1. Global Prehistory 30,000-500BCE (11 works)
Content Area 1:
Global Prehistory
30, BCE (11 works)

2. Seven such pieces were found from 1969-1972.
Apollo 11 stones. Namibia. c. 25,500–25,300 B.C.E. Charcoal on stone.
Marcelo Guimaraes Lima. PhD "The seven slabs of rock with traces of animal figures that were found in the Apollo 11 Cave in the Huns Mountains of southwestern Namibia have been dated with unusual precision for ancient rock art. Originally brought to the site from elsewhere, the stones were painted in charcoal, ocher, and white. Until recently, the Apollo 11 stones were the oldest known artwork of any kind from the African continent. More recent discoveries of incised ocher date back almost as far as 100,000 B.C., making Africa home to the oldest images in the world." from: Apollo 11 (ca. 25,500–23,500 b.c.) and Wonderwerk (ca b.c.) Cave Stones, Metropolitan Museum website 
On art and "conceptual realism"
The characteristic profile view of an animal (here a quadruped of uncertain species) is the equivalent of a "pictorial definition", providing the most complete information for prompt identification of the depicted being. In the image above it is displayed one of the oldest known examples of an approach to form and to representation that stresses the idea of the structural unity of the thing depicted, rather than a momentary, subjective, and therefore relative and dynamic view of an object or phenomenon.  The notion of structural unity will allow, or rather, demand that the most characteristic elements be displayed in the representation: therefore frontal and lateral views will be combined into one characteristic form. This sort of “conceptual” approach to form, that is, embodying our knowledge of what is represented, rather than the actual optical experience, will have a long history, marking artistic representation in prehistoric times as well as in the arts of the early civilizations and beyond.  Also designated as “law of frontality” or “conceptual realism”, this approach is linked by some authors to the very nature of the image in archaic mentality: the image is not pure “representation”, an abstract, purely mental or symbolic equivalent, but a double of the object, a real duplication of the real object. Reality itself is multidimensional, formed by layers that confront each other and interact in complex ways, as the image interacts with its object. The power of the image, therefore, in the depiction of an animated reality, is a living power. Accordingly, the “law of frontality” will be applied strictly and systematically in the depiction of human beings in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt. Marcelo G. Lima reference: Huyghe, Rene - Art forms and societies (in Chapter 3 - Agrarian Empires) Larousse Encyclopedia of Prehistoric and Ancient Art, London: 1967
1. Apollo 11 stones. Namibia. c. 25,500–25,300 B.C.E. Charcoal on stone.
Seven such pieces were found from

3. 2. Great Hall of the Bulls. Lascaux, France. Paleolithic Europe
2. Great Hall of the Bulls. Lascaux, France. Paleolithic Europe. 15,000–13,000 B.C.E. Rock painting.
2. Great Hall of the Bulls. Lascaux, France. Paleolithic Europe. 15,000–13,000 B.C.E. Rock painting.

4. Hall of Bulls, Lascaux, France. Discovered in 1940 by 4 teenagers;. c
Hall of Bulls, Lascaux, France. Discovered in 1940 by 4 teenagers;.c.15,000-13,000BCE.

5. Caretakers monitor the cave in 2003; every two weeks, restorers come to remove mold.

7. Rhinoceros, wounded man, and bison in the so-called Shaft of the Dead Man at Lascaux cave, bison 3’ 8”L.
An oil lamp (a deer fat lamp), found in the Lascaux cave. Red sandstone, 8 ¾” x 4 3/16” x 1 ¼” c.17,000BCE. Found with traces of a juniper wick in the cup.

8. 3. Camelid sacrum in the shape of a canine. Tequixquiac, central Mexico. 14,000–7000 B.C.E. Bone.

9. 4. Running horned woman. Tassili n’Ajjer, Algeria. 6000–4000 B. C. E
4. Running horned woman. Tassili n’Ajjer, Algeria. 6000–4000 B.C.E. Pigment on rock.
4. Running horned woman. Tassili n’Ajjer, Algeria. 6000–4000 B.C.E. Pigment on rock.

