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The San, or Bushmen, are indigenous people in Southern Africa particularly in what is now South Africa and Botswana. Their ancient rock paintings and carvings (collectively called rock art) are found in caves and on rock shelters. The artwork depicts non-human beings, hunters, and half-human half-animal hybrids. The half-human hybrids are believed to be medicine men or healers involved in a healing dance.”[1] A painting discovered at Blombos Cave is thought to be the oldest known instance of human art, dating to around 73,000 years ago. [2] Gall writes, “The Laurens van der Post panel at Tsodilo is one of the most famous rock paintings.” High on this rock face in Botswana is the image of a “magnificent red eland bull” painted, according to Van der Post, “only as a Bushman who had a deep identification with the eland could have painted him.” Also on this rock face is a female giraffe that is motionless, as if alarmed by a predator. Several other images of animals are depicted there too, along with the flesh blood-red handprints that are the signature of the unknown artist.[1] The Drakensberg and Lesotho is particularly well known for its San rock art.[3] Tsodilo was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001; not all the art covered by this is by San people or their ancestors.

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Puntilar, Cristina Marie B. BSCMBK 3-YA-1

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Puntilar, Cristina Marie B. BSCMBK 3-YA-1

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The head was the chief symbolic part of the body for Western culture in the Middle Ages, from the waning days of the Roman empire to the Renaissance. Since antiquity it signified not only the intellect, the center of power, but was also regarded as the seat of the soul. The face is not only central to identity, but is also the primary vehicle for human expression, emotion, and character. As such, the depiction of the head becomes a true test of the quality of the artist and a telling indicator of style. Sculptured heads in museums have lost their original context, whether by violent breaking from their bodies and from the monuments they once adorned, or simply by being removed and placed in a museum. By focusing on this one genre of object, the Middle Ages can be seen in a new light.

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Balajadia, Jezriel Nella N. BSCMBK 3-YA-1

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Balajadia, Jezriel Nella N. BSCMBK 3-YA-1

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Ubirr is a group of rock outcrops in the Kakadu National Park, a protected area in the Northern Territory of Australia. There several large rock overhangs that would have provided excellent shelter to Aboriginal people over thousands of years.

Some of the paintings are up to 20,000 years old and depict e barramundi, catfish, mullet, goanna, snake-necked turtle, pig-nosed turtle, rock-haunting ringtail possum, and wallaby and thylacine (Tasmanian tiger).

The Kakudu National Park contains a vast amount of Aboriginal rock paintings; over 5000 art sites have been discovered there. The Aboriginals not only painted the exterior of their subjects, but also the skeletons of some animals.

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2020/03/10-prehistoric-cave-paintings/126971

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Impressive prehistoric paintings with both representational and abstract compositions may be found in the Magura cave. One of the cave chambers is decorated with religious rites, hunting scenes, signs, and graphic elements.
One of Bulgaria's largest caverns, is the Magura Cave situated in the northwest of the country. Prehistoric cave paintings from between 8000 and 4000 years ago adorn the cave walls. On the cave walls, more than 700 drawings have been found. They are decorated with bat guano and show a wide range of creatures, including dancing and hunting people. Humanity has long been aware of the existence of the Magura cave. These days, it's used to make natural sparkling wines in addition to serving as a tourist destination. It has recently also served as a sanatorium, a cheese store, a haven for partisans, and many other things. However, the Stone Age, when our predecessors lived in caves, was maybe one of the most fascinating eras. Fortunately for us, they were quite talented artists and left a ton of paintings on the cave's stone walls.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magura_Cave&ved=2ahUKEwjM84Tthe75AhUdk1YBHQkWDs4QFnoECBAQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1dwRx6RzLhja53BiN41PzV

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In Australia, the Murray culture (20,000-8,000bc) and the Panaramitee culture (10,000-3, ?????) produced notable ideographic engravings. In Patagonia (the southernmost region of South America), the "Toldense" people covered their caves and shelters with handprints. After about 12,000??, a new sryle derived from Africa and depicting numerous humans and smaller animals appears in the Spanish Levant and Italy. This coincides with a phase known in Europe as the Mesolithic, a period sometimes regarded as transitional between Paleolithic hunting and foraging and the earliest phases of farming referred to as Neolithic. Scandanavian pictures of this period and the Neolithic include depictions of boats and skis.

In North Africa, the period 12,000-?????? also sees the introduction of branches, fruit, and leaves into paintings with people and animals. Drawings changed to reflect the change of environment which caused the spread of the desert and the extinction from these areas of elephants, giraffes, lions, rhinoceroses, and crocodiles. They also show the introduction of domesticated dogs, cattle, sheep, and goats as the hunter-forager economies were replaced.

http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/prehistoricart/

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Lorenzo, Ana Mariel N.                BSCMBK 3-YA-1

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Lorenzo, Ana Mariel N.                BSCMBK 3-YA-1

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Bhimbetka is a collection of rock shelters, located in central India and contains over 600 paintings that span the prehistoric paleolithic and mesolithic periods, the oldest of which dates from at least 12,000 years.

The paintings depict the lives of the people who resided in the caves, as well as an array of animals that include tigers, lions, and crocodiles.

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2020/03/10-prehistoric-cave-paintings/126971

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Galang, Alexandra Nicole S.R. BSCMBNK 3-YA-1

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Galang, Alexandra Nicole S.R. BSCMBNK 3-YA-1

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Altamira cave

Altamira is a cave in Spain famous for its Upper Paleolithic cave paintings featuring drawings and polychrome rock paintings of wild mammals and human hands. Its special relevance comes from the fact that it was the first cave in which prehistoric cave paintings had been discovered. When the discovery was first made public in 1880, it led to a bitter public controversy between experts which continued into the early 20th century, as many of them did not believe prehistoric man had the intellectual capacity to produce any kind of artistic expression. The acknowledgement of the authenticity of the paintings, which finally came in 1902, changed forever the perception of prehistoric human beings. It is located near the town of Santillana del Mar in Cantabria, Spain, 30 km west of the city of Santander.

Archaeological excavations in the cave floor found rich deposits of artifacts from the Upper Solutrean (c. 18,500 years ago) and Lower Magdalenean (between c. 16,500 and 14,000 years ago). Both periods belong to the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. In the millennia between these two occupations, the cave was evidently inhabited only by wild animals.

References;
https://pin.it/5Kxntj0

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GAVANES, CHIQUI                                     BSCMBK 3-YA-1

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GAVANES, CHIQUI                                     BSCMBK 3-YA-1

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From the Aurignacian period onward, abstract motifs are equally prominent and can be seen alongside human and animal images in all cave art. The necessity to portray an idea in a sign with a meaning that was obscure to outsiders gave rise to abstraction, which could be done either directly or symbolically.
Paleolithic people utilized repeating symbols to practice abstraction. These symbols stood for simple logical constants that were extensively distributed and shared. These contained stylized human symbols every now and then, animal schematics, phallic and vulvar signs, handprints, and potentially numerically significant patterns of dots and notches.
In periods with comparable associations, additional representations were aggregated. These come in a variety of shapes, including pictograms, mythograms, schematic representations of people and animals, barely discernible animal and human figures, ideograms, abstract, repetitive signs like arrows, sticks, tree shapes, discs, crosses, and "V" shapes, parallel lines, and series of dots, and psychograms, which are signs without any obvious connection to physical objects or symbols.

Reference: http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/prehistoricart/

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Angono-Binangonan Petroglyphs: Most ancient prehistoric work of art found in the Philippines. - dated way back 3,000 BC.

