...Period, which is Greek for “Old Stone Age”, is the earliest period in human history. Today, the Paleolithic is divided into three categories, the first being the Lower Paleolithic (between 2.5 million – 200,000 BCE). During this time, our ancestors, such as Homo erectus and Homo ergaster, lived in nomadic groups and began making the first stone tools. The second Paleolithic category is the Middle Paleolithic (200,000 – 45,000 BCE), marked by the first Homo sapiens sapiens beginning to develop modern behaviors: more sophisticated tools, hunting, and the start of symbolic/ritualistic behavior. By the Upper Paleolithic (ending approximately 10,000 BCE), Neanderthal man had disappeared completely, and our ancestors were exhibiting fully modern behaviors such as making a wide range of even more sophisticated tools out of stone, bone, and ivory; hunting and fishing; and creating various forms of art such as figures and cave paintings. In the absence of a written language, early humans were still able to communicate and express themselves, and their spirituality, using pictures instead of words. They could record the locations of successful hunting grounds and invoke the animal spirits to aid them in their endeavors. Cave Paintings Cave paintings are the oldest form of Paleolithic art found to date, and can be found on almost every continent in the world. Until recently, the Chauvet cave paintings in France were believed to be the oldest, dating back to approximately 32,000...
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...Art History 1 June 3, 2013 Art and the Consciousness of Early Man The paintings carried out on rock surfaces, which constitute parietal art, caused the curiosity of lots of scientists. These paintings are present in many places of the world; the oldest can have more than 40,000 years. The dating of the prehistoric traces was difficult, as well the interpretation and reasons of the paintings, from anthropomorphic figures to abstract forms of signs. These paintings on the caves represent a universal artistic expression because it was found at various periods on our five continents. They used many techniques to express art, but one of them was painting with the brush. The brush could be manufactured with the hair of animals and even of vegetable materials. Paintings were monochromatic or polychromatic (Cave of Lascaux). Another technique was painting with the finger, which were made with the finger coated painting (Cave of Covalanas). At that time, when the first arts were created, they already made use of some technique to trace contours (punctuated horses of the Cave of Pech Merle), to fill a surface (Cave of Lascaux), or to make prints of negative hands (Caves of Gargas) by puffing up on paintings. Beyond the techniques of analysis and study, parietal art poses to the researcher the insoluble enigma of understanding. Prints of hands with mutilated fingers (or deformed by the disease?) found in” Cueva de Las Manos” in Argentina, is an example of problematic interpretation...
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...Chapter 1: Art Before History Preview: This chapter surveys developments in art in the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods, discovered in sites including Africa, France, Spain, Germany, England, Turkey, and Iraq. The art produced in these periods range from cave paintings and figures, to architectural structures. The art produced in prehistory indicates a shift from recognition of human and animal forms in the environment, to the conscious representation of these forms. It also reveals much about the societies that produced it: humans in the Paleolithic period were nomadic hunters, and their art appears to have served primarily ritual purposes related to fertility and the hunt, while art produced in the Neolithic period reflects the shift to food production and built settlements. Key Terms: • Paleolithic, Neolithic • twisted perspective, composite view • incise • henge, post-and-lintel, megalith, tumulus, corbel vaulting • Anatolia, Mesopotamia Lecture Notes: Introductory Notes: Paleolithic Period: Artworks in the Paleolithic period: • Human with feline head, from Hohlenstein-Stadel, Germany o Date: o Medium, materials, and size/scale: o Stylistic characteristics: o Function & significance: • Nude woman (Venus of Willendorf), from Willendorf, Austria o Date: o Medium, materials, and size/scale: o Stylistic characteristics: o Function & significance: ...
