Pre-historic art

Pre-Historic Art of Europe

The first European art is found in the upper palaeolithic, both cave painting and mobile art, like animal carvings and the so called Venus-statuettes (e.g. the Venus of Willensdorf. But already homo erectus produced seemingly aimless patterns on artefacts, as is evinced by the finds from Bilzingsleben, Thuringia that might be termed art.

Before the start of the Bronze Age in Europe, from the 5th millennium BC to the 2nd millennium BC, the main artistic legacies of the European peoples were megalithic monuments. While the most well-known of these is Stonehenge, such monuments have been found throughout most of Western and Northern Europe, notably at Carnac, France, at Skara Brae in the Orkney Islands, in Portugal, and in Wiltshire, England, the area of Stonehenge, the Avebury circle, the tombs at West Kennet, and Woodhenge. One tomb found in New Grange, Ireland, has its entrance marked with a massive stone carved with a complex design of spirals. Many of these monuments were megalitic tombs, and archaeologists speculate that most have religious signifigance.

in Central Europe, many neolithic cultures, like Linearbandkeramic, Lengyel and Vinca, produced female (rarely male) and animal statues that can be called art. Wether the elaborate pottery decoration of, for example, the Želiesovce and painted Lengyel style are to be classified as art is a matter of definition.

During the 3rd millennium BC, however, the Bronze Age began in Europe, bringing with it a new medium for art. The increased efficiency of bronze tools also meant an increase in productivity, which led to a surplus - the first step in the creation of a class of artisans. Because of the increased wealth of society, luxury goods began to be created, especially decorated weapons. Examples include ceremonial bronze helments, ornamental ax-heads and swords, elborate insturments such as lurer, and other ceremonial objects without a practical purpouse.

The iron age saw the development of anthropomorphic scultures as well (warrior of Hirschlanden, Glauberg etc.).

Pre-Historic Art of Asia

Native Arts of Africa

Native Arts of the Americas

Native Arts of Oceania

Starting from its first settlers from Asia, the natives of Australia, often known as Aborigines, have been creating distincive patterns of art. Early known artworks of the Aborigines are mostly rock paintings. Many are called X-ray paintings because they show the bones and organs of the animals they depict. Some aboriginal art seems abstract to modern viewers; aboriginal art often employs geometrical figures and lines to represent landscape, which is often shown from a birds-eye view. For instance, in aboriginal symbology, a swirl stands for a watering hole.

Like the aborigines of Australia, the natives of Polynesia left behind a distinct artistic heritage. While many of their artifacts were made with organic materials and thus lost to history, some of their most striking achievements survive in clay and stone. Among these are numerous pottery fragments from around Oceania, from the late 2nd millennium BC. Also, the natives of Polynesia left scattered around their islands stone platforms and sculpures of ancestor figures, the most famous of which is located at Easter Island.

Referenced By