Chapter 1
BEFORE HISTORY
• The making of tools as early as 2 million years ago
demonstrates an awareness of form and function and is
regarded as the first step of art.
• Over the centuries one sees this awareness in the design of
the tools found throughout the world.
• There is also evidence of humans being aware of things
beyond their immediate world such as funeral gifts of food
and weapons buried with their dead.
• In addition to those gifts, what the authors call a second
step in the making of art was taken with the creation of
non-utilitarian objects, which were generally found, in or
near the graves. Examples of this would be limited large
stone monuments with markings carved on the surface.
• Since this period is before any known writing and because of
the small number of objects found, our knowledge of the
people and the purpose of some of the pieces are limited.
• During this period, most of the carvings whether it be free
standing or a relief are relatively small, suggesting the
lack or need for large monumental sculpture.
• One of the many things to observe during this period is the
attention paid by the carvers to detail and to conveying
realism. This realism emphasizes the observation powers of
the makers even this early in the history of humankind.
Key Terms:
Paleolithic
dressed stone
Relief
megalith
Franco-Cantabrian triangle
Learning Objectives:
• To understand the need for humans to create.
• To be aware of the possibility of creativity without
‘modern’ tools.
• To know which tools aided the individual in the creative
process
• To see how visuals were used in rituals.
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THE ART OF THE HUNTERS
Woman from Willendorf (fig. 1.1)
• This object, which is believed to be 25,000 to 30,000 years
old, is thought to be the oldest known artwork and is only 4
1/2 inches tall.
• Because of its features and the similar emphasis on female
features of other carvings found, it is thought that this
statue has something to do with fertility.
• Notice also that the size and the lack of feet help
emphasize the reproductive areas of the body.
Woman’s Head from Brassempouy (fig. 1.3)
• This figure measures only 1 1/3 inches.
• As opposed to the statue from Willendorf, this one is more
of a portrait in that there is a concern for the shape of
the face and the representation of hair or of some type of
head ornamentation.
Mother Goddess from Laussel (fig. 1.5)
• This image is the first true relief sculpture and the image
is much larger than previous objects being 18 1/2 inches
tall.
• As with the ‘Woman from Willendorf’, this relief emphasizes
the areas of the female body which have to do with
reproduction such as the curve of the stomach and thighs and
the shape of the breasts.
Cave Art
• As with the stone carvings, our understanding of the people
and the objects found within the caves is also limited.
• It was not until the beginning of the twentieth century that
the works of art found in the caves were regarded as being
Paleolithic.
• A majority of the cave paintings have been found in this
area called the Franco-Cantabrian triangle, which includes
the north of Spain and the Southwestern part of France
including the valley of Dordogne.
• The 1994 discovery of cave paintings older than the Lascaux
paintings caused a regrouping of previous notion about
categorizing.
• The paintings found in the Chauvet cave in south-eastern
France dating from 25,000 to 17,000 BC show a remarkable
understanding about form, shading, and the same realistic
representation found in earlier stone carvings.
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• There are similarities between these caves and the others of
the Franco-Cantabrian triangle.
• At Lascaux, the paintings offer a wide range of color
created from either ochre or manganese, which were grounded
into a powder and applied directly to the damp surface of
the walls. The outlines were applied with charcoal or paint
and the colors were applied by spraying the pigment through
bone tubes.
• With all the cave paintings the subject matter is limited to
animals, but when men or women are present they are painted
as stick figures.
• The animals portrayed are not limited to the ones humans
would have eaten yet they are presented with such naturalism
that we can identify them today.
• The cave painters also included geometric symbols whose
purpose is unknown.
• The location in the caves of the paintings has convinced
many that they were not meant for decoration.
• They were found far from natural light and high on the walls
and on the ceiling.
• The space was reused; therefore, it is believed that the
paintings fulfilled some type of hunting ritual need.
• Not much sculpture has survived from this period because
most of that which was made from clay was exposed to the
elements.
• As with the paintings, there is strong evidence from the
surviving pieces of naturalism, as is seen in fig. 1.11.
These figures are rendered in high relief.
