - 2,000 B.c.– Sedentary living with the discovery of

agriculture.

PALEOLITHIC ART• SCULPTURE – –MOBILE ART•Small statues of women called “VENUS”•Characterized by the expansion of breasts, womb and hips.•Symbols of fertility.

VENUS OF WILLENDORF

c. 24,000-22,000 BCE Oolitic limestone 43/8 inches (11.1 cm) high (Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna)

OTHER VENUS

Venus of Gagarino. Venus of Dolni

Vestonice (26,000 BCE)

First work of ceramic art.

Venus of Lespugue

(23,000 BC).

Venus of Laussel (23,000 BCE)First bas-relief sculpture. "The lady in a hood"

A statuette from the mammoth's tusk,

3.7cm. Found in 1894

MESOLITHIC ART• PAINTING–RUPESTRIAN ART•Cave paintings.• Themes: Hunting scenes, the fauna, and the daily life.•Most famous: Altamira (1879) in Spain

and Lascaux (1940) in France.

• CHARACTERISTICS:1.Colors made from:

a. Animal fat, vegetable juices, dirt of different chromes, and burn wood (for the black silhouettes).

2.Presents a sensibility for life and movement.

3.The use of the textures of the rocks to give volume and movement to the bodies.

MESOLITHIC CAVES

• Located near the town of Santillana del Mar in Cantabria, Spain.

ALTAMIRA CAVE

Neocave at the Altamira Museum

Bison

LASCAUX CAVE • Located near

the village of Montignac, in the Dordogne department. • http://www.l

ascaux.culture.fr/index.php#/en/00.xml

NEOLITHIC ART• POTTERY and

ARCHITECTURE• POTTERY – Types:• Stripped• Flat• Corded• Beaker (bell shape)

• ARCHITECTURE–They created MEGALITHIC

constructions.–Were used for funeral rites and

the worship of the sun.

• Types of Megaliths1.MENHIR = a large

upright standing stone. • Possible Uses:–Human sacrifice–Territorial markers–Elements of a complex ideological system.–Early calendars.

Deer stone near Mörön in

Mongolia

The Great Menhir of Er Grah, the largest known single stone putted up by Neolithic

man, later deliberately toppled.

The broken menhir was erected around 4700 BC

Measuring 20.60 meters (67.6 ft.), with a weight of 280 tons.

2.CROMLECH• Are the remains of prehistoric stone chamber tombs and also called stone circles. •STONEHENGE in Britain.

http://www.3dancientwonders.com/3d_stonehenge_virtualreality.htm

The Almendres Cromlech

STONEHENGE

2.DOLMEN• is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb.•Made of three or more upright stones supporting a large flat horizontal capstone (table).

The Table des Marchand is a large dolmen containing a number of decorations.