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Magat, Ann Kristine Belle B.                     BSCMBK 3-YA-1

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Magat, Ann Kristine Belle B.                     BSCMBK 3-YA-1

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The Angono Petroglyphs, which were found in 1965, are thought to be the oldest known works of art in the Philippines and among the oldest surviving representations of rock engravings in Asia. They are a series of 127 figural carvings on the volcanic tuff wall of a small cave that date back to the third century B.C. They were recognized as National Cultural Treasures in 1973 and added to the World Inventory of Rock Art in 1985. The Earthenware and obsidian flakes found during archaeological excavations at the location indicate that the cave may have been used for the first time during the Neolithic era. The carvings that have survived represent a rare collection from this distant era in Philippine history.

These dynamic figures in the petroglyphs on the rock face of a rock shelter are speculated to depict children or infants. Therefore, the engravings are not decorative but rather symbolic representations that were created by many people using the same mental template and, it appears, according to the same cultural beliefs; linked to sympathetic magic and healing.

Reference:

Angono Petroglyphs. (2019, February). World Monuments Fund. https://www.wmf.org/project/angono-petroglyphs

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A unique site of parietal art from the Middle-Magdalenian, Roc-aux-Sorciers is a rock shelter situated in the French commune of Angles-sur-l'Anglin, in the Vienne. Consisting of two niches known as Cave Taillebourg and Abri Bourdois, the shelter features a range of Stone Age art, although it is best known for its prehistoric sculpture - that is, its frieze of relief sculpture of numerous animal and human figures. Along with the Solutrean Roc de Sers Cave (c.17,200 BCE) in the Charente, and the Mid-Magdalenian Cap Blanc shelter (c.13,000 BCE) near Perigueux, Roc-aux-Sorciers ranks among the top sites of stone sculpture, within the region of Franco-Cantabrian cave art during the Upper Paleolithic. For reasons of conservation the original site is no longer open to the public. However, an interpretive centre in the nearby village offers visitors a multimedia spectacle of the famous frieze, its content and sculptural techniques, complete with interpretations. For more about the chronology and evolution of this form of Paleolithic art around the world, please see: Prehistoric Art Timeline (from 2.5 million BCE).

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Venus of Willendorf
Johann Veran found the Venus of Willendorf in 1908 in Austria. It's carved from non-native oolitic limestone and colored with red ochre. The sculpture's non-native stone suggests it was built somewhere and subsequently relocated to its current location.
Some say it was fashioned as a fertility goddess emblem, a good-luck charm, or an aphrodisiac.
The figure is largely a female torso and breasts, with modest and shrunken arms. Visible is a head with no characteristics except a stylised pattern maybe representing braided hair or a head cap.
The feet are gone or may have never been part of the design. It's a fertility statue because its reproductive organs are excessively large.
This is one of numerous Paleolithic sculptures labeled "Venus" even though they substantially outdated the mythology and culture of Venus.
Some believe the sculptures were made by women to self-represent. The proportions of the figurines seem to approximate the viewpoint a lady would see of her own body if looking down.
https://artincontext.org/prehistoric-art/

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There was a time that humans had not yet developed any kind of written language. During this period, various art forms served as a practical method for imparting information between themselves and other tribes. Prehistoric art refers to prehistoric artifacts and art created in the Stone Age, Paleolithic and Neolithic periods.

Table of Contents

1 The Definition of Prehistoric Art

1.1 The Origins of Prehistoric Art

2 Prehistoric Art Around the World

2.1 Asian Prehistoric Art

2.2 The Near East Prehistoric Art

2.3 European Prehistoric Art

2.4 African Prehistoric Art

2.5 Prehistoric Art of the Americas

3 Famous Examples of Prehistoric Art

3.1 Blombos Cave

3.2 Venus of Willendorf

3.3 Lubang Jeriji Saléh

3.4 Lascaux Cave Paintings

3.5 The Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc Cave

3.6 Göbekli Tepe

4 Frequently Asked Questions

4.1 What Is Prehistoric Art?

4.2 What Techniques and Methods Were Used in Early Prehistory Art?

The Definition of Prehistoric Art

Prehistoric art could be defined as art that was created by people in an era where any form of written language had yet not been developed. The time in which various cultures throughout human history started developing their unique language systems varies greatly from region to region.

Before leaving historians a written record of daily events, prehistoric artists left a treasure trove of information behind through their prehistoric artifacts and prehistoric drawings.

Prehistoric artists recorded their daily experiences in mediums that have managed to make it through centuries of harsh exposure to changing environmental conditions, giving us detailed insights into what life was like in the earliest days of our species before the development of a written form of communication.

Aurochs, Horses and Deer cave paintings from the Lascaux caves (Montignac, Dordogne, France); Lascaux, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Origins of Prehistoric Art

Around 500 000 years ago, one of our early ancestors took a shark’s tooth and engraved a zig-zag pattern on the surface of a seashell. Although the reason for its creation is unknown, it is considered to be the earliest existing example of art. Let’s look at the various periods during which art first began to emerge in prehistoric art history.

Lower and Middle Paleolithic Era

The engraved shell was said to come from the later years of the Lower Paleolithic, but most of the evidence points to the Middle Paleolithic as having the best examples of the use of art for expressive reasons instead of being purely practical in application.

Early hand axes like those found at a site by archeologists at Saint Acheul in France have been shown to contain a degree of symmetry and styling that could be evidence of creative expression.

Hand ax of unique breccia chert. Found in Kůlna Cave (near Sloup, Blansko District); Zde, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Other potential candidates for the earliest examples can be found in the Blombos Cave in South Africa and the Venus of Tan-Tan in Morocco. The patterns found on the walls of the Blombos caves are dated to around 73, 000 years old and are thought to possibly be the earliest existing examples of art made by the human hand.

Upper Paleolithic

In a cave on the island of Borneo in 2018, scientists discovered what is thought to be the oldest known painting depicting the human form. It has been dated to somewhere between 40, 000 and 52, 000 years of age.

Some of the earliest uncontested examples of figurative prehistoric artifacts were found in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

These also date to around 40, 000 years ago, the Venus of Hohle Fels being a well-known example of prehistoric art history from this period. Cave paintings from around 40, 000 to 10, 000 years ago are another source of Upper Paleolithic art depicting figurative forms and motifs, as well as the sculpture The Venus of Willendorf and several animal carvings, like the Wolverine pendant of Les Eyzies, which depicts a wolf engraved onto a bone.

Bone pendant decorated with an engraved drawing of a wolverine, Late Magdalenian, around 12,500 years old. Les Eyzies, Dordogne, France; Johnbod, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Prehistoric Art Around the World

Various cultures around the world developed written languages at different times in human history, so each region has a unique story regarding its initial development of art. Let’s take a look at how prehistoric art first emerged in various regions across the globe.

Asian Prehistoric Art

The prehistoric art history of Asia is specifically unique because the written language was adopted early on the continent, especially in China. Mesopotamian art is rarely defined as prehistoric, as written language took roots relatively early in the region, but the surrounding cultures such as the Persian, the Urartu, and Luristan cultures have all had impactful and highly detailed art traditions.

In Azerbaijan, dated to be around 12, 000 years old, there are approximately 6000 or more rock engravings that represent the figures of humans and animals engaged in various hunting scenarios, which are located at the National Park in Gobustan.

Petroglyphs of Qobustan (Azerbaijan); a UNESCO World Heritage; Walter Callens, CC BY 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons

There are also objects that look similar in design to the Viking Longships. The earliest examples of paintings on the Indian sub-continent are petroglyphs such as those found at the Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka. Petroglyphs are images that are created when a surface such as a cave wall is scraped or picked at until an image is revealed.

