1. Pre-Historic
Paleolithic
Mesolithic
Neolithic
Artist as Magician

2. Paleolithic- Old Stone Age
Mesolithic-Middle Stone Age
Earliest form of craft seen
Connecting form and function
Shaped rock to meet needs as tools
Earliest form of ART- 35,000 years ago
During the time of the last Ice Age
Objects found mostly in Africa, Spain and southern France
People were nomadic and lived in caves or over hanging rocks
Artwork was completed for ritualistic purposes
Artists because they first asked the questions:
What shall be my subject?
How shall I represent it?

3. Altamira-
-Images are incised or painted onto rock-often use natural projections of the rock to fit the drawing
-bison is lifelike due to shading and roundness
-animals only- no landscape backgrounds
-painted from ocre and ash from the surroundings- used as much as 3 colors
Altamira, Wounded Bison
All pre-historic art is presented in strict profile- why?

4. Lascaux, France
Pictures are drawn far inside the caves, away from entrances, sites used for centuries
Pictures are superimposed- no separation between image and reality
Once the animal has been killed, the spirit has been killed and a new animal is drawn on top
Purpose of the drawings were to lure animals for the hunt-they were scarce

5. -wanted fertility both for animals and for themselves (this MAY be an example)
-small figures carved from naturally shaped rocks
-central point in the design, the navel is a natural crevice in the rock
Only 4 inches tall
Name is misleading
Venus of Willendorf, Austria

6. Neolithic- New Stone Age
8000 BC- Near East
Ice age receded around 9000BC
Began with the onset of farming- domestication of animals and food grains
Still used stone tools
Created permanent settlements- new crafts- pottery, weaving, spinning, architecture

7. Jericho- first evidence of monumental architecture- why?
-Actual human skull- face has been recreated and tinted, decorated with seashells
-strong individuality- but not really portraits of specific people
-meant to perpetuate life beyond death
-displayed above ground, rest of body was buried- first recognition of belief of life beyond death
-believed in a spirit, located in the head that remained after death- these heads were meant to trap spirits in their graves (MAYBE!!)
Sculptured Head, Jericho, 7000 BC

8. Catal Huyak, Turkey BC
-Lived in houses of mud and brick centered around courtyards
-no streets or doors- people entered through the roof
-large number of shrines
-plaster walls with paintings- 1st known artwork on man-made surface, no more actual hunts- everything is ritual- in honor of male and female deities

9. Landscape drawing of Catal Huyuk
-1st evidence of goddess worship- mountains always shown in profile-MAYBE
-definitely 1st painting depicting a landscape devoid of animals and people
-houses shown from above- both a map and a landscape

10. Stone Henge, 3000 BC Neolithic Europe not as advanced-
Megaliths- large stone structures solely for religious purposes
Megalithic- culture that produces megaliths
Made up of Dolmens- tombs with upright stones, slab roof (lintel)
Cromlechs-other stones that form a setting
Outer circle and 2 inner circles with a center altar
Oriented towards the point at which the sun rises on the Summer Solstice

11. Mound Builders, North America
Totems of animals from a specific tribe- echos the natural formation of the land.
Mound Builders, North America