PREHISTORIC ART &
PREHISTORIC ART &
Early Visual forms refer to the earliest known
forms of visual expression and communication,
often dating back to prehistoric times.
Prehistoric Art refers to art produced by
prehistoric humans.
• CAVE PAINTINGS
• PETROGLYPHS (Carved
Rock Art)
• PICTOGRAPHS (Painted
Rock Art
• SCULPTURES
(PREHISTORIC ART)
GUIDE QUESTIONS:
When Was Art First Created?
What Were The Earliest Forms Of Prehistoric Art?
Who Created The Earliest Types Of Stone Age Art?
What Are The Characteristics Of The First Prehistoric Artworks?
When Did Prehistoric Man Develop A Real Sense Of Aesthetics?
PREHISTORIC ART &
When Was Art First Created?
According to the latest paleo-archeological information,
the oldest art was created by humans during the
prehistoric Stone Age, between 300,000 and 700,000 years
ago, and is divided into three main eras, Paleolithic,
Mesolithic and Neolithic. The Paleolithic period covers 98
percent of the period, and is therefore sub-divided into
Lower, Middle and Upper.
What Were
The first and oldest form of prehistoric
The Earliest
art are petroglyphs (cupules), which appeared
Forms of
throughout the world during the Lower Paleolithic.
Prehistoric
Chronologically, they were followed by rock engravings,
Art?
then pictographs, after which comes sculpture (in
stone, ivory, bone and wood), cave painting, relief
sculpture, ceramic pottery and architecture. By the end
of the Upper Paleolithic, only bronze and gold
sculpture, along with other metallurgical crafts,
remained to be developed during the
Mesolithic/Neolithic.
Who Created the First Types of Stone Age Art?
The earliest prehistoric artists lived in the Lower Paleolthic
era and they were likely descendants of Homo erectus, the
first type of early human to migrate from Africa. Later
Stone Age artists would have been types of Homo sapiens
like Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) while the first
prehistoric sculptors and cave painters were forms of
"anatomically modern man".
Who Created the First Types of Stone Age Art?
The oldest Stone Age art is dominated by a What are the
form known as "cupules" - a term coined in Characteristics of
1993 by the famous archeologist Robert G. the First Prehistoric
Bednarik to describe v
the small Artworks?
hemispherical holes pounded into flat,
sloping or vertical rock surfaces, dating
from Lower Paleolithic times, which exist in
every continent other than Antarctica.
Typically they were created in groups, What are the
sometimes numbering many hundreds. Characteristics of
the First Prehistoric
Cupules are a very ancient form of "art"
Artworks?
whose aesthetic and cultural
significance is not understood either by
paleo-anthropologists or archeologists,
far less art historians.
What are the
Characteristics of the First
Prehistoric Artworks?
When Did Prehistoric Man Develop a Real Sense of
Aesthetics or Art?
There is a huge debate among paleontologists
(people who study the origins of the human race)
concerning the development of "modern" forms of
behavior. Stone tools were clearly developed during the
Lower Paleolithic, and had reached an advanced stage by
the Middle Paleolithic.
When Did Prehistoric Man Develop a Real Sense of Aesthetics or Art?
Some experts believe that
modern behaviour
(characterized, for instance,
by language and art)
appeared quite recently
during the Upper Paleolithic in
Europe.
When Did Prehistoric Man Develop a Real Sense of Aesthetics or Art?
Others theorize that such behaviour
originated earlier, in Africa - the birthplace
of anatomically modern man. The most
recent archeological investigations at the
Blombos Cave complex and in the rock
shelters of Bhimbetka, tends to support the
notion that human aesthetic sensibility
emerged earlier rather than later.