In China’s Bronze Age, the Shang and Zhou Dynasties created many prehistoric artifacts such as bronze objects for ritualistic purposes.

Whereas in Japan, the first people to develop pottery were the ancient Jōmon people, dating to around the 11th millennium BC. The Jōmon used sticks or cords (sometimes braided) to create patterns on the wetted clay figures. In Korea, the first examples of art date from somewhere in 3000 BCE, consisting mostly of sculptures as well as petroglyphs according to more recent archeological discoveries.

The Near East Prehistoric Art

The world’s oldest megaliths can be found at the archeological site of Göbekli Tepe in Turkey. On pillars made during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic phase, one can find reliefs portraying human and animal figures as well as abstract patterns. Around the same time in 9000 BCE in Israel, the first known artwork representing two human figures engaged in intercourse, the Ain Sakhri, was said to have been made in Bethlehem.

Ain Sakhri Lovers; Joyofmuseums, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

It is the rise of the Achaemenid Empire that is seen as being the end of the prehistoric era in the Near East in the 6th century, however, writing had already existed for two thousand years by then. Yet this entire period is considered prehistoric despite some of the works having text such as the name of rulers displayed on them.

European Prehistoric Art

During the Stone Age, it was common for humans to carve animal figures onto objects such as bone or antlers, as well as the walls of caves. This was also the period of the Venus figurines. In certain places, simplistic pottery objects also began being created around this time. This age is divided into the Mesolithic and the Neolithic Age. The Mesolithic Period came after the Upper Paleolithic and before the Neolithic Age. In comparison to the other periods, there is little art that has survived from this period.

The art of the Iberian Mediterranean Basin, for example, is far less known when compared to similar sites from the Upper Paleolithic Period.

At sites such as Roca dels Moros, the art is mostly found on cliff faces exposed to the open-air environment. Containing the image of 45 figures, the subject seems to be mainly focused on the human form rather than animal figures. Figures can also be seen to be wearing noticeable garments of clothing and depict daily scenes like food gathering, hunting, engaged in a battle against feuding tribes, and dancing.

Paintings found at the Roca dels Moros caves; CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

The figures depicted in this era are more energetic in their poses and smaller than their Paleolithic counterparts. Small, simply engraved pendants have also been discovered from this period. In the Neolithic Period, many Central European cultures tended to produce mostly female statues and very few examples of male figurines, as well as animal figures and detailed pieces of pottery.

Many megalithic monuments were built in this era such as Stonehenge and the Temples of Malta, some of which have spirals and other patterns carved into the huge stone structures such as the tomb in Ireland which is said to have been dated from somewhere around 32000 BC.

Temples of Malta; Norum at the English-language Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Bronze Age in Europe saw the rise of new techniques in tool development and this had a great impact on the quality and speed in which artisans could create works of art.

It is due to the rising productivity that society in general began to experience a surplus of luxury items such as weapons that had been artfully decorated.

During this period we see many fine examples of decorated weapons such as ornamental swords and ax handles, as well as ceremonial helmets made of bronze. During the following Iron Age, the focus would shift to anthropomorphic sculptures, which attributed human characteristics to various animals and objects.

African Prehistoric Art

The first known prehistoric drawing created by Homo Erectus was found by archeologists in Southern Africa in September 2018. The prehistoric drawing is estimated to be approximately 73, 000 years old, which is considerably older than what was previously discovered by about 43, 000 years. Some rock paintings made by the San people in the Drakensberg area are thought to be from the period 8000 BCE.

Possibly the “oldest known drawing by human hands”, discovered in Blombos Cave in South Africa. Estimated to be 73,000 years old; Henshilwood, C.S. et al., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

These paintings have remained remarkably clear and portray a multitude of human figures and animal motifs, most notably antelope. However, not all rock art in the area is thought to be ancient in origin, with a fairly unbroken tradition of painting that has continued until as recently as the 19th century, with horses displayed in some paintings, which there were none of in the local environment until introduced there by foreigners in the 1820s.

Rock art depicting pastoral scenery can be found at Laas Geel in northwestern Somalia. This formation of caves contains some of the earliest examples of cave paintings and prehistoric drawings in the region known as the Horn of Africa. They are estimated to have been made sometime between 9000 and 3000 BCE. In 2008, the earliest portrayal of a hunter riding a horse was discovered by archeologists.

It has been dated in the ballpark region of 1000 to 3000 BCE and was created in the typical Arabian/Ethiopian style.

Red and white rock paintings of a stylized cow and a human figure in the caves of Laas Geel; Gerard van de Bruinhorst, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Saharan Africa had its unique style and techniques, with depictions of fauna carved onto walls. Weirdly formed human figures were prominent throughout this period as well as a few animal depictions. As lifestyles changed for the people towards the end of this period, focus on the subject turned towards the depiction of domesticated animals, as well as decorative headdresses and ornate clothing.

During this time, figures became simplified in design and focussed on common domestic everyday scenes such as the herding of animals and dancing.

Prehistoric Art of the Americas

The Vero Beach Bome is the oldest known piece of art in the Americas and belongs to the Lithic Period. Dating back to approximately 11, 000 BCE, it is thought to be made of mammoth bone and has been etched with the image of a walking mammoth. In Mesoamerica, we find the Olmec Bird Vessel and Bowl, dated from around 1000 BC and both made from ceramic.

This is noteworthy for its time, as kilns had to reach temperatures above 900 degrees celsius for the ceramics to be produced, and outside of Egypt, they were the only known culture that was able to do so at this time.

Olmec Bird Vessel, 12th-9th century BC; Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Olmec art can easily be recognized by the use of reflective iconography within a religious context as well as being highly stylized. However, despite being stylized, there are also examples of more naturalistic Olmec art depicting the human form. Large monumental figurines are abundant in this era as well as small carved figures made of jade.

Peru in South America has a long recorded history of human culture dating as far back as 10, 000 BCE.  Rock paintings in the Toquepala Caves have been dated as far back as 9500 BCE.  Beads have been found at ceremonial burial sites that are dated to be from somewhere between 8600 and 7200 BCE.  Ceramics have been found that date from around 1850 BCE.

Toquepala Caves painting; Saved from Diomedes Polohttps://tr.pinterest.com/pin/542472717592995389/?lp=true, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Initial Period for cultures in the Central Andean region lasted approximately somewhere from 1800 BCE to 900 BCE. Textiles from this period display an incredible complexity and included images such as birds with two heads and crabs with snakes for claws. Depending on how it is viewed, various subjects can seem to dominate the work in some kind of optically created illusion. Artwork that was considered portable at the time included jewelry made of shells and bones, clay female figures, and mirrors that were highly decorated.

The early Intermediate period is epitomized by work that was extremely demanding of its artist in both time and level of detail required for each piece and used an abundance of visual elements in a vividly colorful manner.

Famous Examples of Prehistoric Art

It is hard enough to ask the question “what is prehistoric art” without even considering the question ”who created the art, what was the name of the prehistoric artist?” These pieces of prehistoric art history were created before written languages had been developed yet, so the chances of us discovering a signature or name seem rather slim to none.

Yet, we have managed to learn much about the people who created these artworks as well the techniques they used, and what daily life was like for people in the very distant past.