10. 5. Bushel with ibex motifs. Susa, Iran. 4200–3500 B.C.E.
5. Bushel with ibex motifs. Susa, Iran. 4200–3500 B.C.E. Painted terra cotta.
“This large painted vase, magnificently decorated, was among the funerary objects of the first inhabitants of Susa. On a secondary burial, the deceased received bushels (cylindrical earthenware pots), bowls and metal objects indicative of the prosperity of the city, then at its height. The style of the pottery is in keeping with that of the Susian plain, dominated since its foundation by the city of Susa.
A representation of the world
This large, handthrown vessel with thin walls has a stylized decoration that constitutes a kind of synthesis of the environment of the first agricultural communities of the ancient Orient. A frieze of aquatic birds runs around the top; the parallel lines of their necks suggest a whole flock on the water's surface, a sight that must have been common at the time in the low, reed-carpeted valleys. Underneath are running dogs with long, narrow bodies, perhaps the ancestors of the slender salukis, hunting dogs that were adapted to the steppe plateaus. The main part of the vase is decorated with large panels divided up with meander patterns; these may symbolize the settlement of the land by men, showing the borders of fields and villages and watercourses. In the center of the panels is the majestic figure of the goat, omnipresent in both its wild or domesticated forms. Traced with simple shapes, triangles and circles, small details such as a goatee beard or tail add a personal touch. Within the oversized circle of its horns is an abstract motif, perhaps a topographical or clan-related sign, serving to identify the vase and its owner as belonging to a particular group or a family.
Susa, a regional metropolis
This pot comes from a cemetery at the foot of the Susa acropolis, where thousands of secondary-burial places have been found, each containing painted ceramic vases and a few metal objects. This cemetery dates back to the original settlement of Susa, in the late 5th and early 4th millennium BC. At first a simple village lying in a plain where the land was worked by other agricultural communities, Susa seems very quickly to have become the leading community. Its superiority is visible in the construction of a high terrace of unbaked bricks of which only traces remain - sufficient, however, to identify it as one of the first monumental buildings of a public and probably religious nature, also found in Mesopotamia. At the foot of this high terrace, the Susians gathered the remains of their dead after the defleshing that probably took place farther away. The reasons for these funerary practices remain uncertain, as does the exceptional nature of the offerings. Because no dwellings places contemporary to the graves have been found, we do not know if painted ceramics were in common use or if the served specifically funerary purposes. They all have similar, highly recognizable forms, styles and motifs, but each vase bears the stamp of an individual craftsman: although specialized workshops mass-produced objects over several generations, each artist gave free reign to his personal genius. The painted earthenware of the Susa graves raises questions about the first villages of the ancient Orient, their lifestyle and thinking. Susa, a prosperous city in the 5th millennium BC on the arrival of Islam, provides a rare opportunity to study the development of some of these villages, which, on the advent of writing, became political, economical and religious centers.”
5. Bushel with ibex motifs. Susa, Iran. 4200–3500 B.C.E.
Painted terra cotta.

11. 6. Anthropomorphic stele. Arabian Peninsula. Fourth millennium B. C. E
6. Anthropomorphic stele. Arabian Peninsula. Fourth millennium B.C.E. Sandstone.
6. Anthropomorphic stele. Arabian Peninsula. Fourth millennium B.C.E. Sandstone.

12. 7. Jade cong. Liangzhu, China. 3300–2200 B.C.E. Carved jade.

13. 8. Stonehenge. Wiltshire, UK. Neolithic Europe. c. 2500–1600 B. C. E
8. Stonehenge. Wiltshire, UK. Neolithic Europe. c. 2500–1600 B.C.E. Sandstone.
8. Stonehenge. Wiltshire, UK. Neolithic Europe. c. 2500–1600 B.C.E. Sandstone.

14. 8. Stonehenge. Wiltshire, UK. Neolithic Europe. c. 2500–1600 B. C. E
8. Stonehenge. Wiltshire, UK. Neolithic Europe. c. 2500–1600 B.C.E. Sandstone.

15. Slide concept by William V. Ganis, PhD
FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY
For publication, reproduction or transmission of images, please contact individual artists, estates, photographers and exhibiting institutions for permissions and rights.

16. 9. The Ambum Stone. Ambum Valley, Enga Province, Papua New Guinea. c
9. The Ambum Stone. Ambum Valley, Enga Province, Papua New Guinea. c B.C.E. Greywacke..

17. 10. Tlatilco female figurine. Central Mexico, site of Tlatilco
10. Tlatilco female figurine. Central Mexico, site of Tlatilco. 1200–900 B.C.E. Ceramic.
10. Tlatilco female figurine. Central Mexico, site of Tlatilco. 1200–900 B.C.E. Ceramic.

18. 11. Terra cotta fragment. Lapita. Solomon Islands, Reef Islands. 1000 B.C.E. Terra cotta (incised).