Course Content
What is Prehistoric Art?
When we talk about Prehistoric, we can think of it as the "Old Stone Age," which is also known as "Prehistoric Times." Because this era is before the invention of writing, documentation, and civilisation, it's also known as "Prehistory" which is the more common choice of phrasing within art history (you will hear both variations throughout this course, but rest assured they both refer to the exact same thing). Google defines Prehistory as "Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins c. 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems." If you look up "art," Google says it's "the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power." So, when we think of what these people made, such as cave paintings and sculptures, as art, it is safe to call this the earliest form of art. Cave paintings are the most common form of art that people know about from the Paleolithic era. But few people know that they left behind more than just paintings. A lot of art that dates back to the Paleolithic era has sculptures in it, too.
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How do We Date Prehistoric Art?
Where did it All Begin?
Paleolithic Era
The Paleolithic period, which is also called the "Old Stone Age" lasted between two and a half to three million years. For art history, "Paleolithic Art" refers to the Late Upper Paleolithic period, which is when people lived. Approximately 40,000 years ago. Right through to the end of the last ice age, roughly 8,000 years ago. At which point marks the more dominant rise of Homo sapiens and the ability to create not only tools, but art as well.
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Paleolithic Sculptures Pt. 1
Paleolithic Sculptures Pt. 2
Paleolithic Cave Paintings Pt. 1
Paleolithic Cave Paintings Pt. 2
Paleolithic Cave Paintings Pt. 3
Paleolithic Hand Paintings
Mesolithic Era
The Mesolithic era was between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic period (this is when humans lived about 10,000 years ago to about 8,000 years ago). The Mesolithic is the time in the history of the Old World when people used tools. The term Epipaleolithic is often used to refer to the same time period outside of northern Europe. Mesolithic people used small stone tools that were polished and sometimes made with points. They attached them to antlers, bone, or wood to use as spears or arrows.
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Mesolithic Art
Neolithic Era
More people necessitated a shift away from hunting and gathering to the domestication of livestock and farming, sparking what is known as the Neolithic Revolution. The introduction of agriculture, which led to land ownership, and the formation of cities, is undeniably one of the most significant turning points in the history of human civilization. This is known also as the final division of the Stone Age period. A great many myths and folktales contain references to it. However, this happened over time and in different parts of the world at different times. Agriculture began in Palestine and western Iran in the middle of the eighth millennium, later in Egypt; in about the sixth millennium in Greece and the Balkans, early in the fifth millennium in China and also in Central America, but not for another one or two thousand years in northern Europe. To this day, some tribes in Australia and central South America have been able to sustain themselves through hunting and gathering without the need for agriculture. Consequently, the term "Neolithic" is sometimes misused by referring to both the time period and the culture. Even if homesteads were frequently relocated as soon as the land was exhausted by primitive farming methods, more permanent settlements followed the adoption of agriculture.
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Catal Huyuk Pt. 1
Catal Huyuk Pt. 2
Catal Huyuk Pt. 3
Catal Huyuk Pt. 4
Neolithic Architecture
All About Prehistoric Art
About Lesson

So far, we’ve seen a number of Paleolithic female figurines that are convincingly interpreted as fertility or Mother Goddess. Numerous female figurines discovered at Catal Huyuk have been linked to these individuals. They range in height from 2 to 12 inches (5-30.5 cm) and depict the ‘Mother Goddess’ in a variety of states, including young, old, pregnant, and giving birth. The limbs and breasts are delicately modelled, if not sensually, and the entire figure is sometimes painted with cross-like Rower patterns of unknown significance.


However, the most notable is not painted and depicts a person sitting on a rock-like throne or chair, the earliest known example of a piece of furniture used for seated comfort.

Mother Goddess

Mother Goddess

With her hands (now lost) on two feline armrests, probably leopards, she is giving birth. Another of her facets is that of a wild animal tamer or ruler. This would place her in the lineage of ancient Sumerian and Babylonian goddesses like lnanna/Ishtar, Egyptian goddess Isis, and Anatolian and Greek goddess Cybele.

Cybele rides a chariot drawn by lions, and they all walk with lions or sit on a lion’s throne.

Larger-scale reliefs of humans can be found at Catal Huyuk, but they are rendered schematically with their arms and legs outstretched. The sculpture of the Mother Goddess giving birth, is questionable because the images do not clearly depict the female breasts and genitalia. Paintings and sculptures found in most of the rooms have been referred to as “shrines,” which may be a misnomer even if the rituals of a fertility cult are implied.

They probably didn’t distinguish between ritual and domestic life any more than other small societies like the Nuba in Africa, which are still around today. In addition, there are numerous statues of both humans and animals (mostly female) in clay or stone in these rooms, as well as wall paintings (in natural colours, sometimes mixed with fat and painted with a brush on a fine white plaster ground). Even though bulls’ prominent horns may have been thought to repel evil, there is no evidence that any other animal was revered as a deity. Animals are, in fact, always depicted as subservient to humans when they appear in the same scene.

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