Blombos Cave

Blombos Cave is situated 300kms from Cape Town in the Blombos Private Nature Reserve and is considered an extremely important archeological site. It is here that archaeologists found what is now thought to be the oldest known drawing created by human hands, and is estimated to be about 73, 000 years old based on surrounding deposits.

Very little is known about humans from this period, so it comes as a surprise to researchers that humans from this time would display an ability to create works of art.

Researchers hope the find will assist them in gaining insight into our species’ first attempts at the use of symbols – a technique of communication and representation that would pave the way for mathematics and the formation of spoken and written languages.

Ochre stone found at the Blombos cave site. The pattern dates from approximately 70,000 years ago; Chris S. Henshilwood, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

One artifact from this location is a tiny piece of ochre stone, measuring a diameter comparable to the length of a couple of thumbnails. The flake of stone has six distinct lines drawn on it as well as three curved diagonal lines running across it. The lines end suddenly, hinting at the possibility that the pattern extended further beyond the edges of what remains of the flake, in a far more complex manner than initially available to see from the flake he found.

There has been much debate on his assertions that it was made by Homo Sapiens and intentionally created, and several attempts were made at replicating the potential techniques used by a group of French experts. They analyzed the chemical composition of the pigments, and after replicating various techniques, it was concluded that the most likely substance used to create the lines was ochre.

Venus of Willendorf

The Venus of Willendorf was discovered in 1908 at the site of Willendorf in Austria by digger Johann Veran during excavations. It has been carved out of oolitic limestone not found in its native region and slightly tinted in pigment made of red ochre. Based on it being made from non-native stone, this sculpture is thought to have been produced somewhere else and then transported to where it was later found.

Some believe it was created as some kind of goddess symbol of fertility, a charm that brings one good luck, or even possibly a talisman designed as an aphrodisiac.

Venus of Willendorf figurine, seen from all four sides; Bjørn Christian Tørrissen, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The figure consists mostly of a female torso and breasts, with the arms present, but not anatomically represented, they seem understated and shrunk. There is a head visible, but one that does not show any features except a stylized pattern perhaps meant to represent braided hair or some kind of head cap.

The feet also seem to be missing or were perhaps not ever part of the initial design, to begin with. It is believed to be a fertility statue as the body parts associated with reproduction seem to be disproportionately exaggerated.

This is one of many sculptures from the Paleolithic Period that have been titled “Venus” sculptures even though they greatly outdated the culture and theology behind the Venus from mythology known by traditional scholars.

There has been some speculation that perhaps the carvings were created by women themselves as a means of self-representation. This was in a time when there were no reflective surfaces such as mirrors and the proportions of the figurines seem to match up with the associated angle a woman would see of her own body if looking down at it.

Lubang Jeriji Saléh

Borneo island is home to a limestone complex of caves known as the Lubang Jeriji Saléh. At around 40, 000 years old, it is thought to be one of the oldest figurative paintings known to the world. Located in the East Kalimantan mountains, this series of caves are covered in images of hands that have been made visible through applying flashes of bright orange ochre and iron oxide paint to the walls, spraying the colors over the hand, and leaving an outline of it amongst the burst of colors on cave walls.

These hand outlines have been dated to have been created around 52, 000 years ago. It is amongst these paintings that we also find the bull, thought to be the first figurative painting created by human hands approximately 40, 000 years ago. The illustrated bovine stretches over a rocky canvas measuring more than five feet in length and has been applied to the limestone walls using red ochre paint.

Representation of a wild bovid, the Banteng, made in ochre, discovered in the Lubang Jeriji Saléh cave, East Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia; @ photo Luc-Henri Fage, www.fage.fr., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In 2018, scientists were able to do a more in-depth analysis of samples taken from the site and concluded that the site was decorated in three stages over time. During the first stage, the hands and bull were added. In the second stage, complex motifs were added, using stencils and a mulberry-colored paint mix. During the third and final phase, water vessels, designs of geometric patterns, and human-like figures were added to the cave walls.

The team that led the research of the site in 2018 originally concluded that this was the first known example of a figurative painting by a prehistoric artist.

However, they have since made further discoveries of artworks in caves in Sulawesi that are even older at around 44, 000 years of age. This discovery still holds much significance for art historians, however, as it shows us that cave art gave rise at the same time in Asia as it did in Europe. Experts agree that the finding is very significant to archeological discovery, yet has little to offer in terms of data on the early origins of art geographically speaking.

Lascaux Cave Paintings

The Vézère Valley is home to many famously decorated caves that were first discovered in the early days of the 20th century. Amongst them, one of the most well-known would be the Lascaux cave paintings. Renowned for its Paleolithic era cave paintings, the caves are situated in Dordogne, a region of southwestern France. They are most highly revered for the complexity of design, outstanding quality of production, age, and sheer scale. The paintings are estimated to be in the region of 20, 000 years of age.

A cave complex consisting of several areas, Lascaux was discovered on 12 September 1940 and later that year was honored with historic monument protection status.

Lascaux caves are part of several cave complexes in the area that were added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites, yet they remain in constant danger of further deterioration and are the constant source of symposiums for archeologists and scientists to discuss how to handle these artworks to ensure a legacy that spans even further into the future.

The Great Hall of the Bulls, Lascaux cave, France; Francesco Bandarin, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO, via Wikimedia Commons

Archeologists have identified several distinct sections of the cave complex, giving them such titles as The Great Hall of the Bulls, The Chamber of Felines, and The Shaft of the Dead Man. Abstract symbols, animal effigies, and human figures form the three groups that the more than 2000 figures on the cave walls can be divided into.

The majority of these images have been impressed on the wall with painted mineral pigments, although others have been chiseled into the stone’s facade.

The paintings in Lascaux caves mainly consist of 364 horse figures, as well as ninety stags and various other animals such as felines, rhinos, cows, a single bear, bison, and even a human. In the Hall of Bulls, we find the most well-known image of the cave, the four black bulls, one of which alone is 17 feet in diameter, which makes it the largest known painting of an animal in cave art.

The Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc Cave

Archeologists have concluded that the figurative cave paintings in the Chauvet Cave are some of the most well-preserved examples of prehistory art around the globe. The cave is situated on a cliff made from limestone in Ardeche, Southeast France, and was first discovered on 18th December 1994.

It is considered by many art historians and archeologists to be an extremely important prehistoric site, with UNESCO granting the cave’s World Heritage status in 2014.

Various groups of researchers have gathered significant data and understanding of the culture that may have created it over the years. Not only were paintings discovered by archeologists, but also the fossil remnants and markings of animals, many of which no longer exist today.

Positive hands (including a trace of a curved little finger: this character is found in various places in the cave), enigmatic signs, and red and yellow drawings at the Pont d’Arc cave (copy of the Chauvet Cave); Claude Valette, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Recent carbon dating studies have isolated two periods in which the caves were habituated by humans, a period from 37, 000 to 33, 500 years ago and another period following that from 31,000 to around 28,000 years ago.

All that remains from the latter period are the prints of a child’s foot, the sooty remnants of the community fireplace, and blackened stains on the cave walls from the use of torches.

The child’s footprints could be the oldest prints of the human foot that can accurately be dated, as, after the visitation of the child who made the prints, the cave remained untouched until its rediscovery in 1994 due to a landslide or something similar.

Göbekli Tepe

Göbekli Tepe is situated in Southeastern Anatolia in Turkey and is considered by historians to be a site of significance for human civilization and the development of culture and art. The Mesolithic age mound is a prime example of megalithic art. Göbekli Tepe was formed by one settlement built upon another settlement in the same place over time, the debris and remnants from the former settlements stacking up over the decades to create a mound that exceeds fifteen meters in height and around 300 meters in diameter.