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...years without creating images until 35,000 ago. Archeologists call the point in history when our pre-historic ancestors suddenly began to create images of the world around them “The Creative Explosion”. In 1879 in Altamira Spain, the first discovery of pre historic cave paintings were discovered by amateur archaeologist Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola and his eight-year-old daughter María . When the discovery was first made public in 1880, it led to a bitter public controversy between experts which continued into the early 20th century, since many did not believe prehistoric man had the intellectual capacity to produce any kind of artistic expression. The acknowledgment of the authenticity of the paintings, which finally came in 1902, changed the perception of prehistoric human beings. Paleolithic cave art that developed across Europe, from the Urals to the Iberian Peninusula, from 35,000 to 11,000 BC. Because of their deep galleries, isolated from external climatic influences, these caves are particularly well preserved. The caves are inscribed as masterpieces of creative genius and as the humanity’s earliest accomplished art. They are also inscribed as exceptional testimonies to a cultural tradition and as outstanding illustrations of a significant stage in human history. Our ancestors were obsessed with animals and hunting, yet the images they began to recreate on the walls of the caves where the earliest images have been found show very little...
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...One of the most important developments of humankind has been writing, but often people are unaware of how long and complicated this path has been. The history of writing records the development of expressing language by letters or other marks. It is believed that Mesopotamia is the birthplace for the first recorded words of history. Another belief is that the first recorded words were inscribed to promote the power of the temples and kings in the expanding city-states. I believe that development of writing was started many years back. We can look at document The Art of Chauvet Cave for an example. This spectacular discovery has been dated back to about 35,000 years ago and when it was discovered back in 1994 in southwestern France, they were labeled the oldest prehistoric cave paintings known in Europe. I believe the animals and humans drawn within the caves, was symbolic of the gathering and hunting that the homo sapiens depended on so greatly for survival, around the same period the paintings were crafted in. Not only that, but is it possible that the homo sapiens were also trying to tell stories of their livelihood through these paintings they left on the wall of the caves? When reading Problems in the Study of Hunters and Gatherers, I come to the conclusion it is very possible. I quote, “One of the challenges in studying the origins of humanity is that the evidence is incomplete.” There is, however, stable evidence of writings in The Origins of Writing According to...
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...Narrator: Listen to a conversation between a student and a receptionist at the Registrar's Office on the first day of the semester. Student: Excuse me, I'm supposed to be having my physics class in the science building, but no one's in the classroom. Could you tell me where the class is? Physics 403 — has it been moved? Receptionist: Well, there's a room assignment sheet on the bulletin board outside this office. Student: Yeah, I know, but my class isn't listed there. There must be some kind of mistake or something. Could you look it up, please? Receptionist: Hmmm... ok, let me check on the computer. It's physics, right? Wait, did you say physics 403? Student: Yeah. Receptionist: Er…I'm sorry, but it says here that it was cancelled. You should have got note letter from the Registrar's office about this. Student: What? I've never got it. Receptionist: Are you sure? 'Cause it says on the computer that the letter was sent out to students a week ago. Student: Really? I should have got it by now. I wonder if I threw it away with all the junk mail by mistake. Receptionist: Well, it does happen. Er… let me check something. What's your name? Student: Woodhouse, Laura Woodhouse. Receptionist: Ok, hmmm…Woodhouse, let me see… ah, it says here we sent it to your apartment on er…Center Street. Student: Oh, that's my old apartment. I moved out of there a little while ago. Receptionist: Well, and I suppose you haven't changed your mailing address at the administration office...
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...Art in the dark: the ritual context of Buddhist caves in western China Robert Sharf Preamble One can imagine a simpler time, when art was ‘art’ because it engendered an ‘aesthetic experience’, a time when art was understood with reference to beauty, and beauty was something that could not be reduced to utility or function alone. Just as the New Critics approached a work of literature through ‘close reading’, the meaning of a work of art could be deduced, it was presumed, from a close critical analysis of the autonomous object. This approach is not without appeal: in giving prominence to beauty and aesthetic experience, one assumes some degree of congruence between the aesthetic intent of the artist and the affective response of the intended viewer, both of which are vested in the work itself. In other words, situating the import of an aesthetic work within the object itself, rather than, let’s say, in its cultural context, enables one to circumvent the complex issues of production and reception, not to mention the apparent gap that separates the two. The art-historical counterpart of New Criticism, perhaps best exemplified in the formalism of Heinrich Wölfflin, Roger Fry and Clement Greenberg, found itself on the defensive during the last quarter of the twentieth century.1 Following the historicist and postmodernist currents of the day, art historians were increasingly critical of approaches predicated on the presumed autonomy of the object. Moving...
