Title: Tlatilco Female Figurine Period/ Style: Paleolithic Old Stone Age Date: 12000-900 BCE Original Location: Tlatilco, Central Mexico Material: Ceramic and pigment Technique/Style/Description: Statuette of a woman with a narrow waste, wide hips in the round, 2 faces, 3 eyes, 2 noses, and 2 mouths subtractive method: The mixing of a limited number of dyes to create colors. incised: decorative cuts symmetry: pleasing to the eye Message/ Meaning: conjoined twins: seen as holy or divine many curves: good, fertility, fascination with physical deformities and exaggerations more senses than usual with more features than usual 3 eyes= insight into the spiritual world duality: having 2 faces in the ancient world is often a good thing b/c ancient people saw their world in terms of contrast (dark light, sun moon, good evil, man woman) → one should not eliminate the other they should just be in perfect balance
Title: Tlatilco Female Figurine Period/ Style: Paleolithic Old Stone Age Date: 12000-900 BCE Original Location: Tlatilco, Central Mexico Material: Ceramic and pigment Technique/Style/Description: Statuette of a woman with a narrow waste, wide hips in the round, 2 faces, 3 eyes, 2 noses, and 2 mouths subtractive method: The mixing of a limited number of dyes to create colors. incised: decorative cuts symmetry: pleasing to the eye Message/ Meaning: conjoined twins: seen as holy or divine many curves: good, fertility, fascination with physical deformities and exaggerations more senses than usual with more features than usual 3 eyes= insight into the spiritual world duality: having 2 faces in the ancient world is often a good thing b/c ancient people saw their world in terms of contrast (dark light, sun moon, good evil, man woman) → one should not eliminate the other they should just be in perfect balance
Title: Apollo 11 Stones Period/ Style: Paleolithic Old Stone Age Date: 25,000 BCE Original Location: Namibia, Africa Material: Charcoal on stone Subject: some kind of animal, not super detailed so hard to tell Historical Context: one of the oldest pieces of art
Title: Apollo 11 Stones Period/ Style: Paleolithic Old Stone Age Date: 25,000 BCE Original Location: Namibia, Africa Material: Charcoal on stone Subject: some kind of animal, not super detailed so hard to tell Historical Context: one of the oldest pieces of art
Period/Style: Paleolithic Old Stone Age Date: 15,000 BCE Patron: Early humans in Lascaux, France Original Location: France Material: Paint on limestone and natural rock contours to show volume of animals Subject: A man seems to be falling next to a powerful bison and rhino. The man seems to have a bird head. Possibly a scene from legends and animals could be Gods. Technique/ Style/ Description: composite view: Allows the head to face forward and the body to have a profile so as to depict as much of animals as possible. Historical Context: Created in France and has to do with the hunter-gatherer society and concerns for food and survival. Message/Meaning: hybrid beast: Bird man is probably a priest, god, shaman, or magician trying to take on or channel the power of the bird. bird: Can walk on the ground and fly in the heavens (equated with the heavens or the unknown.) bird head: Could be turning into a bird or just wearing a mask. (ceremony and dance leads people to become animals spiritually) man and bison: man is being killed (vulnerable), could be linked to mythological stories, maybe trying to control the bison, maybe instructions of what not to do lack of human detail: animals were highly valued and it was believed that the more lifelike they were, the more power they had
Period/Style: Paleolithic Old Stone Age Date: 15,000 BCE Patron: Early humans in Lascaux, France Original Location: France Material: Paint on limestone and natural rock contours to show volume of animals Subject: A man seems to be falling next to a powerful bison and rhino. The man seems to have a bird head. Possibly a scene from legends and animals could be Gods. Technique/ Style/ Description: composite view: Allows the head to face forward and the body to have a profile so as to depict as much of animals as possible. Historical Context: Created in France and has to do with the hunter-gatherer society and concerns for food and survival. Message/Meaning: hybrid beast: Bird man is probably a priest, god, shaman, or magician trying to take on or channel the power of the bird. bird: Can walk on the ground and fly in the heavens (equated with the heavens or the unknown.) bird head: Could be turning into a bird or just wearing a mask. (ceremony and dance leads people to become animals spiritually) man and bison: man is being killed (vulnerable), could be linked to mythological stories, maybe trying to control the bison, maybe instructions of what not to do lack of human detail: animals were highly valued and it was believed that the more lifelike they were, the more power they had