The multi-layered complex has been carbon-dated to around 9559 BCE and it is said to contain the oldest stone structures bearing artwork engraved upon it.

Göbekli Tepe, Şanlıurf; Teomancimit, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The most common motifs were the depiction of various animals such as boars, bulls, foxes, and lions. Only a few examples of imagery depicting the human figure have been found at this particular site, a notable exception being the relief of a naked female crouching down on the ground. The true purpose of this site remains shrouded in mystery, but the archeologist Klaus Schmidt has suggested that the site was most likely used as a cult center or holy place during the Neolithic period. This is largely evident by the unusual number of megaliths that were used in the construction of the layout of the site.

In summary, we have learned that prehistoric art predates the use of written language by various cultures throughout human history. We have also seen how the period of transformation for each culture to one based on written text differs from region to region. There are examples of early cave art that appear simultaneously in both Asia and Europe.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is Prehistoric Art?

Prehistoric art refers to all art that was created before cultures had developed more complex forms of expression and communication such as a written language. Prehistoric art can not only be described as art found on cave walls, but also prehistoric sculpture such as the Venus figurines. Some of the earliest examples of prehistoric art in civilized communities are the huge monoliths found in ancient sites such as Gobekli Tepe and many others.

What Techniques and Methods Were Used in Early Prehistory Art?

As with any era, artists that created prehistory art were limited by the resources available to them at the time they lived. The very first art was made from tools and canvases readily accessible to them such as cave walls, bones, and pigments such as ochre and burnt wood. Not only did they use various pigments to paint on surfaces, but also carved images on bone, stone, and walls, as well as made various pieces of clay sculpture and pottery from available materials in the region.

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Prehistoric Art - An Exploration of the Prehistoric Art History Timeline

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There was a time that humans had not yet developed any kind of written language. During this period, various art forms served as a practical method for impartin

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Image Credit : Claude Valette – CC BY-ND 2.0

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Barile, Kenji Glenn F.            BSCMBK 3YA-1 

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Barile, Kenji Glenn F.            BSCMBK 3YA-1 

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Chauvet Cave

The Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc Cave in the Ardèche department of southern France is a cave that contains some of the best-preserved figurative cave paintings in the world.

The dates have been a matter of dispute but a study published in 2012 supports placing the art in the Aurignacian period, approximately 32,000–30,000 years BP. Hundreds of animal paintings have been cataloged, depicting at least 13 different species, including some rarely or never found in other ice age paintings. Rather than depicting only the familiar herbivores that predominate in Paleolithic cave art, i.e. horses, aurochs, mammoths, etc. The walls of the Chauvet Cave feature many predatory animals, e.g., cave lions, leopards, bears, and cave hyenas.

Citation:

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2020/03/10-prehistoric-cave-paintings/126971

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Cave of La Pasiega (16,000 BCE)Cueva de La Pasiega, Monte Castillo, Spain

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Zabala, Lyra A.                                                   BSCMBK 3-YA-1         

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Zabala, Lyra A.                                                   BSCMBK 3-YA-1         

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The Cave of La Pasiega is located in the Puente Viesgo, Cantabaria, Spain. It was dicovered by the German anthropologist Hugo Obermaier in 1911 and the French paleontologist Paul Wernert. Later, Obermaier and Wernert were joined by the French archeologist Henri Breuil (1877-1961), and the Spanish archeologist Hermilio Alcalde del Rio (1866-1947), all of whom contributed to a monograph (published 1913) on the rock art at La Pasiega.  The Cave of La Pasiega is approximately 400 meters and about 40% of its painting are animal, and rest are abstract and symbols. In addition, there are about 100 or so petroglyphs - the vast majority being engraved drawings of animals such as; reindeer, horses, ibexes, bison, aurochs, goats, bird, fish etc., plus a number of images of female genitalia. On top of this there are one or two hand stencils and other handprints, as well as hundreds of other wall markings, some partly erased. La Pasiega Cave is a major center of prehistoric abstract signs and most common symbols include; Tectiform signs, Linear signs, Claviform signs, Polygonal signs, and Dotted signs. Researchers categorized the cave into four main parts (Galleries A, B, and C, plus 'zone' D) but majority of the prehistoric art is located in the Gallery A that runs for about 320 feet, and contains openings to the secondary galleries.

visual-arts-cork.(n.d.). Cave of La Pasiega (16,000 BCE) Cueva de la Pasiega, Monte Castillo, Spain. La Pasiega Cave, Monte Castillo Spain: Prehistoric Paintings. Retrieved August 30, 2022, from http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/prehistoric/pasiega-cave.htm

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PACHECO, MAXINE ABIGAIL Q. BSCMBK 3-YA-1

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PACHECO, MAXINE ABIGAIL Q. BSCMBK 3-YA-1

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SWIMMING REINDEER

1866 Ice Age sculpture found in France's Midi-Pyrénées. The stag and hind reindeer are carved from mammoth ivory. The reindeer's heads, antlers, and legs are raised as if swimming in "Swimming Reindeer." Circular reindeer bodies are well-carved. Both animals have antlers [reindeer are the only female deer with horns] and the female's coat exhibits long hair with markings and bands of color, suggesting the artist intended to symbolize autumn = mating season. This item may have been a totem, a narrative, or an allegory of fall and the animals' successful mating and future survival. 13,000-year-old Ice Age sculpture.

Reference: https://www.bradshawfoundation.com/sculpture/swimming_reindeer.php

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This Ice Age sculpture was discovered in 1866 - as 2 separate pieces - at the site of Montastruc in the Midi-Pyrénées region of France. It was carved from mammoth ivory and consists of a pair of reindeer, a larger male stag following a smaller female.

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The Venus of Hohle Fels (also identified as the Venus of Schelklingen; in German varyingly Venus vom Hohlen Fels, vom Hohle Fels; Venus von Schelklingen) is an Upper Paleolithic Venus statue formed of mammoth ivory that was discovered in 2008 in Hohle Fels, a cave close Schelklingen, Germany. It is dated to the early Aurignacian, the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic, between 40,000 and 35,000 years ago. This period is linked to the first appearance of Cro-Magnons in Europe.
The sculpture is the earliest known representation of a person. Only the lion-headed, zoomorphic Löwenmensch figure is older in terms of symbolic art. The Prehistoric Museum of Blaubeuren is where you can find the Venus figure (Urgeschichtliches Museum Blaubeuren).

Reference:
https://www.thearchaeologist.org/blog/venus-of-hohle-fels-the-earliest-known-depiction-of-a-human-being-in-prehistoric-art

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The Art of the Upper Paleolithic includes carvings on antler and bone, especially of animals, as well as the so-called Venus figurines and cave paintings, discussed above. Despite a warmer climate, the Mesolithic period undoubtedly shows a falling-off from the heights of the preceding period.  Rock art is found in Scandinavia and northern Russia, and around the Mediterranean in eastern Spain and the earliest of the Rock Drawings in Valcamonica in northern Italy, but not in between these areas. Examples of portable art include painted pebbles from the Azilianculture which succeeded the Magdalenian, and patterns on utilitarian objects, like the paddles from Tybrind Vig, Denmark. The Mesolithic statues of Lepenski Vir at the Iron Gate, Serbia date to the 7th millennium BCE and represent either humans or mixtures of humans and fish. Simple pottery began to develop in various places, even in the absence of farming.

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Blanco, Riley Cullen Isaiah BSCMBK 3YA-1.                      