Spear-thrower (fig. 1.12)
• This is one beautiful piece of sculpture to survive and is
made from bone.
• This sculpture demonstrates the maker’s ability to see the
possibilities of creating while using a basic material,
which probably had a utilitarian purpose.
• It is interesting to speculate as to which came first: the
selection of the image for the piece or the selection of the
piece for that particular image.
Mesolithic Period
• This was a time during which much of the present day
formation of landmass took place.
• Dogs were domesticated and bows were made to aid in the
hunt.
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• As during the Paleolithic period, there were images created
at this point in history also.
Group of figures (fig. 1.15)
• This image illustrates the inclusion of somewhat realistic
humans as well as the continued use of animals.
• As was seen in the Lascaux cave paintings of animals, here
one gets a sense of movement in the depiction of the nude
humans.
THE ART OF THE FARMERS
• This time frame is known as the Neolithic Revolution because
of the changes which took place such as an increase in
population, which naturally led to the cultivation of wheat
and to the domestication of more animals.
• Land ownership was a direct result of the addition of
farming as a way for survival. These changes in civilization
occurred at different times in different parts of the world.
• Found at Jericho in Jordan is one of the oldest known
settlements in which the structures were made of mud on
stone foundations.
Head from Jericho (fig. 1.19)
• Also found at Jericho were sculpted heads which were placed
above graves.
• These heads were the actual skulls with painted plaster for
the skin and seashells for the eyes.
• The sensitivity to the modeling of the flesh indicates an
interest in portraiture.
Dancing Hunter (fig. 1.20)
• Çatal Hüyük differs from Jericho in that there was no
fortifications, weapons, or war gods. It was felt that this
settlement was the most advanced in the region during 6,000
BC.
• The wall painting of what is believed to be a dancing hunter
shows movement similar to that found in Sicily.
• It is different from the cave paintings from Europe in that
the area on which it was painted was first treated with
plaster.
• The technique of using baked clay has been found as early as
15,000 BC, and it was used for pots in Japan as far back as
the seventh millennium BC. Yet the use of clay was not wide
until humans established stable environments which would
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afford the inhabitants time to create instead of worrying
about invasion or starvation.
Man from Cernavoda (fig. 1.22)
• Before the invention of the potter’s wheel around 3,400 BC
in Mesopotamia and 2,000 BC in China, pots and objects were
coiled built and hand molded and then fired in small kilns.
Clay was also used for statuettes, which were also baked.
• This statue, though small in size, is geometric in shape,
yet demonstrates a highly expressive pose.
Neolithic Architecture
• As the living conditions became more stable, the need for
architecture beyond basic housing also rose.
• Before this period, humans used natural shelters such as
caves or structures made from mud brick, which, because of
its properties, were not permanent. This material was found
in Mesopotamia where we find the first of the new
structures-the temple.
• This structure was the traditional mud brick with internal
walls, one with a niche and an offering table.
Temple on Malta (fig. 1.23)
• This structure was begun before 3,000 BC and was the
earliest known freestanding building made out of brick.
• These huge stones are resting on each other without the aid
of mortar, and it has a round interior with a wooden roof.
• The limestone used on the exterior was 12 feet high, and
each supported smaller stones. The doorway forms a post and
lintel configuration.
• Most of the stones were ‘dressed’ while others had little
hammered pits.
Stonehenge (fig. 1.26)
• Again we see the use of post and lintel in a structure which
dates 2,100-2,000 BC.
• The large stones are called ‘megaliths’ and were brought to
their present site from the mountains in Wales some 190
miles away.
• The purpose of Stonehenge remains a mystery though many
theses have been offered up such as it being used for some
type of cult center.
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• The stones were designed to line up with various points on
the horizon such as the summer and winter solstice of that
period.
• Because of these alignments, Stonehenge has been linked to
the farming community as some type of structure tied in to
the seasons.
• What has amazed everyone about this structure, in addition
to the mystery of how the stones were moved, is its
precision, symmetry, and the unity of its conception.
• The technical abilities of its builders during a time which
lacked metal tools also continues to cause many discussions.
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