Title: Camelid Sacrum (canine shaped) Period/ Style: New Stone Neolithic Era Date: 14,000-7000 BCE Patron: Early humans in Mesoamerica Original Location: Central Mexico Material: animal pelvic bones Subject: Bone appears to be carved in the shape of a canine head. Historical Context: Used as a mask Message/Meaning: Sacrum: sacred, sometimes called the second or spiritual head Sacrum (pelvis) significance: a lot of cultures from Mesoamerica to Europe believe that all knowledge travels down your spine and settles in the base of the sacrum (kind of like a third eye)
Title: Camelid Sacrum (canine shaped) Period/ Style: New Stone Neolithic Era Date: 14,000-7000 BCE Patron: Early humans in Mesoamerica Original Location: Central Mexico Material: animal pelvic bones Subject: Bone appears to be carved in the shape of a canine head. Historical Context: Used as a mask Message/Meaning: Sacrum: sacred, sometimes called the second or spiritual head Sacrum (pelvis) significance: a lot of cultures from Mesoamerica to Europe believe that all knowledge travels down your spine and settles in the base of the sacrum (kind of like a third eye)
Title: Running horned woman Period/ Style: Neolithic New Stone Age Date: 6000-4000 BCE Original Location: Algeria Material: Pigment on rock Subject: Woman running with a horn on her head. Technique/ Style/ Description: Woman is very stylized and has a fancy headdress. Things are exaggerated but not focused on looking realistic. Message/Meaning: bull: A symbol of fertility and virility (masculinity). This woman has also taken on masculine symbols which is admirable. possibly interpreted as a horned deity instead of a human.
Title: Running horned woman Period/ Style: Neolithic New Stone Age Date: 6000-4000 BCE Original Location: Algeria Material: Pigment on rock Subject: Woman running with a horn on her head. Technique/ Style/ Description: Woman is very stylized and has a fancy headdress. Things are exaggerated but not focused on looking realistic. Message/Meaning: bull: A symbol of fertility and virility (masculinity). This woman has also taken on masculine symbols which is admirable. possibly interpreted as a horned deity instead of a human.
Title: Lion-Human Period/Style: Paleolithic Old Stone Age Date: 30,000 BCE Original Location: Germany Material: Ivory carving Technique/ Style/ Description: statuette: mini statue (petite and portable) sculpted in the round: All sides have been developed b/c meant to be seen from all sizes subtractive method: carving or taking away (as opposed to additive, putting clay on something) Message/ Meaning: lion-man: humans try to connect themselves to the power of the lion because they want to be predators and to control nature
Title: Lion-Human Period/Style: Paleolithic Old Stone Age Date: 30,000 BCE Original Location: Germany Material: Ivory carving Technique/ Style/ Description: statuette: mini statue (petite and portable) sculpted in the round: All sides have been developed b/c meant to be seen from all sizes subtractive method: carving or taking away (as opposed to additive, putting clay on something) Message/ Meaning: lion-man: humans try to connect themselves to the power of the lion because they want to be predators and to control nature
Title: Rainbow Serpent Period/Style: Neolithic New Stone Age Date: 6000 BCE Original Location: Australia Material: Pigment on rock Subject: the serpent and its symbolism Historical Context: right at the point of the writing of Genesis (book of Adam and Eve), before the writing the serpent had positive connotations in different cultures Message/Meaning: serpent: fertility, rebirth (before Genesis, women were powerful, positive symbols until the serpent approaches Eve/ shedding for new skin), resurrection (dies like a phoenix and rises from its own flesh when it sheds) cyclical nature of life coiled shape: circular, belief that everything worked in circles not linearly ie- seasons
Title: Rainbow Serpent Period/Style: Neolithic New Stone Age Date: 6000 BCE Original Location: Australia Material: Pigment on rock Subject: the serpent and its symbolism Historical Context: right at the point of the writing of Genesis (book of Adam and Eve), before the writing the serpent had positive connotations in different cultures Message/Meaning: serpent: fertility, rebirth (before Genesis, women were powerful, positive symbols until the serpent approaches Eve/ shedding for new skin), resurrection (dies like a phoenix and rises from its own flesh when it sheds) cyclical nature of life coiled shape: circular, belief that everything worked in circles not linearly ie- seasons