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Blanco, Riley Cullen Isaiah BSCMBK 3YA-1.                      

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"Painting of a Bison (c.15,000 BCE)
Altamira Cave, Cantabria, Spain.

is a cave complex, located near the historic town of Santillana del Mar in Cantabria, Spain. It is renowned for prehistoric parietal cave art featuring charcoal drawings and polychrome paintings of contemporary local fauna and human hands. The earliest paintings were applied during the Upper Paleolithic, around 36,000 years ago. The site was discovered in 1868 by Modesto Cubillas and subsequently studied by Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola.
The cave is approximately 1,000 m (3,300 ft) long and consists of a series of twisting passages and chambers. The main passage varies from two to six meters in height. The cave was formed through collapses following early karst phenomena in the calcareous rock of Mount Vispieres.

Archaeological excavations in the cave floor found rich deposits of artifacts from the Upper Solutrean (c. 18,500 years ago) and Lower Magdalenian (between c. 16,590 and 14,000 years ago). Both periods belong to the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. In the two millennia between these two occupations, the cave was evidently inhabited only by wild animals.

Citation:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_of_Altamira

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RELAYO, JAMAIKA ANN B.   BSCMBK 3-YA-1    

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RELAYO, JAMAIKA ANN B.   BSCMBK 3-YA-1    

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In Bhimbetka, a region in central India, more than 600 rock shelters are painted with ancient cave paintings. The paintings, which are often red and white with occasional green and yellow, frequently show the lives and times of the cavemen. Multiple illustrations of other animals, including crocodiles, bisons, tigers, and lions, have also been found in several caves. According to estimations, the earliest paintings date back 12,000 years. The historical story of the Mahabharata is the source of Bhimbetka.  According to legend, Bhim, one of the Pandavas, sat in this location during their exile and as a result, the location was given the name "Bhimbetka," which means the sitting place of Bhim.

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Smiting god, wearing an Egyptian atef crown ca. 15th–14th century B.C. 

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This figure strides with one arm raised and the other held out, each having wielded a weapon such as a spear and mace or thunderbolt. His pierced ears had earrings, perhaps of gold, and he is clad in an Egyptian-style kilt. The crown is the distinctive Egyptian atef crown of Osiris, god of the dead, with uraeus at the forehead, worn by the pharaoh at his jubilee festival or in mortuary contexts. Here the figure represented is not the Egyptian king but rather an ancient Near Eastern depiction of a local deity of the Levant area.

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The Gwion Gwion rock art is one of many styles of rock art found in Western Australia. They are predominantly human figures drawn in fine detail with accurate anatomical proportioning. They are usually dated to be at least 17,000 years old, and there have been suggestions they are as much as 70,000 years old. The Sydney rock engravings are also a prominent rock art site in the country. These aspects have been debated since the works were seen, and recorded, in 1891 by pastoralist Joseph Bradshaw, after whom they were named until recent decades. As the Kimberley is home to many traditional owners, rock art is referred to and known by many different names in the local languages, the most common of which are Gwion Gwion or Kiro Kiro/Giro Giro. Prehistoric art consisted primarily of human figures ornamented with accessories such as bags, tassels, and headdresses. The Gwion Gwion paintings predominantly depict human silhouette figures that appear to be suspended in the air or in a dynamic style that suggests running, hunting, or dancing. While gender is rarely portrayed in the paintings, limb, arm, and shoulder muscles are often well defined in addition to stomach paunches. The question of gender representation in Gwion Gwion art was illuminated recently by the discovery that figures are depicted as if they are facing into the rock face. This perspective has been overlooked until now because of the Western bias toward images that "face out", but also because the "facing in" perspective is more evident in depictions with excellent delineation of body contours, such as the rare Classic Realistic style, which is also earliest in superposition studies; Suppose one appreciates the "facing in" perspective. In that case, it becomes evident that the many attributions of "paunches' are incorrect, both because they can now be seen to be located at the rear of these figures, but also because it is anatomically incorrect to attribute the belly to gluteal structures located more inferiorly. Since 2009 concerns have been raised that Gwion Gwion art has been damaged, or completely destroyed by fire, due to WA government land-management actions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwion_Gwion_rock_paintings

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The Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc Cave in the Ardèche department of southern France is a cave that contains some of the best-preserved figurative cave paintings in the world.

The dates have been a matter of dispute but a study published in 2012 supports placing the art in the Aurignacian period, approximately 32,000–30,000 years BP. Hundreds of animal paintings have been cataloged, depicting at least 13 different species, including some rarely or never found in other ice age paintings. Rather than depicting only the familiar herbivores that predominate in Paleolithic cave art, i.e. horses, aurochs, mammoths, etc. The walls of the Chauvet Cave feature many predatory animals, e.g., cave lions, leopards, bears, and cave hyenas.

References: https://www.heritagedaily.com/2020/03/10-prehistoric-cave-paintings/126971#:~:text=Cave%20paintings%20are%20a%20type,wall%20or%20ceilings%20of%20caves.&text=Magura%20Cave%20is%20located%20in,from%208000%2D4000%20years%20ago.

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Arguably the most famous form of late Prehistoric art, the pyramids of Ancient Egypt are the world's largest funerary edifices or tombs. Developed from the mastaba tomb, they are one of the most enduring symbols of Egyptian art in general and Egyptian architecture in particular. All three of Giza's famed pyramids and their elaborate burial complexes were built during a frenetic period of construction, from roughly 2550 to 2490 B.C.

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Hall of Bulls Lascaux – An Exploration of the Lascaux Cave Paintings

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The Great Hall of the Bulls paintings are the result of multiple generations of contributing artists. The original Hall of Bulls location has not been available to be viewed by members of the public since 1963, nevertheless, there are now many replicas that were created long after the Hall of Bulls time period.
The Lascaux cave system is a group of caves in southwestern France. The Great Hall of Bulls paintings can be found in these caves, which are situated close to a village called Montignac. Over 600 different Hall of Bulls Lascaux paintings adorn the ceiling and walls of the cave. The Lascaux cave paintings depict large animals from the Upper Paleolithic period and are thought to be around 17,000 years old.
When his dog fell into a crevice on the 12th of September, 1940, Marcel Ravidat found the opening to the Lascaux Cave. He later returned to the site, accompanied by three friends. They accessed the caves by a tunnel that ran for around 15 meters which they thought was the fabled secret entry to the neighboring Lascaux Manor. The youngsters realized that the walls of the caves were filled with animal images. Titles were given to passageways that reflect consistency, setting, or simply symbolize a cavern, such as the Shaft, the Passageway, and the Great Hall of the Bulls.

References;
https://artincontext.org/hall-of-bulls/

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The Apollo 11 Cave is one of the oldest sites of prehistoric art in Africa. Situated in the Huns Mountains of south-western Namibia, it was named after the Apollo 11 spaceship in July 1969, by the German archeologist Wolfgang Wendt, who led the team of scientists and researchers that excavated the cave. The cave is famous for containing some of the oldest mobiliary art ever found on the African continent: namely, seven small stone slabs decorated with charcoal and ochre images of animals. The presence of charcoal in the sediment surrounding the painted stones was carbon-dated to 25,000 BCE, making them the earliest art in Africa after the Blombos Cave Engravings(c.70,000 BCE) and the Diepkloof Eggshell Engravings (c.60,000 BCE). To see how the Stone Age engravings in the Apollo 11 Cave fits into the development of cave art elsewhere, see: Prehistoric Art Timeline (from 2.5 million BCE).

