history - AC Flashcards
What are the Nassarius shell beads made from?
The Nassarius shell beads are made from sea snail (nassarius gibboslus) shells. They were found 23 miles from the Mediterranean and show signs of wear indicating they were strung and possibly painted with red ochre.
Location: Taforalt, Morocco; Date: Approx. 82,000 yrs old.
What was uncovered in the Vogelherd caves?
The Vogelherd Mammoth and 10 other small carved animals were uncovered. The animals are small, hand-sized figures, making them easily portable.
Location: Germany; Date: Approx. 43,000-35,000 yrs old.
How were the Sulawesi handprints created?
The handprints were made by people placing their hands on the cave wall and blowing paint over them. Some prints are on the ceiling, suggesting the artists laid on their backs to create the designs.
Location: Indonesia; Date: Approximately 40,000 years old.
What do the Lascaux Cave Drawings depict?
The Lascaux Cave Drawings feature multiple paintings of animals such as bison, auroch, and horses, made deep in the caves. Pegs were inserted into the cave wall for artists to paint high up.
Location: Near Lascaux, France; Date: 16,000-13,000 BCE.
What is the Lady of Warka?
The Lady of Warka is an early version of a woman’s head, likely from a statue of a goddess in a temple. The face was made of finer materials, and the hollow eyes may have held shells or stones.
Location: Uruk (modern Warka); Date: c. 3200-3000 BCE.
What are the Eshnunna Votive Statues made of?
The Eshnunna Votive Statues are made of gypsum, with eyes made of shell and black limestone. They likely represent humans and may have been meant for continual prayers.
Location: Eshnunna (modern Tel Asmar); Date: c. 2700 BCE.
What is the Ziggurat of Ur?
The Ziggurat of Ur features a staircase that has been partially rebuilt, likely with a wooden temple building on top. The base has brick on the outside and is solid dirt and stone inside.
Location: Ur (Tell el-Muqayyar), Iraq; Date: c. 2000-2100 BCE.
What is a Cuneiform Tablet?
A Cuneiform Tablet is an ancient Mesopotamian writing system made by pressing a reed or stylus into wet clay. This tablet records the sale of a house.
Location: probably from Sippar (modern Tell Abu Habba) / Now in The Met; Date: 2350-2150 BCE.
What does Narmer’s Palette depict?
Narmer’s Palette shows a ruler preparing to hit a captive while wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt. The falcon symbolizes the ruler, and the palette includes his name.
Location found: Hierakonpolis, Egypt; Date: c. 3000-2920 BCE.
What is Djoser’s Stepped Pyramid?
Djoser’s Stepped Pyramid is about 200 feet high with several hundred underground chambers. It sits in a rectangular complex surrounded by a wall.
Location: Saqqara, Egypt; Date: c. 2630-2611 BCE.
What are the Great Pyramids of Giza?
The Great Pyramids of Giza include the Great Pyramid of Khufu, the pyramid of Khafre, and the Pyramid of Menkaure, along with three smaller pyramids thought to belong to queens.
Location: Giza, Egypt; Dates: Khufu’s c. 2551-2528 BCE, Khafre’s c. 2520-2494 BCE, Menkaure’s c. 2490-2472 BCE.
What does Akhenaten & His Family depict?
The artwork shows Pharaoh Akhenaten, his wife Nefertiti, and their daughters, with the sun god Ra overhead. The figures have odd proportions.
Date: c. 1350 BCE.
What is Tutankhamen’s Sarcophagus?
Tutankhamen’s Sarcophagus is a funerary mask made of gold and precious stones, found in his royal tomb, which was not robbed.
Location: Valley of the Kings, Egypt; Date: c. 1323 BCE.
What does the Knossos Bull Leaping Fresco show?
The fresco depicts a boy and girls in a bull-leaping scene, showing a reconstruction of surviving large flakes.
Location: Knossos (Crete); Date: c. 1500 BCE.
What is the Spring Fresco?
The Spring Fresco is an early example of a stylized landscape without human figures, featuring swallows flying above lilies.
Location: Thera (Santorini), Greece; Date: c. 1650-1625 BCE.
What is the Tholos Tomb at Mycenae?
The Tholos Tomb, also known as the Treasury of Atreus, features a long passageway called a dromos and a dome made of corbeling masonry.
Location: Mycenae, Greece; Date: c. 1300-1250 BCE.
What is the Pylos Ring from the Griffin Warrior Tomb?
The Pylos Ring was one of 50 rings buried with the Griffin Warrior, depicting the end of a battle between three warriors.
Location: Near Pylos, Greece; Date: c. 1450 BCE.
What is the Harappan male figure?
The Harappan male figure, sometimes called a ‘priest-king,’ is a small figure showing wealth and importance, with trefoil designs and holes for a necklace.
Location: Pakistan; Date: c. 2000-1900 BCE.
What are the Olmec Colossal Heads?
The Olmec Colossal Heads are large stone sculptures that may represent different rulers, each distinct but wearing similar headgear.
Location: Mexico; Date: c. 900-400 BCE.
What is the Guang from the Shang Dynasty?
The Guang is an ewer used for pouring wine as a sacrifice to ancestors and in funeral ceremonies, with many different shapes.
Location: China; Date: c. 1199-1000 BCE.
What does the Sanctuary at Hattusa depict?
The relief shows the god Sharruma, the thunder god of the Hittites, with his arm around King Tudhaliya IV, possibly a personal god to the king.
Location: Sanctuary at Hattusa; Date: c. 5000 - 1200 BCE.
What is the Tel Dan Stele?
The Tel Dan Stele records the victory of a king, including the ‘house of David,’ the only archaeological evidence of King David.
Location: Tel-Dan, Israel; Date: c. 870-750 BCE.
What does Ashurbanipal fighting a Lion depict?
This relief demonstrates the strength and power of King Ashurbanipal, showing him fighting a lion in a controlled environment.
Location: Nineveh (Kuyunjik), Iraq; Date: 645-640 BCE.
What is a Lamassu?
A Lamassu is a man-headed bull with wings, a composite animal that guarded a gate, appearing to have five legs from an angled view.
Location: Dur Sharrukin (Khorsabad), Iraq; Date: c. 721-705 BCE.
