The document provides an overview of prehistoric art from the Stone Age periods. It discusses the different types of art that were produced during this time, including parietal cave art found on cave walls and mobiliary art consisting of small portable sculptures. Several examples of prehistoric art are described, including sculptures of bison, horses and human figurines. The techniques used to create prehistoric art and common motifs are also summarized.

1. Professor Will Adams
Valencia College
Fall 2011

2.  Events that occurred before written history.
 This part of history is divided into three periods.
 The Stone Age
 The Bronze Age
 The Iron Age

3.  Premise of Sympathetic Magic
 Everything in the universe is connected.
 There is a direct correlation between the body
and forces of nature.
 Understanding these connections assists an
individual in the interpretation and
manipulation of events.

4.  Contagious
 It holds that physically connected objects can
never be separated.
 Practitioners believe that any action against the
part constitutes an action against the whole.
 Imitative
 Premise: “like follows like”.
 The assumption is that a person will imitate the
desired behavior or achievement shown to them
by religious or spiritual leaders.

5.  There were two kinds of art produced during
this time.
 Parictal art – Paintings, sculptures & engravings
found in caves along the walls and the ceilings
(these caves were ceremonial sites, not for shelter).
 Mobiliary art - Small, portable sculpted
objects buried at habitation sites.

7.  Sculpture-in-the-Round & Relief Sculpture (High relief, Low (bas)
relief, Sunken)

8.  Carving = Subtractive
 Modeling = Additive

9. Bison with Turned Head
• Found in Tarn, France · 11,000 – 9,000 BC · Carved elk horn

10. Bison
• Found in Tuc d’Audoubert, France · c. 13,000 – 8,000 BCE · Unbaked
clay modeled on living rock

11.  25,000 BCE
 Made of limestone
 4 3/8” high
 Naturhistorisches Museum in
Vienna, Austria
 Suggest abundant fertility
and a plentiful supply of
food
 Found in 1908
 Venus is the classical goddess
of love and beauty
 This “Venus” was sort of a
joke: a “failed Venus” – not
feminine

12.  She is seen as a fertility
idol due to the large
breasts, the vagina being
indicated, and a round
stomach
 Some argue whether she
is wearing a hat or if it is
braided hair on top of her
head
 She was perfectly
preserved – never had
feet
 Arms are short and skinny
comparatively and hold
the top of her breast
 She doesn’t have a face
because this focuses on
the only parts needed for
reproduction

13. “The magical force and
wonder of the female was
no less a marvel than the
universe itself, and this
gave to woman a
prodigious power…”
Primitive
Mythology, Joseph
Campbell, (1959)
Venus of Laussel
c. 20,000-18,000 BCE
Limestone
17” Tall

15.  Colored powders made
from organic substances
such as minerals or
semi-precious stones.
 Pigments are mixed with
liquid (referred to as
medium, binder, or
vehicle) in order to be
applied to a surface.
 That surface is known as
the pigment & medium’s
support.

16. • The Cosquer Cave is located near
Marseilles.
• It can be accessed through a
tunnel 574 feet in length, which
is 121 feet under the sea level.
• The unique feature of this cave is
that it contains several dozen
works painted and engraved
between 27,000 and 19,000 years
ago.
• It is decorated with a variety
of land animals, but also with
seals and auks, fifty-five hand
stencils.

17. • The submerged main chamber
measures 197 feet across.
• The cave is more than
328 feet in diameter
when all the flooded
areas are included.

19. Animal Paintings
• Marine animals are rarely found in
decorated caves from the Paleolithic era.
• In the Cosquer Cave, they make up a
significant portion (11%) of the overall
number of figures.
• Drawn or engraved in the rock are
penguins, seals, fish, and various figures
that may stand for jelly-fish or octopi.
• Big-bellied horse painted in black
18,500 years before the present.
• This black horse, about 26” long, is
drawn with simple lines although the
legs are slightly awkward.
• Some details, such as the eye, the lower
jaw, and the mane done in parallel
hatching, are well executed.