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...Through all of the modern advancements and inventions created through history, art is notably the most important and impactful discovery known to man. From simple but intricate cave paintings to massive stones, prehistoric art is something that should always be remembered. Caves were a great way to protect artifacts from ancient civilizations. Protecting artifacts from erosion, corrosion, and decay until two boys and a dog happen to stumble upon a society hidden away for thousands of years. The Lascaux Cave paintings were an enlightening discovery giving us a broader view of ancient life. The caves are about one hundred meters long and are filled with paintings of bison, stag, ox, and many other animals. Artists used charcoal to make the outlines for their paintings. To color them in they used chunks of red and yellow ocher ground into powder and applied using animal hair made into paint brushes or blown onto the cave wall using hollowed out bones. Researchers may suspect why the cave paintings are in...
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...round you: mechanical pencil, light fixture, chair, cell phone, and computer. You soon will note that all these objects, and their numerous individual components, l.3 are made from a variety of materials and have been produced and assembled into the items that you now see. You also will note that sofne objects, such as a paper clip, nail, spoon, and door key, are made of a single component. l.4 However, as shown in Table 1.1, the vast majority of objects around us consist of numerous l.5 individual pieces that are built and assembled by a combination of processes called L6 manufacturing. The word manufacture first appeared in English in 1567 and is derived from the Latin manu factus, meaning “made by hand.” The word manufacturing first appeared in 1683, and the word production, which is often used interchangeably with the word l.8 manufacturing, first appeared sometime during the 15th century. Manufacturing is concerned with making products. A manufactured product may itself be used to make other products, such as (a) a large press, to shape flat sheet metal into automobile bodies, (b) a drill, for producing holes, (c) industrial sawing ma- chines, for making clothing at high rates, and (d) numerous pieces of machinery, to pro- duce an endless variety of individual items, ranging from thin wire for guitars and electric motors to crankshafts and connecting rods for automotive engines (Fig. I.1). Note that items such as bolts, nuts, and paper clips are discrete products...
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...communication. Talked about the history of communication and the how symbols are a form of communication. In class we learned that technology tends to isolate us from others. In1877 when the telephone was invented it improved communication by allowing people to talk long distances. It also eliminated wait times to contact a person compared to waiting for a letter. On the other hand the telephone eliminated the human aspect of meeting a person face to face. This caused the listener to judge the sincerity of another only through the conversation over the phone and not by the facial expressions that one would see in a face to face conversation. Technology also tends to isolate people by causing a bubble of one sided communication. We use technology for entertainment that causes us to loose ourselves in our won worlds. For an example look at a person who is only immersed into gaming. This person tends to only communicate with other people through online gaming and chats. This person will also be on a video game for hours on end and tend to think that personally know the actors who play the characters while believing that they or their friends. Communication was first invented through symbols. A symbol is an object that represents, stands for a belief, image, or material entity. The oldest symbol currently known to man was discovered at the Chauvet Cave and is dated around the time of 30000 BC. The Cro-Magnon people are credited with making this cave painting. The next oldest form of...
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...families, clans and nations over religion. Religion has had a hand in changing the face of this world for millions of years and a hand in the development of nations. Religion has been and still is one of the most controversial subjects known to man. Paleolithic cave art was closely linked to the ‘conceptual discovery’ of the symbolic and religious world of primitive peoples. This denied any hint of symbolic and intellectual complexity among hunter-gatherers, made it impossible to fit such art within a ‘savage’ society. It was only when this idea of progress became more flexible, in parallel with the discovery and more precise definition of the symbolic–religious world of primitive people, that the prehistoric chronology of the parietal depictions could be accepted. (Eduardo Palacio-Perez, 2010) Prehistorians defined the decorated objects, as crafts, a ‘lesser art’ aimed at decoration, characteristic of traditional and primitive societies, in contrast with the ‘fine arts’ associated with the expression of the aesthetic ideals of civilized mankind. Clearly, with such a restricted conception of Paleolithic art, there was no room for the parietal depictions. However, does the key for the recognition of the age of cave art lie in the discovery of the religious and symbolic world of primitive people? Is there a direct correlation between the acceptance of parietal art and the generalization of the concepts of animism, totemic and sympathetic magic? And with the existence of a supposed...
