Unit I. Paleolithic Art
Art is an expression of world view. To understand the art
we must first attempt to understand the worldview of the
artists and the culture they represent.
We create a view of our place in this life through a combination of technology, metaphysics (what is real?) and
observation. From this mix is born our culture, which orders and interprets these elements as an economic system,
a religion and a social and political hierarchy.
Our technology dictates how we survive, whether as hunter-gathers, farmers or in the complex systems of a civilization.
At its most basic level, religion helps contend with the unknown—
that which we cannot control.
Our social system, whether in an extended family, tribe or in the
complicated large populations of a civilization, keeps order.
Our political system determines how leaders and decision-makers
are chosen.
Beginnings of Art in Prehistoric Times
The beginnings of art in Europe is dated from 30,000
BCE, during the Upper Paleolithic Period, when images
were painted on the walls of caves in central and southern
France and northern Spain.
The Upper Paleolithic Period was one of three periods into which
the Paleolithic is divided: Lower, Middle and Upper. (The era is
called Paleolithic because in Greek, Paleo = old; lith = stone. It is
also called the Stone Age.) The period existed 600,000–350,000
years ago.
Why is this period called “upper”? In archeological excavations,
the lower levels are the oldest. The upper levels are the most recent.
The artifacts of Homo sapiens were found in the upper parts of Paleolithic excavations.
A totem is an object or animal that serves as the emblem of a
family or clan, and is a reminder of its ancestry. Totem spirits may
have been regarded as protective, or to have extended their prowess
(strength, ferocity, cunning) to the members of the clan.
Religious leaders, such as shamans or witch doctors, were probably recognized through skilled showmanship and facility in magical
rites, as they are today.
Anthropologists think Paleolithic art may have had some magical
significance. If this is true, the artists, themselves, may have been
regarded as shamans or magicians imbued with some holy or magical
qualities that they transmitted to the artwork.
The belief that imitating a desired result or effect will cause it to
happen is known as Sympathetic Magic. This mimicking leads to
rites and rituals, such as sacrifice and rain dances.
Evolutionary Time Line
Australopithecus afarensis (Australopithecus = “southern ape”; afarensis =
“of the Afar Depression in Africa”). The
best known discovery of this species is
nicknamed Lucy (after the Beatles song
“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”).
Lucy lived 3.2 million years ago.
Homo erectus (homo = human; erectus
= upright), the first humanoid to stand
upright on two legs, lived 1.8 million
years ago. The Java Man and the Peking
Man are specimens of Homo erectus.
The Peking Man was found in Bejing,
China. In 1941, the skeletal fossils were
packed up to be sent to the United States
at the end of the war. They were never
seen again.
Homo habilis (handy human or “human
having ability”) appeared 2 million years
ago. Homo habilis was a tool maker.
Homo sapiens neanderthalensis (Homo
sapiens = wise human) lived 600,000–
350,000 years ago. Neanderthals were
also toolmakers.
Homo sapiens sapiens (early modern
humans, our ancestors) emerged about
200,000 years ago. CroMagnons were
early modern humans who lived in
Europe.
Cave Painting
Prehistoric cave paintings were first discovered in 1879 in Altamira, Spain, whose paintings have been recently dated to about
12,500 BCE. The earliest-known prehistoric cave paintings, discovered in 1994, are in Chauvet Cave in southeastern France. The
most recent discovery is Cosquer cave, in Cap Morgiou, France.
The best-known paintings are those that were found in 1940
at Lascaux, in southern France, where remarkably lifelike and
energetic images of cows, bulls, horses, and deer date from about
15,000 BCE.
The animals were carefully observed and realistically recorded,
painted with remarkable realism on the rough surface of the cave
walls. (The paintings may have been a form of sympathetic magic,
as a way to capture or “kill” an animal’s spirit, since animals were
killed for food.)
The animals appear singly, in rows, face-to-face, tail-to-tail, and
even painted on top of one another. Their horns, eyes, and hooves
are shown as seen from the front, while heads and bodies are rendered in profile. Some overlap other animals, painted thousands of
years apart.
The concern with visual realism is characteristic of a perceptual
approach to art. It is based on what the eye sees or perceives. In addition to paintings of animals, the caves contain painted handprints
and geometric images such as circles, dots and rectangular shapes
that look like grids or perhaps corrals. [need image] These images
are examples of conceptual art, which is based on what the mind
knows. Conceptual art is symbolic and often abstract, rather than
visually realistic.
How Was It Done?
How were the caves painted? To reach the ceiling of the cave, the
artist would have been supported by a wooden scaffold. Small
stone lamps burning animal fat illuminated the area where the artists worked.
Lascaux Museum
Discovered in 1940 and opened to the public
after World War II, the prehistoric cave paintings
at Lascaux soon became a popular tourist site in
France—unfortunately so, because the crowds of
visitors began to destroy the paintings through
heat, humidity, and carbon dioxide from breathing,
among other things. The cave was closed in 1963
so that conservators could fight a fungus that had
attacked the paintings. The authorities created
a facsimile of the cave areas, called Lascaux II,
where tourists go to see copies of the painted
images, which preserves the originals from harm.
To make the red tones, the artists mixed yellow and brown from
iron-based ocher or animal fat. They extracted black from manganese or charcoal, and used pigments made from metal oxides,
such as maganese, and red and brown clay, ground and mixed with
water or rendered animal fat. Rendered animal fat results from
cooking fatty animal meat. It has a texture similar to lard.
