Prehistory

1. Weekly Agenda 8/24
• 8/24
– Intro Prehistoric
• 8/25
– Prehistoric (cont.)
• 8/26
– Team jigsaw
• 8/27
– Socratic Seminar: Is graffiti
good art?
• 8/28
– Tech Lab and Snap quiz

2. Debate Question 8/27
• Defend or refute
the following
statement:
• “graffiti is a valid
and beautiful art
form”

4. Prehistoric Art
Europe and N. America

5. Dating Conventions and Abbreviations
B.C.=before Christ
B.C.E.=before the Common Era
A.D.=Anno Domini (the year of our Lord)
C.E.=Common Era
c. or ca.= circa C.=century

13. Pebble resembling a human face
from Makaspansgat South Africa
ca. 3,000,000 B.C.E.
reddish brown jasperite
approximately 2 3/8 in. wide

14. Apollo 11 Cave
Namibia
ca. 23,000 B.C.E.
charcoal on stone
5 in x 4 3/4 in.

16. Human with Feline Head
from Hohlenstein-Stadel, Germany
ca. 30,000-28,000 B.C.E.
mammoth ivory
11 5/8 in. high

17. Human with Feline Head
from Hohlenstein-Stadel, Germany
ca. 30,000-28,000 B.C.E.
mammoth ivory
11 5/8 in. high

19. Venus of Willendorf
from Willendorf, Austria
ca. 28,000-25,000 B.C.E.
limestone
4 1/4 in. high

21. Woman of Lespugue
from cave of Les Rideaux, France
ca. 20,000 B.C.E.
mammoth ivory
5 3/4 in. high

22. Various European “Venus” figures

24. Woman of Laussel
from a cave in
Laussel, Dordogne, France
ca. 25,000-20,000 B.C.E.
painted limestone
approximately 18 in. high

26. Bison reliefs
from a cave at Le Tuc d’Audoubert,
Ariége, France
ca. 15,000-10,000 B.C.E.
clay
each approximately 2 feet long

27. Bison reliefs
from a cave at Le Tuc d’Audoubert,
Ariége, France
ca. 15,000-10,000 B.C.E.
clay
each approximately 2 feet long

29. Chauvet Cave paintings
Vallon-Pont-d’Arc, Ardèche, France
ca. 30,000-28,000 B.C.E.
pigment on stone

31. Pech-Merle Cave paintings
Lot, France
ca. 22,000 B.C.E.
pigment on stone

33. Altamira Cave paintings
Santander, Spain
ca. 12,000-11,000 B.C.E.
pigment on stone

36. Lascaux Cave paintings
Lascaux, Dordogne, France
ca. 15,000-13,000 B.C.E.
pigment on stone

39. Mammoth bone dwelling
from Ukraine
ca. 16,000-10,000 B.C.E.

42. Great Stone Tower of Settlement
Wall
Jericho, Israel/Gaza
ca. 8,000-7,000 B.C.E.

43. Human Skulls with
Restored Features
from Jericho, Israel/Gaza
ca. 7,000-6,000 B.C.E.
skulls, plaster, shells

44. Human figure
From Ain Ghazal, Jordan
ca. 6,750-6,250 B.C.E.
plaster, painted and inlaid with
cowrie shell and bitumen

46. Çatal Höyük
Turkey
ca. 6,000-5,900 B.C.E.

47. Deer Hunt
detail of a wall painting from
Level III
Çatal Höyük,Turkey
ca. 5,750 B.C.E.

48. Çatal Höyük
Turkey
ca. 6,000-5,900 B.C.E.

49. Landscape with Volcanic Eruption
Çatal Höyük,Turkey
ca. 6150
watercolor copy of a wall painting

50. Running honed woman
Algeria
6000-4000 BCE
Pigment on Rock

51. Beaker with ibex motifs
Susa, Iran
4200-3500 BCE
Painted terra cotta

52. Anthropomorphic stele.
Arabian Peninsula.
Fourth millennium BCE
Sandstone.

53. Jade cong.
Liangzhu, China
3300-2200 BCE
Carved Jade

54. The Ambum Stone
Papua New Guinea
1500 BCE
Greywacke

55. Warm-up 08/19
• Why do humans feel the
need to make large
buildings? What is the
definition of architecture?
What type of building do
you think of when you hear
“architecture,” Why?

57. Menhir alignments at Ménec,
Carnac, France
ca. 4,250-3,750 B.C.E.

58. various Menhirs
Ireland, Scotland, England, France

59. Dolmens
Ireland, Scotland, England, France

62. Stonehenge
Salisury Plain,Wiltshire, England
ca. 2,550-1,600 B.C.E.
sarsen and bluestone

64. Merlin tells King Aurelius about
Stonehenge
• Laugh not so lightly, King, for not lightly are
these words spoken. For in these stones is a
mystery, and a healing virtue against many
ailments. Giants of old did carry them from
the furthest ends of Africa and did set them
up in Ireland what time they did inhabit
therein. And unto this end they did it, that
they might make them baths therein
whensoever they ailed of any malady, for
they did wash the stones and pour forth the
water into the baths, whereby they that were
sick were made whole. Moreover they did
mix confections of herbs with the water,
whereby they that were wounded had
healing, for not a stone is there that lacketh
in virtue of leechcraft.

67. Religion?

68. Timed Essay 1
• A friend says in a college art class,
“those idiots didn’t know they were
making art, they were just drawing
stick figures.”
• How might you defend Paleolithic and
Neolithic Art as products of
sophisticated intent?
• Choose two works from these eras
(properly attributed) and describe the
purposeful principles of design that
were used, as well as the possible
theory behind why it was created.
• Defend why it is art and not just
nonsense.

69. Creative Project 1: Ancient Art
• Directions:
1. Use only the tools available
in nature (natural ground
pigments, oil binders,
charcoal, leaves, etc.)
2. On a natural surface such
as rock or wood, draw 5
symbols that are often
depicted in the paleolithic
and neolithic era