Prehistoric Art Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) 40,000 BCE – 8,000(Near East) or 4,000 (Europe)BCE Neolithic (New Stone Age) 8,000 (Near East) or 4,000 (Europe)BCE – 2,000 (Europe)or 3,000 (Near East) BCE

Prehistoric Culture Paleolithic 40,000 BCE – approx. 4,000 BCE Hunter-gathers Nomadic Neolithic approx. 4,000 BCE – 2,000 BCE Cultivation/livestock Organized settlements / division of labor

Paleolithic Sculpture Woman of Willendorf (Venus of Willendorf), c. 28,000-21,000 BCE, limestone. May have been a fertility symbol Reproductive organs emphasized Lack of emphasis on arms and legs No feet – was not meant to stand Approx. 4” tall Portable No facial features / hair in clumps around head Traces of paint on head

Paleolithic Sculpture Lion-Human, Hohlenstein-Stadel, Germany, c. 30,000-26,000 BCE, mammoth ivory

Paleolithic Sculpture Woman from Ostrava Petrkovice, Czech Republic, c. 23,000 BCE, hematite, 1 ¾”

Neolithic Sculpture Figures of a woman and a man, Cernavoda, Romania, 3500 BCE, ceramic

Paleolithic Painting Cave Paintings of Lascaux, 15, ,000 BCE, Dordogne, France It is believed that paleolithic people did not live in caves, but may have sought shelter near the mouths of caves Charcoal, iron ore and plants mixed with animal fat to make paints Overlapping figures Animal figures painted deep inside caves Bodies in profile Cows, bulls, horses, deer are common in 650 drawings Animals were naturalistic, while humans were mostly stick figures May have been used ensure a successful hunt or as ancestral animal worship

Neolithic Architecture Stonehenge, c.2100 BCE, Wiltshire, England Post-and-lintel construction May have been oriented toward sunrise on the summer solstice (longest day of the year) Might have been used to predict eclipses Large megaliths in the center form a horseshoe around a flat stone Megaliths (originally topped with lintels) encircle the central horseshow Some stones are from 200 miles away May have taken 1,000 years to build

Neolithic Domestic Architecture House Interior, Skara Brae, Orkney Islands, Scotland. C BCE

Architectural Elements

Important Terminology Cromlech Megalith Menhir Mortise-and-tendon Post-and-lintel Archaeology