Prehistory Vocab Flashcards
Anthropomorphic
Characteristics of a human; human like
Post and lintel
A structure consisting of vertical beams (posts) supporting a horizontal beam (lintel)
Neolithic
10,000-8,000 BCE
The switch from a nomadic lifestyle to a settled agricultural lifestyle. Leading to domestication of plants and animals and settlement.
Megalith
A large stone that forms a prehistoric monument (Stonehenge)
Stylized
Simplified or exaggerated features (intentional)
Bas relief
A sculptural relief in which forms extend only slightly from the background; often called relief
Prehistory
Before written records
Zoomorphic
Animal characteristics; animal like
Hierarchy of scale
Represents a person’s relative importance by the size of his dipiction
Paleolithic
The period of the Stone Age associated with the evolution of humans; before the Neolithic period
Terra cotta
Hard brownish-red pottery
Cuneiform
A form of writing developed by the Sumerians, the world’s first form of writing
Acropolis
High city or fortified hill top
Bushel or beaker
Ceramic vessel
Stele
An ancient upright stone salad bearing markings
Narrative art
Art that tells a story
Geometric
Shapes or forms that are “regular” lots of straight lines, symmetry
Groundline
In paintings and reliefs, a painted or carved baseline on which figures appear to stand
Trilithon
A pair of monoliths topped with a lintel
Aubrey holes
The 56 evenly spaced holes found inside the inner ring of stone henge that contains evidence that the henge was used for burials
Henge
An arrangement of megalithic stones in a circle, often surrounded by a ditch
Naturalism
Realism; a resemblance to the “real world”
Neolithic
The period of the Stone Age associated with the ancient agricultural revolution
Engraving/ incoming
Printmaking process where a tool (burin) is used to carve into a metal plate. Ink passed into the crevasses to make the drawing on paper