They applied the paint with their fingers or with pads of moss or
fur, and blew or spat the pigment from their mouths. In a technique
known as sgraffito, lines were carved or scratched into the painted
surface to define shapes or texture such as fur.
Three-dimensional effects were achieved with reserves—areas
left unpainted to depict intervening space. Reserves can be seen in
the Chinese horse where the legs in the background are separated
from the foreground by unpainted areas.
The Altamira artists created sculptural effects by painting the
bodies of their animals on natural protuberances in the cave’s
walls and ceilings. The natural surface of the cave wall suggested
the shapes of the animals that were painted on it. Rock outcrops
formed the bulging sides of animals. The face of a spotted pony is
defined by the edge of the stone surface.
To produce the herd of bison on the ceiling of the main cavern,
they used reds and browns to paint the animals’ shoulders, backs,
and flanks, then added the details of the legs, tails, heads, and
horns in black and brown.
Small stone lamps burning animal fat illuminated the area where
the artists worked.
Some of these lamps were hollowed stones. One lamp has been
found in Lascaux that is finely crafted. It has a round bowl and
a long handle that is decorated with a pattern that resembles the
spoor or trail of a lizard.
Stylistic Characteristics
of Cave Paintings
1. Visual realism was the perceptual approach by
the artist.
2. Subjects were mostly animals, usually painted
with remarkable realism.
3. There are no realistic images of people, although
the artists had the skill to create realistic portraits.
4. The irregular surface of the cave is incorporated
into the paintings.
4. There is no format, no framing, no ground line.
Paintings are scattered randomly, one over the
other.
Cave Sculptures
In addition to paintings, caves sometimes contained relief sculptures created by modeling the damp clay on the cave floor. An
excellent example from about 13,000 BCE is preserved at Le Tuc
d’Audoubert in southwest France.
Here the sculptor created two bison leaning against a ridge of
rock. Although these creatures are in high relief (extending out
from the background), they are similar to the cave paintings, emphasizing the broad masses of the flanks and shoulders. To make
the animals even more lifelike, the artist carved short parallel lines
below their necks to represent their shaggy coats. Numerous small
footprints found in the clay floor of this cave suggest that group
rites took place here.
Stone-Age Tools
Early modern humans made their tools of stone, by flaking, or
How Did Paleolithic People Live?
striking pieces from a stone using another to create and edge. They The Paleolithic economy was one of hunting and
also made bone tools, such as needles, fishhooks, harpoons, dart
gathering. The tribes moved with the change of
seasons, following the herds of animals, which they
throwers and possibly bows and arrows.
hunted for food.
How did this lifestyle influence their art? Since they
were nomadic, there were no settled communities.
Consequently, their artwork consisted of objects
that they could carry with them, such as small
sculpture, beads and body ornaments. They also
decorated their tools.
Tools were sometimes decorated. The decorations may have
been symbolic (similar to notches on a gun stock) or functional,
such as blood gutters on a sword or knife. The images of animals
may have targeted the prey. Some of them follow the form of the
object and are purely aesthetic.
Mammoth Dart Thrower
Deer Dart Thrower
The Mammoth and Deer dart throwers were probably designed
to mimic the intended kill. The dart thrower extended the range
and accuracy of the spear.
See YouTube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyhUO5Luq6Y
Paleolithic Shelters
If we consider Paleolithic shelters, we can see that they expressed
their artistic instincts by decorating caves with paintings, and in
some regions by artfully arranging mammoth bones to build temporary shelters.
There may have been other examples of art that have not survived, such as painted skins that might have been used to cover the
mammoth-bone shelters or used as clothing. Body ornamentation
likely would have included tattoos or scarification.
Small Sculpture Venuses
These are small, hand-sized sculptures. They could easily be transported by nomadic people. The Venus of Willendorf is distinctive
because of its exaggerated female attributes.
In known primitive societies, high-status women are sometimes
valued for their girth. It is regarded as a sign of good health and
fertility.
Hairstyles may have been elaborate and would have indicated
status and rank. An example may be seen in the Venus of Willendorf. Her hair is arranged in what appear to be cornrows. Although the features of her face are not evident, her hairstyle is very
carefully defined. This suggests the importance of hairstyle as an
indication of status.
Several similar “fertility figures” figures have been found. If
they are goddesses, they may have been talismans for magical
rituals that ensured the fertility of herds, plants—and of the people
themselves.
Other sculptures are tools or weapons, such as the dart throwers.
The sculptures may also have been symbolic. Some, like the ivory
horse, may have been created just for the pleasure of capturing a
beautiful image of a familiar form.
Unlike the the clay bison modeled in high relief, another fertility
figure, the Venus of Laussel, is a low-relief carving in limestone.
She holds a cornucopia—a horn of plenty and a symbol of abundance.
Leather, wood and woven materials were undoubtedly used as
containers, and still are today. But these materials cannot compete
with fired clay to insulate and protect the contents. For example,
mice cannot chew through fired clay.
Paleolithic people did not know how to fire clay but they probably did make pottery. Given a piece of moist clay, even small
children will pinch out a cup or bowl without instruction. In fact
there is a wasp called the “potter wasp” that makes pots. It uses
mud to fashion a bottle-shaped form with a curving shoulder and a
small neck.
However, because clay turns back to mush when it gets wet, unless it fired to at least 1000°F, no pottery from a Paleolithic society
has ever been found.
The ability to successfully fire clay containers was not invented
until the Neolithic period. It was a leap forward in technology. It
greatly increased the capability for cooking, storing and transporting food items.