Reference:
http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/prehistoric/apollo-11-cave-stones.htm

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Darilag, Samantha Isabelle P.                          BSCMBK 3YA-1

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Darilag, Samantha Isabelle P.                          BSCMBK 3YA-1

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The Venus of Hohle Fels (also known as the Venus of Schelklingen), a small ivory carving of a female figure made during the Aurignacian civilization of the Upper Paleolithic, was discovered in 2008 during excavations at Hohle Fels Cave in the Swabian Jura of southwestern Germany. The oldest Venus figure known to archaeology, it is dated to the period 38,000–33,000 BCE, making it the earliest uncontested work of figurative art. This tiny piece of prehistoric artwork possesses a number of distinctive qualities as well as a number of traits that are typical of later female figurines, such the Venus of Willendorf.

http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/prehistoric/venus-of-hohle-fels.htm

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The art above is called "Cong" which is composed of jade pieces from China. It is used as a decorative object for religious ceremonies and burials. These artifacts originate from the Liangzhu Neolithic civilisation, which existed close to modern-day Shanghai in the third millennium BC. These people left us several elaborately carved artifacts and extremely advanced tools for carving. The cong themselves came with additional components called bi, which are round discs that fit neatly within and are shaped something like a weight you could put on a bench press bar. The cong themselves were cylindrical in design with an open, carved-out core. The time and arduous effort required to create these mystifying things demonstrate the devotion these people felt for them and that they were of tremendous significance to the ancient Chinese people, even though they are still not entirely understood.

Retrieved from:
https://listverse.com/2018/12/11/10-prehistoric-works-of-art-and-their-stories/

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The cave paintings at Cueva de las Manos were made between 13,000 and 9,000 years ago and can be found in Patagonia, the southern region of Argentina. The name of the cave literally translates to Cave of Hands. Using the remains of bone-made paint-spraying pipes, the age of the paintings was determined.

Retrieved from: https://www.heritagedaily.com/2020/03/10-prehistoric-cave-paintings/126971

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'HALL OF BULLS,' Cave Painting from Lascaux, France28,000 - 10,000 BCE

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The stunning paintings on cave walls discovered close to Lascaux, France, are the earliest examples of prehistoric people's artistic expression and date between 28,000 and 10,000 BCE. These "primitive" people of the Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) painted evocative and startlingly accurate depictions of the animals that were such a significant part of their lives using the natural rock contours that suggest the volume of the animals. Animals such as cows, bulls, horses, bison, and deer can be seen on the underground walls of these caves.

References:

History of World Ceramics. (n.d.). Retrieved from GCC Ceramics: http://www-01.glendale.edu/ceramics/lascauxcaves.html

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Typical Clovis points, like the example above, have parallel to slightly convex edges which narrow to a point. This shape is produced by chipping small, parallel flakes off both sides of a stone blade. Following this, the point is thinned on both sides by the removal of flakes which leave a central groove or “flute.” These flutes are the principal feature of Clovis or “fluted” points. They originate from the base which then has a concave outline and end about one-third along the length. The grooves produced by the removal of the flutes allow the point to be fitted to a wooden shaft of a spear.

The people who made Clovis points spread out across America looking for food and did not stay anywhere for long, although they did return to places where resources were plentiful.

Clovis points are sometimes found with the bones of mammoths, mastodons, sloth and giant bison. As the climate changed at the end of the last Ice Age, the habitats on which these animals depended started to disappear. Their extinction was inevitable but Clovis hunting on dwindling numbers probably contributed to their disappearance.

Although there are arguments in favor of pre-Clovis migrations to America, it is the “Paleo-Indian” Clovis people who can be most certainly identified as the probable ancestors of later Native North American peoples and cultures.

© Trustees of the British Museum

Additional resources:

B. Fagan, Ancient North America (London, 2005).

G. Haynes, The Early Settlement of North America: The Clovis Era (Cambridge, 2002).

G. Haynes (ed.), American Megafaunal Extinctions at the End of the Pleistocene (New York, 2009).

D. Meltzer, First Peoples in a New World: Colonizing Ice Age America( Berkeley, 2009).

S. Mithen, After the Ice: A Global Human History 20000-5000 BC (London, 2003).

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ESPALDON, BENJAMIN G.                        BSCMBK 3-YA-1 

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ESPALDON, BENJAMIN G.                        BSCMBK 3-YA-1 

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The greatest and oldest collection of ancient paintings in the Americas can be found in Brazil's Serra da Capivara National Park.

It was discovered that the park's rock shelters had prehistoric drawings of animals and hunters. While the oldest stone tools discovered at Serra da Capivara are 22,000 years old.

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Lascaux Cave: A section of the "Hall of the Bulls". 

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It was discovered in 1940, close to the village of Montignac, in the Dordogne region of southwestern France, Lascaux is especially famous for its painting, which includes a rare example of a human figure; the largest single image ever found in a prehistoric cave (the Great Black Bull); and a quantity of mysterious abstract signs, which have yet to be deciphered. Its most famous chambers include the "Hall of the Bulls", the "Axial Gallery", the "Apse" and the "Shaft". In total, Lascaux's galleries and passageways - extending about 240 metres in length - contain some 2,000 images, about 900 of which are animals, and the remainder geometric symbols of varying shapes.

REFERENCE: http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/prehistoric/lascaux-cave-paintings.htm#:~:text=Arguably%20the%20most%20convincing%20explanation,sanctuary%20used%20for%20initiation%20ceremonies.

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Inocencio, Precious Kyle P.                      BSCMBK 3 YA - 1

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Inocencio, Precious Kyle P.                      BSCMBK 3 YA - 1

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The Cueva de las Manos, Río Pinturas, contains an exceptional assemblage of cave art, with many painted rock shelters, including a cave, with magnificent pictographies surrounded by an outstanding landscape, with the river running through a deep canyon, which were executed between 9,300 and 1,300 years ago.

The cave's stenciled depictions of human hands gave it the name "Cave of the Hands," but there are also numerous images of other animals, including guanacos (Lama guanicoe), which are still frequently seen in the area, as well as hunting scenes that show animals and people interacting in a lively and realistic way. A large number of hand stencils are painted on a rock wall that screens the Cueva's entrance. There are five concentrations of rock art within the actual rock shelter, with newer forms and patterns being placed over those from earlier times. Iron oxides (red and purple), kaolin (white), natrojarosite (yellow), and manganese oxide (black) were used to create the paintings. These natural mineral pigments were pulverized and blended with a binder.

Nunes R.M (2022) Prehistoric paintings of hands at the Cave of Hands in Santa Cruz.
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/hand-paintings-at-the-cave-of-hands-in-santa-cruz-province-patagonia-argentina-south-gm1203879005-346180785

UNESCO World Heritage Centre , Cueva de las Manos, Río Pinturas
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/936/

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The Venus of Willendorf is a figurine made out of limestone. Sources vary on its age, but most give a date range of 28,000 to 25,000 BC. So it’s from roughly around the same era as the Apollo 11 Stones, during the Paleolithic period. There are also later versions of the Venus of Willendorf, some coming from somewhere between 24,000 and 22,000 BC, and the carvings are generally of naked women, possibly depictions of a fertility goddess or possibly men paying their respects to women and their life-giving abilities.

