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Prehistoric - History of Art and Interior Design
Prehistoric - History of Art and Interior Design
PALEOLITHIC, MESOLITHIC,
NEOLITHIC, BRONZE AGE
CAVE PAINTINGS IN
ALTAMIRA, SPAIN
- Discovered by Don
Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola
in 1879 with daughter Maria
VENUS OF WILLENDORF
- Found in Willendorf, Austria
- Sculpture in-the-round
- Limestone figurine, 4 1/4 high;
red ochre found preserved on
some parts
- Bulbous form; cluster of balllike shapes
- Symbolisms:
- Breasts: life-giving, nurturing
- Trunk area: pregnant
- Arms: small to emphasize
importance of breasts and
trunk area
VENUS OF LAUSSEL
- Found in Laussel, Dordogne
- Limestone figurine, 1 and
6 high; painted with red
ochre
- Symbolisms:
- Emphasized body parts to
symbolize fertility
- Bison horn = cornucopia =
abundance
VENUS OF
GALGENBERG
- Found in Galgenberg,
Austria
- Carved from serpentine
Caves
Rock shelters
Huts in the open
Lean-to shelters
TERRA AMATA
Near Nice
Oldest artificial structures
20 huts found, cove by the
beach
Oval in shape
8-15 M in length, 4-6M in
width
Materials:
Branches
Braced by ring of large
stones along its perimiter
According to CDEP:
Beehive
Trullo
Monoliths
According to UP:
Shelter
small individual houses of
timber and mud; near lakes
built houses on piles
multiple units of housing
wooden houses as long as 80
M accommodated by a
number of families or one
extended family;
Megalithic Monuments
Menhirs, Stone Alignments or
Circles, Orthostat, Stone Row,
Taula, Trilithon
Barrows:
Circular Type (Round Barrow
Long Barrow
Passage Graves
Skara Brae
Prehistoric village
Located on small island off
the northern coast of
Scotland
Ten small stone houses linked
up by stone alleys
Stone furniture
Each house has a single room
with rounded corners
Roofs probably of animal
skins on whalebone rafters
Catal Hoyuk
Turkey, Ancient Anatolia
Advanced artwork and
landscape painting
Interior walls of houses and
shrines had bright colored
decorative patterns, human
figures, animals
Storage Receptacles in wood,
stone, wicker, and pottery
Textile fragments and woven
floor mats
Furniture: Built-in reclining
couches, beds of plaster
Menhir
A large, single upright
standing stone
Symbolism:
Menhir: Phallic symbol
Earth: Seen as female
Sign of Fertility
Menhir
A large, single upright
standing stone
Symbolism:
Menhir: Phallic symbol
Earth: Seen as female
Sign of Fertility
Stone Alignments/
Circles/Cromlechs
/Henges
Do not enclose space, but
define space
Stone Henge
Salisbury, England
Stone Alignments/
Circles/Cromlechs
/Henges
Do not enclose space, but
define space
Stone Henge
Salisbury, England
Stone Alignments/
Circles/Cromlechs
/Henges
Do not enclose space, but
define space
Neolithic Circle at
Callanish
Tombs
Above-ground burial
chambers of large stone slabs
and covered with earth
Vertical slabs serve as walls
Horizontal slabs serve as the
top across the walls
Dolmen
Tombs
Barrows:
Circular type (Round
Barrow) simplest type
where the mound covers a
single burial
Tombs
Barrows:
Circular type (Round
Barrow) simplest type
where the mound covers a
single burial
Long Barrow
Tombs
Barrows:
Passage Grave second
most common tomb type,
normally consisting of a
square, circular, or cruciform
chamber with a slabbed or
corbelled roof, accessed by a
long, straight passageway,
with the whole structure
covered by a circular mound
of earth
Tombs
Barrows:
Gallery Grave
Axially arranged chambers
placed under elongated
mounds
Two parallel walls of stone
slabs were erected to form a
corridor and covered with a
line of capstones
No size difference between
the burial chamber itself and
the entrance passage
Bodies were buried along
the walls, which sometimes
converged toward one end
to form a V
Taula
A straight standing stone
topped with another forming
a T shape
Trilithon
Two parallel upright stones
with a horizontal stone
(called a lintel) placed on top
Vases
Temple Statuettes
Steles
Burial Treasures
Seals
Eshnunnas Perpetual
Worshippers
Ca. 2700 BCE
Approximately 2 6 high or
below 12 to 30
Soft gypsum inlaid with shell
and black limestone
Found buried beneath the
floor of a temple at Eshnunna
(modern Tell Asmar)
Eshnunnas Perpetual
Worshippers
Represent mortals
Conventions:
Men: wore belts and fringed
skirts; had beards and
shoulder length hair
Women: wore long robes,
with right shoulder bare
Heads were tilted upward
Hands folded holding small
beakers Sumerians used in
religious rites
Eshnunnas Perpetual
Worshippers
Several figurines bear
inscriptions with information
such as the name of the
donor and the god or even
specific prayers to the deity
on the owners behalf
Eshnunnas Perpetual
Worshippers
Placed in the Sumerian
waiting room/temple
waiting for the divinity to
appear
VOTIVE FIGURES:
for offering constant prayers
to the gods on their donors
behalf
The open-eyed stares most
likely symbolized the eternal
wakefulness necessary to
fulfill their duty