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...attraction, based on current trends. This two destination is under one attraction which is Ecotourism but difference examples. The two places that had been choose is Kelam Caves at Perlis and Batu Caves at Selangor. Gua Kelam is one of limestone's cave in the Setul Formation in Nakawan Range and was maintained by Perlis Forestry Department since 1997. Gua Kelam are also located in Wang Mu Reserve Forest with area coverage of 2000 hectares and was gazetted as a part of Perlis State Park in 3 July 2008 under the Section 10(1) State Forestry Enactment (Application) 1987. Kaki Bukit town is nearest town which is 500 metres from the cave. It's a 370-metre long limestone cave called Gua Kelam (Cave of Darkness). It located about 33 km north of Kangar, the state capital. The only path to the cave is via an eight-foot wide wooden suspension bridge. This bridge links Kaki Bukit to the Wan Tangga Valley, a valley on the opposite end of Gua Kelam. Kelam Cave Management Unit was placed under the State Parks, Perlis Forestry Department and operates on Tuesday to Sunday from 8.00 am to 5.00 pm. On Monday, Kelam Cave is closed for operation to carry out maintenance works in the building and surrounding area. A total of 8 workers were deployed here to ensure the smooth running Kelam Cave. Since the opening of the Dark Cave at the beginning of 2008, the place is...
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...From the depictions of horses and other animals inside the Chauvet Caves, which date back more than 28,000 years ago, to the millions of artists of all mediums, art is an essential part of being human. It was created before written language in 3,400 BCE, and before agriculture in about 8,000 BCE, showing just how natural the desire to create art is for humanity (“Human History Timeline - Combined Timeline”). While it has evolved many times throughout history, the style, purpose, and subjects change though its existence remains the same. These differences allow an insight into a time period and a place in history. One can examine it on a small scale, analyzing what the piece meant to an artist or what the purpose was in creating it. Likewise,...
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...It’s a Fragment from the thigh bone of a young cave bear, and proposed that this had been crafted as a flute by the prehistoric man. When uncovered, many questions Like ‘was this artifact crafted as a flute? Or were the spaced holes the result of chewing by a carnivore?’ were raised. There has been an amazing amount of analysis, discussion, debate, and disagreement on the subject, and the debate continues today. The Divje Babe artifact is 43,100 years old (±700 years), based on radio-carbon dating. The artifact is 4.47" (11.36 cm) in length and is broken at both ends. It has two complete holes and what may be the incomplete remains of one hole on each end, meaning that the bone may have had four or more holes before being damaged. The maximum diameters of the two complete holes are 0.38" and 0.35" (9.7 mm and 9.0 mm). The distance between the centers of the holes is 1.38" (35 mm). Assuming that the Divje Babe artifact was crafted as a flute, one analysis...
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...Werner Herzog’s movie, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, is the first glimpse of the Chauvet caves of Southern France. Chauvet caves are home to the oldest known pictorial creations of humanity, which dates back around 32,000 years ago. The scientists who found the Chauvet caves in 1994 made a huge discovery about our ancestors. They found a cave that has been perfectly preserved for over 20,000 years. Werner Herzog was given limited access from the French government that immediately cut off all access to it to go inside the Chauvet cave to examine the ancient paintings and artifacts left behind. This film helps open the audience’s eyes and reminds us of the world of mystery outside of our normal lives. Werner Herzog’s enterprise is to educate, to document, and to entertain the public on this impactful discovery. The cave has so many mysteries, which still have yet to be solved. Because of strict regulations to preserve the cave, there may be many more discoveries to be found. For example, we may find the whole painting of the bison-woman on a stone pendant. I had never heard of the Chauvet caves before class and never truly understood what stood in them. The film portrayed the cave to be quite majestic and huge in size. The images of the cave are all pretty amazing especially since they are in a ideal condition. The images show that early Homo sapiens had complex aesthetic process when they painted. The paintings convey the complex and creative thinking and imagination in our ancestors...
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