Reference:
https://listverse.com/2018/12/11/10-prehistoric-works-of-art-and-their-stories/

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A cultural eruption that rivals the Renaissance occurred in the Upper Paleolithic. The Upper Paleolithic, also known as the Late Stone Age, is when many of the human customs that form the foundation of social life first emerged. All artistic endeavor since then has its roots in Paleolithic art. The renowned prehistoric cave paintings are said to be the first examples of figurative art. The earliest known figurative painting of an unidentified animal, over 40,000 years old (or maybe as old as 52,000 years), was found in the Lubang Jeriji Saléh cave on the Indonesian island of Borneo in November 2018. The Schwäbische Alb in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, contains some of the oldest undisputed examples of figurative art. The Venus figure, also known as the Venus of Hohle Fels, and the Lion-man figurine are the oldest of these, dating to almost 40,000 years ago.

Reference:
Adam De C(2022, May 5)- Visual Art During the Prehistoric Era: Paleolithic & Neolithic Upper Paleolithic Art | Sculpture, Drawings, and Style - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

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Cueva de las Manos is located in Patagonia in the southern part of Argentina and contains cave paintings that were created between 13,000 and 9,000 years ago.

The cave’s name literally means ‘Cave of hands’ and was presented that name because of the hundreds of stenciled hands painted on the cave walls. The age of the paintings was calculated from the remains of bone-made pipes used for spraying the paint.

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2020/03/10-prehistoric-cave-paintings/126971?amp

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Some of the world's oldest known prehistoric cave paintings can be found in the Chauvet Cave in southern France. According to radiocarbon analysis, the oldest artwork in the cave could date back as far as 32,000 years. Jean-Marie Chauvet and his group of speleologists found the cave in 1994. These paintings depict creatures like lions, bears, rhinos, ibex, mammoths, horses, and horses. The "panel of horses," which depicts numerous animals on the same plane, is an excellent example of an advanced technique like the use of perspective.

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The earliest human artifacts showing evidence of workmanship with an artistic purpose are the subject of some debate. It is clear that such workmanship existed by 40,000 years ago in the Upper Paleolithic era, although it is quite possible that it began earlier. In September 2018, scientists reported the discovery of the earliest known drawing by Homo sapiens, which is estimated to be 73,000 years old, much earlier than the 43,000 years old artifacts understood to be the earliest known modern human drawings found previously. Engraved shells created by Homo erectus dating as far back as 500,000 years ago have been found, although experts disagree on whether these engravings can be properly classified as 'art'. From the Upper Paleolithic through to the Mesolithic , cave paintings  and portable arts  such as figurines  and beads  predominated, with decorative figured workings also seen on some utilitarian objects. In the Neolithic  evidence of early pottery  appeared, as did sculpture  and the construction of megaliths. Early rock arts   also first appeared during this period. The advent of metalworking  in the Bronze Age  brought additional media available for use in making art, an increase in stylistic diversity, and the creation of objects that did not have any obvious function other than art. It also saw the development in some areas of artisans, a class of people specializing in the production of art, as well as early  writing systems . By the Iron Age, civilizations with writing had arisen from Ancient Egypt  to Ancient China.

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BAUSA , CHRISTIAN MYLES
BSCMBK 3 -YA - 1

The massive changes in the way people lived also changed the types of art they made. Neolithic sculpture became bigger, in part, because people didn’t have to carry it around anymore; pottery became more widespread and was used to store food harvested from farms. Alcohol was first produced during this period and architecture, as well as its interior and exterior decoration, first appears. In short, people settled down and began to live in one place, year after year.The massive changes in the way people lived also changed the types of art they made. Neolithic sculpture became bigger, in part, because people didn’t have to carry it around anymore; pottery became more widespread and was used to store food harvested from farms. Alcohol was first produced during this period and architecture, as well as its interior and exterior decoration, first appears. In short, people settled down and began to live in one place, year after year.

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Soriano, Christian Paul P.      BSCMBK 3YA-1

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Soriano, Christian Paul P.      BSCMBK 3YA-1

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Like most other aspects of prehistoric European culture, the precise nature of the religious practice of the tribes who practiced cave painting remains a mystery, yet it is highly probably that these practices and beliefs were closely tied to the function of cave art. Some potential interpretations take the view that cave art was important for its existence and content, while others assert that its primary significance was in the ritual act of painting or engraving it. It is frequently suggested that the animal images may have related to some sort of hunting magic.

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Venus of Brassempouy, 25,000 BCE, France's Saint-Germain-en-Lay Museum of Archaeology. 

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Mammoth ivory was used to create the Venus of Brassempouy, which represents the original figure's head and neck. The figurine was found during an archaeological examination of two nearby Brassempouy caves called the Grotte du Pape and the Galerie des Hyenes, often known as the "Pope's Cave" and "Gallery of the Hyenas." Along with numerous other human sculptures, including the "Lady with the Hood" who was discovered later, the venus was retrieved from the Grotte du Pape. see petroglyphs as well. The Grotte du Pape, however, only contained tools and sculptures made of ivory; no cave art was discovered there.

REFERENCE:

Bedworth, C. (2022, June 3). Sacred Signs – Prehistoric Sculpture. DailyArt Magazine. https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/prehistoric-sculpture/?fbclid=IwAR26iDgnOrLSDiJezNh7gZhHrbrw7UUPgMFqhLh1lYd_n4RRvzGgeVnuppY

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Antonio, Jevielyn D.         BSCMBK 3-YA-1

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Antonio, Jevielyn D.         BSCMBK 3-YA-1

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Lion Man of Hohlenstein Stadel (c.38,000 BCE)
One of two human figures located in the caves of the Altmuhl valley in southwestern Germany. Fragments of the Aurignacian period carving were first found in 1939 by archaeologist Robert Wetzel, but it was only in 1997 and 1998, when the head was connected, that it was fully assembled. It is considered to be the oldest known anthropomorphic animal carving in the world. The Lion Man of Hohlenstein Stadel was carved from mammoth ivory, by a sculptor using a simple flint-cutting tool, and stands 11 inches in height (29 cms). It is the largest of all Ice Age sculptures found in the Swabian Jura. The sculpture's hybrid nature - part lion, part human - is reminiscent of several figures depicted in the cave painting in Lascaux (France) and Altamira (Spain), and other sites. It might even represent a shaman with a lion mask. (ENCYCLOPEDIA OF STONE AGE ART
© visual-arts-cork.com)

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The Manunggul Jar is a secondary burial jar excavated from a Neolithic burial site in the Manunggul cave of the Tabon Caves at Lipuun Point in Palawan, Philippines. It dates from 890–710 B.C. and the two prominent figures at the top handle of its cover represent the journey of the soul to the afterlife.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manunggul_Jar#:~:text=The%20Manunggul%20Jar%20is%20a,the%20soul%20to%20the%20afterlife.
https://www.google.com/search?q=manggul+jar&oq=manggul+jar&aqs=chrome..69i57.3058j0j4&client=ms-android-vivo&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#imgrc=LJezfHGFClvlNM

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Lascaux Cave

A group of caves known as Lascaux are located close to the commune of Montignac in the Dordogne region in southwest France. The inside walls and ceilings of the cave are covered with more than 600 parietal wall paintings.

The paintings primarily portray huge creatures, typical of the area and current fauna, which match the Upper Paleolithic fossil record. The paintings' age is uncertain but is thought to be around 17,000 years old. The drawings are the work of many generations (early Magdalenian). The region seems to be a hotspot; many beautifully decorated caves have been discovered there. The exact meaning of the paintings at Lascaux or any of the other sites is still subject to discussion, but the prevailing view attaches a ritualistic or even spiritual component to them, hinting at the sophistication of their creators. Lascaux was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list in 1979, along with other prehistoric sites in its proximity.

Reference:
https://www.worldhistory.org/Lascaux_Cave/