Content Area 1

Question 1

Apollo 11 stones. Namibia. c. 25,500-25,300 B.C.E. Charcoal on stone.

Answer 1

Form:
-stones with charcoal drawings of animals
-geometric designs
- 4-5”
Function:
- depict animals
=some of world’s oldest works of art
Content:
- animal figures with human legs added on probably later
Context:
- found in Apollo 11 caves in Namibia
-probably were made about 25500 BCE (oldest representational art in Africa) and buried in these caves
-named because it was discovered at the time of the Apollo 11 moon landing

Question 2

Great Hall of the Bulls. Lascaux, France. Paleolithic Europe. 15,000-13,000 B.C.E. Rock painting.

Answer 2

Form:
-naturalistic charcoal drawings in a cave
-natural materials: plants, charcoal, iron ore
-twisted perspective
- human are stick figures while animals are realistic looking
Content:
- pictures animals in motion
- pictures on top of pictures (all from different artists from many time periods)
-cows, bulls, horses, deer
-650 paintings
Function:
- to show an animal ritual (very unusual to find pictures of humans/hunting)
-ancestral animal worship
Context:
-sacred place (deep in a cave)- in situ
-not a dwelling because the creators of these were nomads
-Paleolithic Europe- Lascaux, France

Question 3

Camelid sacrum in the shape of a canine. Tequixquiac, central Mexico. 14,000-7000 B.C.E. Bone.

Answer 3

Form:
- carved bone
Function:
-spiritual mask
-house spiritual essence of a hunted animal
-sacrum bone powerful symbolism of Osiris and rebirth- triangle
Content:
- sacrum bone (hip bone) carved in shape of a canine/wolf
Context:
-found in a tomb in Mexico (MesoAmerica)
-14000-7000 BCE

Question 4

Running horned woman. Tassili n’Ajjer, Algeria. 6000-4000 B.C.E. Pigment on rock.

Answer 4

Form:
- canyon painting (layers of painting from different times so makes it hard for carbon dating)
-depicts motion
Function;
- show this person as holy or a god bc of the horns
Content:
- shows a woman with horns running
- dots on her body represent body painting
- shows a deity wearing ceremonial headgear?
Context:
- in situ on canyon walls in the Sahara
- 6000-4000 BCE (neolithic)

Question 5

Beaker with ibex motifs. Susa, Iran. 4200-3500 B.C.E. Painted terra cotta.

Answer 5

Form:
-painted terra cotta, clay
- geometric forms 
- set in registers, controlled and repeated planar composition 
Function:
-funerary object 
Content:
-dog figures, mountain goat, cranes
Context:
- Susa, Iran in 4200-3500 BCE
-neolithic
-new technology: use of potter's wheel

Question 6

Anthropomorphic stele. Arabian Peninsula. Fourth millennium B.C.E. Sandstone.

Answer 6

Form:
-sandstone
Content:
- 3 of them all 3ft tall
-belted robe with knife hanging from it
Function:
- used in incense trade
-religious/burial practices
Context:
-found on trade routes in the Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia
-fourth millennium

Question 7

Jade cong. Liangzhu, China. 3300-2200 B.C.E. Carved jade.

Answer 7

Form:
- carved jade
-low reliefs
-abstract designs
- square with a circle inside
Function:
-jade usually appears in burials of high ranked people
Content:
-low reliefs
decorations on this refer to spirits/ deities
Context:
- Liangshzu, China in 3300-2200 BCE
-jade in China is linked with virtues like beauty, durability, and subtlety

Question 8

Stonehenge. Wiltshire, UK. Neolithic Europe. c. 2500-1600 BCE. Sandstone

Answer 8

Form:
- sandstone
-post and lintel (two vertical posts support a horizontal beam)
- arranged in a circle (cromlech)
Content:
- stones in a centralized plan
-small stones surrounding in no specific pattern
Function:
- probably religious ceremionies
- burial?
- marker of mid-summer solstice 
Context:
-Wiltshire, UK in 2500-1600 BCE

Question 9

The Ambum Stone. Ambum Valley, Enga Province, Papua New Guinea. c. 1500 BCE. Greywacke.

Answer 9

Form:
-greywacke stone
Content:
-sculpted to look like an anteater
-human/animal characteristics (mostly animal)
Function:
- objects like these are believed to have supernatural power
- used as a spirit stone in rituals
Context:
- Ambun Valley, Papua New Guinea around 1500 BCE

Question 10

Tlatilco female figurine. Central Mexico, site of Tlatilco. 1200-900 BCE. Ceramic.

Answer 10

Form:
-ceramic
Content:
- pinched waist and big hips with two-heads
- no hands or feet
-naked except for jewelry
Function:
- show fertility
-two heads represent life and death that happens everyday
Context:
- Central Mexico in 1200-900 BCE
-many of the other figures show deformities like this

Question 11

Terra cotta fragment. Lapita. Soloman Islands, Reef Islands. 1000 BCE. Terra cotta (incised)

Answer 11

Form:
-terra cotta with dentate stamping
Content:
-dentate designs (circles, hatching, dots)
Function:
-unknown
Context: 
- Lapita peoples
- Solomon Islands, Reef Islands in 1000 BCE