Prehistoric Art in Europe

ceramics

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Petroglyphs

A form of prehistoric rock art found in many cultures around the world. Petroglyphs are powerful cultural symbols which reflect the complex societies and religions of the makers. Created by carving, etching, incising, rubbing, and pounding the rock surface to create images. Petroglyphs are among the oldest form of art known to humans, and they are no doubt directly ancestral to the graffiti artists of today.

attributes

A quality or feature that is a unique identifier to a particular figures identity.

high relief

A sculptural relief in which forms extend out from the background to at least half their depth

modeling

Additive sculpture process allowing the maker to add, remove and reform elements of the work.

Pictograph

An ancient or prehistoric drawing or painting on a rock wall.

Chauvet Cave, France

Currently the oldest known rock art site in the world, dating to approximately 30,000-32,000 years ago.

Paleolithic period

The longest phase of the Stone Age culture marked by hunter gathers.

post and lintel construction

This example from Stonehenge demonstrates this technique.

Neolithic seated Woman & Man 4500BCE

With these figures began the central idea that the human body is the core location of human identity.

Theories of Prehistoric Paintings

ceremonies, "sympathetic magic", places of worship and/or initiation rites, used as an educational tool to teach animal behavior, decorated caves containing special meaning

complex thinking

Mental processes which require complex, sophisticated thinking, such as understanding concepts, generating original ideas, and using logical approaches to address complicated problems.

Catalhoyuk, Turkey

Neolithic city (9250 BP), evidence says they were still hunter gatheres, possibly getting food through trade?, egalitarian society, decorations in 205 of rooms, burials beneath floors, grave goods, religious rooms? EARLY NEOLITHIC CITY WITH SOME NATUFIAN CHARACTERISTICS

Prehistoric Art

Of or relating to times before written history

Neolithic Period 6500-3400/2300BCE

Period marked by fundamental social and cultural changes including the development of organized agriculture, domestication of animals and year-round settlements.

Paleolithic Art

Period of cave paintings and small statuettes which could be transport easily.

Bird-Headed Man with Bison

Scene found in Lascaux which includes a human figure and seems to tell a story.

architecture

Spatial enclosures with aesthetic intentionality.

Megalithic architecture

Structures which comprised of massive stones during the Neolithic period. Tombs and other important ceremonial structures were built with this style, which required a massive amount of strategic planning and strength.

cupules

Hemispherical petroglyph typically found in groups and created by the human hand in an act of percussion (blows, indentions, pounding). Sometimes referred to as pot marks, hollows, cup marks.

Sculpture in the Round

Freestanding figures, carved or modeled in three dimensions.

Paleolithic

From the Greek "paleo" meaning old and "lithos" meaning stone