Title: Anthropomorphic Stele Period/ Style: Neolithic New Stone Age Date: 4000 BCE Original Location: Arabian Peninsula Material: Sandstone Technique/Style/Description: carved sandstone in the shape of a human with a sword Historical Context: Probably a grave marker for protection. Message/Meaning: anthropomorphic: human shape, human like characteristics, appears to be wearing human clothes stele: vertical slab usually of stone used to mark or proclaim something
Title: Anthropomorphic Stele Period/ Style: Neolithic New Stone Age Date: 4000 BCE Original Location: Arabian Peninsula Material: Sandstone Technique/Style/Description: carved sandstone in the shape of a human with a sword Historical Context: Probably a grave marker for protection. Message/Meaning: anthropomorphic: human shape, human like characteristics, appears to be wearing human clothes stele: vertical slab usually of stone used to mark or proclaim something
Title: The Ambum Stone Period/ Style: Neolithic New Stone Age Date: 1500 BCE Original Location: Papua New Guinea Material: Greywacke (type of sandstone) Subject: anteater in embryonic form Historical Context: one of the earliest known Pacific works of art Message/ Meaning: zoomorphic: animal form or gods of animals
Title: The Ambum Stone Period/ Style: Neolithic New Stone Age Date: 1500 BCE Original Location: Papua New Guinea Material: Greywacke (type of sandstone) Subject: anteater in embryonic form Historical Context: one of the earliest known Pacific works of art Message/ Meaning: zoomorphic: animal form or gods of animals
Title: Woman (Venus) of Willendorf (and other
Title: Woman (Venus) of Willendorf (and other "Venus" statuettes) Period/Style: Paleolithic Old Stone Age Date: 24,000 BCE Original Location: Eurasian Continent Material: stone, paint pigments from the earth Technique/ Style/ Description: incised (carved) on cave walls stylized: not natural, exaggerated ways to represent something Message/ Meaning: fertility, procreation, women hips/ fat/ voluptuous qualities are admirable
Title: Terra cotta fragment Period/ Style: Neolithic New Stone Age Date: 1000 BCE Original Location: Reef Islands Material: Terra cotta Technique, Style, and Description: incised terra cotta repeating geometric patterns Historical Context: Pottery used for cooking, serving, and storing things.
Title: Terra cotta fragment Period/ Style: Neolithic New Stone Age Date: 1000 BCE Original Location: Reef Islands Material: Terra cotta Technique, Style, and Description: incised terra cotta repeating geometric patterns Historical Context: Pottery used for cooking, serving, and storing things.
Title: Stonehenge Period/Style: Neolithic New Stone Age Date: 2500-1600 BCE Original Location: United Kingdom Material: Sandstone Technique/ Style/ Description henge: deliberate circling of stones megalith-large stone: over 20 feet tall and 50 tons, make noise when they are hit trilithon: structure consisting of 2 vertical and 1 horizontal post post: vertical lintel: horizontal Historical Context: built over centuries longest standing man-made structure stones brought from hundreds of miles away possible animal/human sacrifice space predictions: pilgrimage site, burial ground, astronomical observatory Message/ Meaning: function: marker of summer and winter solstice, most likely religious circle: Cyclical nature of life, something magical happens when you enter the circle inside: probably most sacred
Title: Stonehenge Period/Style: Neolithic New Stone Age Date: 2500-1600 BCE Original Location: United Kingdom Material: Sandstone Technique/ Style/ Description henge: deliberate circling of stones megalith-large stone: over 20 feet tall and 50 tons, make noise when they are hit trilithon: structure consisting of 2 vertical and 1 horizontal post post: vertical lintel: horizontal Historical Context: built over centuries longest standing man-made structure stones brought from hundreds of miles away possible animal/human sacrifice space predictions: pilgrimage site, burial ground, astronomical observatory Message/ Meaning: function: marker of summer and winter solstice, most likely religious circle: Cyclical nature of life, something magical happens when you enter the circle inside: probably most sacred
Title: Tomb Interior with Corbelling and Engrave Stones Period/Style: Neolithic New Stone Age Date: 3000-2500 BCE Original Location: Ireland Material: Stone Technique/Style/Description: corbelling: to build an arch with rows or layers of stones Message/Meaning: care and concern for people that have died, giving them the possibility of afterlife
Title: Tomb Interior with Corbelling and Engrave Stones Period/Style: Neolithic New Stone Age Date: 3000-2500 BCE Original Location: Ireland Material: Stone Technique/Style/Description: corbelling: to build an arch with rows or layers of stones Message/Meaning: care and concern for people that have died, giving them the possibility of afterlife