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Introduction to Prehistoric Art
Three ages: Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic. The terms come from the Greek: paleo
(old), meso (middle), neo (new), and lithos (stone).

Age

Dates

Cultural Distinctions

Paleolithic

35,000 to 12,000 BCE

Hunting and gathering for food

Mesolithic

12,000 to 8,000 BCE

Intensified gathering and domestication of the dog

Neolithic

from 8,000 BCE

Domestication of plants and animals and construction of dwellings

Prehistoric Paining
There are many theories explaining why the people from the prehistoric period filled the
caves with images of animals. Some theorize that the prehistoric people attributed magical
properties to the images. They might have believed that they gained a mystical control over
the animals.
Paint was created with charcoal (black) and ocher (an impure iron ore, yellow or red)
mixed with animal fat. Reeds or bristles served as brushes.
Many of the cave paintings have deteriorated because of the presence of an organic base:
animal fat. People arent allowed to enter most of the caves because of the carbon dioxide
released, which causes the disintegration of the images.

Lascaux Cave
The Lascaux Cave, which was accidentally discovered by four teenagers in 1940, is one of
the most famous sites of Paleolithic painting.
The Hall of Bulls presents examples of artistic skills and techniques from 15-3,000 BCE.
We see a form of perspective known as twisted perspective. Twisted perspective presents
the profile of the subject with a complete view of its anatomy (its not realistic, but
descriptive). The figures are placed randomly, without a common background.

Altamira Cave
The first example of cave paintings were found within the Altamira Cave in northern Spain.
They were discovered by a father and a daughter in 1879.
We see a figure of a bison from 12,000 BCE outlined in charcoal and highlighted with red
ocher. The twisted perspective is noticeable.

Chauvet Cave (30,000 BCE, Southern France)

Chauvet Cave was discovered in 1994. Everybody was amazed because the paintings were
oldest to date but highly skilled. Most people thought that the artist of the Paleolithic Age
become more sophisticated in their techniques with time, but this discovery completely
destroyed this theory.
The beasts werent painted in twisted perspective, but naturalistically and often one on top
of the other to create perspective. The paintings present narrative elements.

The Venus of Willendorf (24-22,000 BCE)

Paleolithic sculpture was both portable and rock-cut similar to Paleolithic painting. It
usually futured animal subjects or humans, with the concentration of the woman figure.

The Venus of Willendorf, discovered in Austria in 1908, is the most famous Paleolithic
sculpture and is four inches in length. Like most female representations of that period, the
sculpture presents exaggerated aspects of female fertility while obscuring facial features.
The name Venus has nothing to do with the Roman goddess with the same name. The
name is only the representative term used to identify Paleolithic female figurines.