prehistoric art and architecture

Let’s start at the beginning. It’s a very good place to start.

PREHISTORIC ART AND ARCHITECTURE

Prehistoric (stone age) Period by AgePaleolithic-old stone age 2,500,000 – 10,000 BC

Neolithic-new stone age 4,000 – 2,000 BC

Paleo (old)Lith (stone)Lower 2,500,000-

200,000 BCMiddle 200,000 – 40,000

BCUpper 40,000 – 10,000

BCHunter gatherersPre-existing shelters,

i.e., cavesNomadic

Neo (new)Lith (stone)FarmersBuilt shelters

and settlements

Mesolithic 10,000 – 4,000•Meso (middle)•Lith (stone)

Part I: PaintingThe Caves. Let’s all spelunk?!

Two of the best preserved caves are found in France.

Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc Cave (Shaw vey) and Lascaux (lass co)

Last call for Lascaux !

Chauvet is to the righT

Don’t fall in!

Chauvet CavesEnter if you dare!

The caves of Chauvet were discovered on December 1994

Chauvet Caves – 30,000 and 33,000 years ago.

These caves hold the earliest known and best preserved figurative cave paintings in the world.

UPPER PALEOLITHIC

CHAUVET CAVESThe cave paintings were created by two different groups a few thousand years apart. 1. What do you think the drawings represent? 2. Whey do you think they painted them?

What animal are represented here?

What about here? Oh my!

That’s a load of bulls

Why red dots?

I guess they needed a hand…or many.

So, wanna take a tour? Sadly, only 200 people a year are allowed visit each year and they have to have a reason to get in, for example, archeologist, historian, etc. Fortunately, they just opened a replica nearby.

Artists have painstakingly recreated the caves.

Hey J’Bob! Great work!

Walk on by!

Why do you think they build this and why does it look this way?

Break time! Opinion Debate: The pug. Cute or ugly? Discuss.

Marcel RavidatHe was an 18 year old boy playing in the hills of Lascaux, France one September day in 1940 and found an entrance to a cave. Being a smart person, he went and got some people to help him. He’s smart because he didn’t go in alone and end up on the missing persons’ list.

THE CAVES OF LASCAUX

Here is the entrance to Lascaux today. A wee bit safer.

UPPER PALEOLITHIC

Great barrel vaulted ceiling!

The Hall of Bulls. Why would it be called The Hall of Bulls?

It’s full of bulls…and horses.

The artists weren’t just full of bull.What do these images represent?

BREAK time!Who should get their own movie?:

Wonder Woman

Xena: Warrior Princess

Batgirl

Discuss

Compare and contrast the two cave paintings.

CHAUVET CAVESLASCAUX CAVES

Some questions to ponder and discuss:

What do you think the purpose of these paintings are?

What did they use to make them?Why are they so well preserved after

thousands of years? How do you think the people who made these

lived? Are these paintings similar to anything you

have seen? Do these images give you some interesting

decorating ideas?

WHAT THEY USED:

CHARCOAL

RED AND YELLOW OCHREMANGANESE OXIDE

HEMATITE

Part II: Sculpture – Her name is Venus or is it?

Numerous sculptures depicting female figures have been located throughout the world. These figures are often of the female form. Usually depicted as large-figured with swollen breasts. They are often called Venus figures.

Who was Venus?What were the purpose of these figures?

VENUS OF TAN TAN VENUS OF BEREKHAT RAM230,000 b.c.Found in Syria

500,000 – 300,000 b.c.

Found in Morrocco

LOWER PALEOLITHIC

VENUS OF LAUSSEL25,000 BCFound in

Southwestern France

UPPER PALEOLITHIC

VENUS OF HOLE FELS (hollow rock0•40,000-35,000 BC•Found in Schelklingen, Germany•Made of woolly mammoth tusk•2.4 inches tall

UPPER PALEOLITHIC

WOMAN (Venus) OF WILLENDORF•24,000-22,000 BC•Found in Lower Australia•Made from limestone•4.3 inches UPPER

PALEOLITHIC

The fertility figures are often referred to as Venus figures. However, the name Venus has become controversial and many are now called women figures.

Why do you think the name Venus would be controversial?

What other name would you give these figures?

BREAK TIME!LET’S LET EVERYTYHING SOAK IN

Part III: ARCHITECTUREWhere do you think prehistoric people lived?

They decorated caves. So caves, right?Why build stuff when there are perfectly good

dark, damp and stuffy holes in the ground? A little paint, some throw pillows, a comfy log? Living is easy!

If you are hunting and gathering to survive, what kind of life would you live?

If you planted crops to survive, how would life be different from those out there shooting deer and filling baskets?

Other than shelter, what other types of structures would be important to you?

Jericho - West Bank near the Jordan river

Jericho - c. 9400 b.c. A city of about 2,000 people. It was buried under ground for many years and had something that was unique to structures that came before…

All are welcome…ugh, wait. The WALLS OF JERICHO

The Tower of Jericho

The Tower of JerichoHow do you think this was built?

STONEHENGE: 3,000-2,000 b.c. Wiltshire, England

NEWGRANGE: It’s older than Stonehenge - c. 3150 b.c.

County M

eath, Ireland

The entrance to Newgrange

An interior view

What is that?

The Triple Spiral DesignThe triple spiral

design is found in places around Ireland. It was a Pre-Christian design.

What do you think it means?

It has since taken on a new meaning. What do you think that could be?

BRYN CELLI DDU (Mound in the Dark)

Model showing the interior

What do you think this structure would have been used for?

KITS COTY HOUSE•Possibly used as a tomb. •Made of large stones.•This is called a megalith. What does megalith mean?

TARXIAN TEMPLES•Located in Tarxian Malta (an island south of Cicely)•Consists of three temples

THINK AND DISCUSS:COMPARE THE STRUCTURES WE JUST SAW.

HOW DO YOU THINK THEY WERE BUILT?

HOW ARE THE BUILDINGS WE BUILD TODAY DIFFERENT? WHAT MATERIALS DO WE USE?

HOW HAS TECHNOLOGY CHANGED HOW WE BUILD TODAY?