Stone Age Art
Stone age art includes art forms created during the first known period of human
culture in Europe. Characterized by the use of stone implements, the period is
divided roughly into three segments: Paleolithic (c. 35,000 - 8,000 BC);
Mesolithic (c. 8,000 - 3,500 BC); Neolithic (c. 5,000 - 1,500 BC). By using
radiocarbon dating, archeologists have been able to associate their findings with
these distant time periods.
The Palaeolithic Period
During the Paleolithic period, the art forms are directly associated with the stone
and bone industries (such as perforated bone or tooth pendants). Cave paintings
with animals and the so-called Venuses--statuettes of women,
often pregnant--have been found suggesting the practice of
hunting and fertility rituals. Although these Venuses are
obviously female, they are very stylized (simplified) and the
early carvings are faceless. They are quite small so that they
can be easily transported.
Venus of Willendorf c. 30 000 – 25 000BC, Austria
Stone, Vienna.
Bison Licking an Insect Bite,
c. 12 000BC La Madeleine, France
The artisans of this
period also portrayed
animals in their carvings. The carving
on the left, “Bison Licking an Insect
Bite” is a small fragment of a spear
thrower. It has been carved so that it
could fit within the shape of the object
it adorned. Notice the overlapping of
the head to give it 3D form.
Great Hall of Bulls ,
Lascaux, France
15 000-13 000BC – cave
painting
The first cave “paintings”
were likely made in caves
approximately
15 000 years ago. They
showed scenes from the
lives of the people who
lived at the time and usually portray hunting scenes. We also have found many
handprints (a way for the artist to “sign” their work or depict life) as well as
geometric figures and signs. There are even some representations of humans
but these are quite rare. These paintings are mostly found deep in caves. These
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were ideal places for painting since they were sheltered but the artists would be
working in very dark conditions (lit only by small lamps or torches) which were
often not very large. Since these people had to paint with natural substances,
the colours are restricted to red, red-brown, black,
white, yellow and brown. They used shells as
containers and mixed the natural pigments (eg:
pine, mica, iron oxide, etc…) and combined them
with animal and/or vegetable oils.
By “opening” these caves, we expose these
paintings to elements that deteriorate them (eg:
carbon dioxide). Therefore, the caves where
paintings have not already deteriorated are mostly
closed to the public.
Image from the Painted Gallery, Lascaux,
France, 15 000-13 000BC
Caves have also been found with images
scratched or “drawn” in to the wall to create a type of relief image. Many of these
have deteriorated rapidly since they were often created on more exterior surfaces
that would be exposed to the elements of nature.
The Mesolithic Period
From the wall paintings, we understand that the artistic qualifications of this
period are almost equal to preceding Old Stone Age, and little level of
development was achieved, probably the human has been busy with the
invention of new things that had made their lives easier. In the Mesolithic Period,
the art-forms shift to more stylized human figures in wall paintings and on
engraved bone and antler.
Hillaire
Chamber Panel of the
Engraved
Horse,
Chauvet-Pontd'Arc –
The horses in this wall carving were likely pushed into the surface while
wet and then scratched in with a flint like tool. Showing the multiple outside
layers of the animals may represent spring shedding and the sections of 5 lines
that seem to layer overtop of the animals are thought to represent the presence
of a bear. This is the pattern that bears make when they wake from hibernation
and lean facing the wall.
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BHIMBETKA Cave Painting, Central India,
Men Hunting
Not only do we see the hunter (right with
bow and arrows), but we also see the people
of the tribe celebrating the kill.
Human sculpture with ring-like head,
Schela Cladovei
This small sculpture represents a person
walking by making one leg shorter than
the other.
The Neolithic Age
By the Neolithic or New Stone age, the
advances in technology such as farming, weaving, the advent of pottery and the
construction of monumental structures such as Stonehenge, indicate that
humankind--once strictly nomadic--begin to settle and build houses and villages.
Megaliths
These large monuments made of stone developed during the Neolithic time
period. The Neolithic architects and craftsmen knew how to work stone and true
megalithic architecture was of rough stone, it usually wasn’t shaped or polished.
These stones usually had to be dragged long distances to be used since each
stone was chosen specifically for this purpose due to it’s durability.
Stonehenge, England
3200 – 1600 BC
Stonehenge is one of the most
famous megaliths constructed during
the New Stone Age. It was built in 3
phases out of giant blue stones,
each weighing at least 4 tons!
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It is thought that the monument must have been deliberately oriented and
planned so that on midsummer's morning the sun rose directly over the Heel
Stone and the first rays shone into the centre of the monument between the open
arms of the horseshoe arrangement.
View from the centre of Stonehenge towards the Heel
Stone.
Recently it has been argued that Stonehenge is not
merely aligned with solar and lunar astronomical
events, but can be used to predict other events such as
eclipses. In other words, Stonehenge was more than a temple, it was an
astronomical calculator. The alignment also made it clear that whoever built
Stonehenge had precise astronomical knowledge of the path of the sun and,
moreover, must have known before construction began precisely where the sun
rose at dawn on midsummer's morning while standing on the future site of the
monument.
Megalithic Tomb, 2000BC, Esse, France.
Many of these prehistoric tombs
incorporate megaliths into their design
and structure.
Newgrange, Ireland, 3100BC.
Newgrange is one of the finest
European passage-tombs. Built atop
a small hillock, this site was
discovered accidentally by the
removal of material for road-metalling
in 1699. Newgrange is an
outstanding monument with a whole
host of features - effectively a large
passage grave surrounded by a ring
of stones, some stones with excellent carvings too. Inside there is an
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unequivocal astronomical alignment - the main passage is aligned such that only
the midwinter sunrise illuminates the central chamber. It has been reconstructed
by the Irish office of public works, literally being taken apart piece by piece before
being reassembled.
The mound is surrounded with
'kerbstones' and some of these are
finely decorated in whorls and cup and
ring marks on a much grander scale
than usual. The fine example to the left
is the stone located at the entrance to
the chamber.
Questions
Please complete in your notebooks in complete sentences. Remember to
number your responses and put your name at the top before handing in.
1. What are the 3 different segments is Stone Age art divided into and how
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long did each one last?
2a) Describe the Venus statuettes of the Paleolithic period.
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b) What do these Venuses represent?
/1
3. What materials did people in the Stone Age combine to create their paints
/3
for cave painting?
4. What possible reason is given for Mesolithic man not developing more in
/1
comparison to Paleolithic man?
5. What is a megalith?
/1
6. What makes Stonehenge’s construction amazing when looking at
/2
astronomical events?