Study Images for Prehistoric Art

Map of Paleolithic Europe

(blue=water; green=land; white=ice sheets)

(Portable Art)

Holenstein-Stadel Therianthrope (Lion-human), c. 30,000-26000 BCE, Mammoth ivory, Germany

Rock Engravings

Vuval signs

Portable Art

Venus of Willendorf, stone, ca. 22,000-21,000BCE, 4 3/8"

What does this figure have in common with the one below?

Portable Art

Venus of Lespugue, ca. 23,000BCE, mammoth ivory, ca. 7 1/2 "

Cave Painting

Ceiling, Altamira, Spain, 16,000-12,000 BCE

Bison predominate the paintings.

Photo of the boys who discovered the cave in the Lall of Bulls with Abbe   Henri Breuil.

Notice where they are standing in relationship to the painting of the large bull. Look at the image below and think about how the level of the ground changed when Lascaux was modified for tourists to visit.

Lascaux pyoto

Lascaux, Hall of Bulls, general view.

Bulls predominate.

Lascaux, Hall of Bulls, detail

Notice that when new paintings were painted they were placed on top of previous paintings.

Lascaux, Entrance to Axial Gallery
Falling Horse, Axial Gallery, Lascaux

Lascaux, the scene from the well.

The only image of a human found in Lascaux cave found in a pit. Notice that he is abstracted while the animals are naturalistic.

Megalithic Sites in Europe and Africa

 

Compare this map with the one of the Upper Paleolitic map above. How has the land changed? What caused the changes?

Stonehenge, Wiltshire, England, aerial view, ca 2950-1600 BCE

Look at the photo below, and think about how the monument changed in the early 20th century.

Photo of Stonehenge taken in 1887

What happened to Stonehenge to cause so much damage?

 

Stonehenge reconstructed

3rd stage, c.2600 -2280 BCE
Possible routes of transportation from Wales for the blue stones
Stonehenge, reconstruction diagram, third stage
Stonehenge, diagram of construction joints
Stonehenge, view from the center of the circle towards the heel stone
Stonehenge, sunrise on the morning of the summer solstice

Newgrange, Ireland, ca. 3200 BCE

Above left: photo of Newgrange taken in late 1800s

Above right: top of entrance with exposed light box

Lower left: Newgrange after archaeological exploration and restoration.

Lower right: detail of quartz wall and kerb stones

 

What is the mound made of? Where did the various stones come from?

 


Newgrange, left: diagram of plan and section, right: orientation of the passage tomb,

Newgrange, Left,: Basin in left extension of chamber.

Right: View into corbelled vault
Newgrange, 2 views from the interior at sunrise on the morning of the winter solstice

View of Newgrange with Knowth in distance.

Image courtesy of Knowth.com
Bison, Le Tuc d'Audoubert, France. c. 13,000 BCE

Last updated: May 17, 2009