20. • The fact that some knuckles are
Can I Get Your Digits? missing in these drawings has given
rise to a certain controversy.
• Does this bear witness to
mutilations, sacrificial
rituals, circulatory ailments or
frostbite?
• Although the fingers are
incomplete, the thumb is always intact
on these hands which immediately
eliminates the hypothesis of severe
frostbite having resulted in the
necrosis of the fingers.
• The most probable hypothesis is that
the hands were drawn with bent
fingers to represent a sign of greeting
or a coded language. This was probably
associated with hunting and various
rituals, thus similar to the silent
language once used by hunting
peoples such as the Bushmen and the
Australian Aborigines.

21.  The Chauvet Cave is one of the most
famous prehistoric rock art sites in
the world.
 Located in the Ardeche
region of southern France, along the
bank of the river Ardeche near the
Pont-d'Arc, this cave was only
discovered as recently as 1994.
 Chauvet Cave's importance is based
on two factors: firstly, the aesthetic
quality of these Paleolithic cave
paintings, and secondly, their great
age. With one exception, all of the
cave art paintings have been dated
between 30,000 & 33,000 years ago.
 Not only is the Ice Age art of the
Chauvet Cave extremely old, it is
also very extensive and highly
varied.

22. Lion Panel
c. 25,000 – 17,000 BCE
Black pigment on
limestone
• The wall to the right of the
central recess has a large
number of animals drawn on
to it. The overall scene depicts
a hunt.
• On the right of the
composition there is a
rhinoceros and a mammoth.
• On the left, there are four
bison heads, and two more
rhinos.
• Then there are seven
bison, pursued by a pride of
sixteen lions, mainly depicted
by their heads alone.

23. • Lascaux is famous for its
paintings, found in a complex of
caves in the Dordogne region of
France, because of their exceptional
quality, size, sophistication and
antiquity.
• Estimated to be up to 20,000 years
old, the paintings consist primarily
of large animals, once native to the
region.
• Lascaux is a complex cave with
several areas or galleries.
• It was discovered on September
12, 1940.
• The cave contains nearly 2,000
figures, grouped into three main
categories - animals, human figures
and abstract signs.

24. Hall of the Bulls at Lascaux

25. Details of the Hall
of the Bulls
• Among the most famous images are
four huge, black bulls or aurochs in the
Hall of the Bulls.
• One of the bulls is 17 feet long - the
largest animal discovered so far in cave
art.
• Additionally, the bulls appear to be in
motion. There are no images of
reindeer, even though that was the
principal source of food for the artists.
•A painting referred to as The Crossed
Bison, found in the chamber called the
Nave, is often held as an example of the
skill of the Paleolithic cave painters. The
crossed hind legs show the ability to use
perspective.

26. The Chinese Horse of Lascaux Cave
c. 13,000 BCE
• This ancient horse was called "Chinese" because
of its resemblance to 3,000 year old Tang dynasty
horses.
Visit Lascaux!

27. • Altamira is famous for its Upper
Paleolithic cave paining featuring
drawings and polychrome rock
paintings of wild animals &
human hands.
• It is located near the town of
Santillana del Mar in
Cantabria, Spain.
• The cave at Altamira is 270 meters
long and consists of a series of
twisting passages and chambers.
• The main passage varies from two
to six meters high.
• The cave was found by a local
hunter, Modesto Peres, in 1868.

28.  You will be given a sheet of paper, which you will affix to
the underside of your desktop.
 You will be given pigments in the form of crayons.
 I will extinguish the lights in the room.
 You will then use your pigments to “paint” your sheet of
paper.
 Your painting should depict someone or something
you admire and would like to imitate.
 VERY IMPORTANT: Do NOT use any words, characters, or
written language.
 Be sure to work continuously throughout the allotted
time, attempting to fill all blank space with as descriptive
images as you are capable of creating.

29.  Create an image – either two or three-dimensional – of
The Ideal Human.
 Your representation of The Ideal Human should physically
embody and emphasize those traits which you feel make
him or her The Ideal.
 Consider the artists’ motivations in creating the Venuses
of Willendorf and Laussel as you create your own.
 If two-dimensional, your representation should measure
no smaller than 8.5” x 11”, and should be mounted on
black construction paper, foam-core, or poster board
forming a 1” margin.
 If three-dimensional, your representation should
measure no less than 4” cubed, and be mounted to a base.
 Be prepared to share your creation at the beginning of
next class, September 15th.