Art History "Prehistoric" Flashcards
Old Stone Age
Period prior to 10,000BC
15000s
The first pictures and sculptures were made around … BC
Hunters and artists
Two occupations during the old Stone Age
Africa
Spain
France
Most cave paintings are found in
Ingenuity and creativity
Prehistoric man used his ……… to make tools from available materials
Light
For … he used a hallowed out stone or bone, with a wick made of moss and animal fat for fuel.
Drawing
For … he used he used chunks of red and yellow OCHER (clay colored by iron oxide) which he ground and mixed with animal fat to make paint
Brushes
These were likely the beaten ends of sticks, moss, and hair
Bones
Cave dwellers also probably used these hollowed out things like a primitive airbrush and stencils made of animal hide
Palette
Used flat stone or bone for this
Carvings
They used sharpened stones and flints to make these
One on top the other
How animals are often drawn and this indicates that the cave dwellers didn’t think they were important once finished
Altamira, Spain
This is where the first cave paintings were found. They were found in 1870
Lascaux, France
This is where the next cave painting site was. (1940)
Accidentally by children playing or exploring
How both of those caves were found
Venus of Willendorf
This painting was found in Australia and is said to be 25,000 years old
Neolithic Era
Another name for The New Stone Age
Jericho
This was the world’s earliest stone fortification
Stonehenge
- cromlech
- used as a place of worship connected with the sun & a calendar
- located in England on the Salisbury Plains
Post and Lintel
The construction method Stonehenge used to be built
Mesopotamia
A great civilization rose up here and these people were called Sumerians
Ziggurats
Huge mountains of earth faced with mud-brick and fired brick
Tower of Babel
- most famous ziggurat
- was meant to be able to touch heaven
Eyes
The Sumerians emphasized these on their sculptures because they believed them to be the windows to the soul
Hammurabi
- first ruler of Babylon
- inscribed rules on a black basalt stele
Assyrians
Who took over Mesopotamia and expanded their control as far away as Egypt
Persians
These people remained in power until Alexander The Great toppled them
Stylization
The simplification and eliminate unnecessary details
Profile
A view from the side
Earth colors
Red
Yellow
Brown
Violet
Architecture
The art and science of designing and erecting buildings
Cromlech
A circle of monoliths, usually enclosing a type of altar
Stones arranged in a circle
Palette
A board or flat surface on which a painter places (and mixes) the supply of paint to be used
Figurative
Works using the human figure as subject matter
Cella
The main rectangular room of a temple containing the image of a god, goddess, or cult deity
Low relief
A surface that has only slight variations between the highest and lowest parts
Lintel
Horizontal elements used in construction
Stele
An upright slab bearing sculptured art, printed designs, or inscriptions
