PREHI ST OR IC

SCUL PU RE
Ba
 WH AT IS A
SCULP·TURE /ˈSKƏLPCHƏR/ SCU LPT URE ?
the art of making two- or
three-dimensional
representative or abstract
forms, especially by carving
stone or wood or by casting
metal or plaster.
INTRODUCTION

PREHISTORIC ART IS DOMINATED

BY PARIETAL ART, SUCH AS CAVE PAINTING
AND CAVE PETROGLYPHS. SCULPTURE, BEING
A FORM OF PORTABLE OR MOBILIARY
ART AND THUS MORE PRONE TO DESTRUCTION
OR LOSS, IS LESS COMMON, THOUGH NO
LESS SIGNIFICANT IN REVEALING THE
INTELLECTUAL AND ARTISTIC PROGRESS OF
THE CULTURE OR ARTIST INVOLVED.
Mammoth Bone
Ivory
Stone (Sandstone,
Steatite &
Sandstone)
Clay
MATERIALS USED
IN PREHISTORIC
Terracotta SCULPTURE
 ULTRA-PRIMITIVE HUMANOID
OBJECTS (C.230,000 - 700,000 BCE)

T Y P E S O F
PRE H I S TO R I C Sculpted during the Lower Paleolithic era, these primitive effigies
- considered by some archeologists to be the result of natural

SC U L P T U R E erosion, not human artistry

PRIMITIVE RELIEFS (FROM 23,000 BCE

ONWARDS)
The ability to work safely and undisturbed in a secure cave, may
account for the relatively early appearance of prehistoric relief
sculptures.

VENUS FIGURINES (FROM 40,000 BCE

ONWARDS)
Sculpted predominantly during the Aurignacian and Gravettian
cultures (40-20,000 BCE), these small steatopygian Venus
figurines - commonly considered to have totemic or fertility
significance - have been discovered throughout Europe and
beyond.
 CARVINGS OF
T Y P E S O F ANTHROPOMORPHIC

PRE H I S TO R I C FIGURES (FROM 30,000 BCE

ONWARDS)
SC U L P T U R E
Varying considerably in size, human
features and therianthropic value, these
date back to the mid-Aurignacian.

CARVINGS OF ANIMAL
FIGURES (FROM 33,000 BCE
ONWARDS)
The strangest, most exotic and most varied
of all types of prehistoric sculpture, these
carvings frequently have mythological or
religious significance.
ANTHROPOMORPHIC FIGURES
Like the Venus figurines, these prehistoric
CHARACT ER IS TI CS
anthropomorphic statuettes were carved in a wide
variety of materials. Most were relatively small in OF PR EH IS TO RI C
size and so may have been designed for personal
SCU LP TU RE
use. Although interpretations vary considerably,
many of these human or semi-human sculptures
have ritualistic or totemic significance, reflecting
the mythology and/or religious beliefs of their
tribes and societies.

VENUS FIGURINES
ver 100 Upper Paleolithic Venus figurines have been excavated; nearly all between 2-10 inches tall. Most share
several attributes in common, as follows: all depict a female figure; its shape is almost always grotesquely obese,
with tapering points at the top (head) and bottom (legs); there is an exaggerated focus on the breasts, abdomen,
vulva, hips and thighs; this contrasts with a correspondingly scant interest in other features of the body; the head,
for instance, is usually small with little detail.
 ULTRA-PRIMITIVE
HUMANOID OBJECTS
Discovered in 1981, the Venus
of Berekhat Ram was such a
crude representation of a
human figure that some
archeologists refused to
recognize it as a work of art,
of prehistoric hunter-gatherers, as well as
believing instead that its shape
had been caused by natural
erosion.
RELIEFS
The only type of stone
ANIMAL FIGURES
carving to be classified as
Probably the most common subject in
Stone Age sculpture, animals were
"cave art", in that it forms
depicted in a variety of styles, reflecting part of the fabric of the
rock shelter, relief
their importance in the diet and lifestyle
sculpture is generally seen
their symbolic or totemic status in the only when the cave walls
religious beliefs of the time. consist of relatively soft
stone, like limestone.
 Meditation Hacks

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 FAMOUS (230-700,000 BCE)
PRE HI ST OR IC VENUS OF BEREKHAT RAM

SCU LP TU RE S

The early Stone Age figurine Although initially highly controversial -

of Berekhat Ram (Birkat Ram), as some paleontologists preferred to
discovered in hills north of see it more as a product of natural
Israel, is believed to be one of erosion rather than a deliberate
the oldest pieces human act of creativity - its status now
of prehistoric seems more secure following the
sculpture known to discovery of a second similar and
archeology. contemporaneous figurine - the Venus
of Tan-Tan, in Morocco.