HISTORY OF ARTS

MUHAMMAD WASIF
2022-NCA-ARCH-334

Let's go all the way back to the times when humans appeared on the earth. During this
time, there were no signs of recorded history or no remnants. That time was
PREHISTORY. Earth history started over billions of years ago and various unknown
organisms were ruling this planet. Prehistory generally goes from 2.5 millions years ago
to 1200 BC and is
categorized into three
sub periods that are
Stone age ,Bronze age
and Iron age depending
on the tool development
and the types of tools
humans were using at
that time. Stone age is
divided into three
periods: Paleolithic (or
Old Stone Age),
Mesolithic (or Middle

Stone Age), and Neolithic (or New Stone Age). Humans

were hunting and feeding on various species that are now
extinct and were hunters and gatherers living in caves or
shelters made with wood or animal remains and making
their tools out of stones and wood1
During the paleolithic times the species of humans like
Homo erectus and neanderthals were walking the earth.
Human evolution started in Africa and gradually spread to
other parts of the world. Homo erectus came to Britain around 700000 BC and Homo
sapiens started evolving in Britain around 40,000 years ago.2
In the early stone age the Homo Habilis, made sharpened simple stone tools for cutting
and piercing purposes. With the passage of time and advancement, these simple
sharpened stones became hammers and spears for hunting and tearing. Bones, ivory

1
Lesley Kennedy ,The Prehistoric Ages Last Updated October 21, 2019
https://www.history.com/news/prehistoric-ages-timeline
2
PlanBee Stone Age Facts https://planbee.com/pages/stone-age-facts
and antler were also being used other than
stone3 (Stone Hand axe Acheulean Tools is
shown). Clay for making pots and building
material was also being discovered in the
Neolithic period. There was also a development
in textile as the first woven cloth was made
other than the animal remains and skins.
There was also a development in the prehistoric
shelter or architecture. It is mostly unknown
about the building ability or the structures of
Paleolithic people other than stone remains.

However in the new stone age times, a lot of

impressive structures were built such as the
Stone henge whos purpose is still unknown
and is assumed that it is for religious
reasons. It shows the imagination and
mathematical skills of prehistoric people. 4.
Some structures included tombs, burials,
religious symbols etc. Sun dried bricks were
also being used in the domestic structures at
the end of the period.
Other than hunting tools, Paleolithic people developed
tools for everyday activities, for example the lunar
notation system which was used to track the cycles of
the moon, tracking the animal migrations. They were
carved onto bone or antler and carried along for the
journey also used for religious and fertility symbols.(A
34,000-year-old Aurignacian lunar calendar carved on a
bone-tablet, found in Dordogne in France)
The new stone age or the Neolithic period was the period when civilizations began to
establish with the spread of agriculture. Domesticated animals and plants like millet and
seeds began to develop in various parts of the
world due to Earth's changing environment. That
shift is also known as the Agricultural revolution or
the Neolithic revolution. Humans could now grow
and prepare their own food at a certain place

3
History.com Editors Stone Age Last Updated September 19, 2019
https://www.history.com/topics/pre-history/stone-age
4
Robert Angus Buchanan ,History of Technology, tehcnology in the ancient world, Britannica
https://www.britannica.com/technology/history-of-technology/Technology-in-the-ancient-world
without having to travel or migrate. This also caused an advancement in food
processing tools as only hunting tools were used in Paleolithic times. Later irrigation
systems also developed in the great valleys of Egypt and Mesopotamia in the millenia
before 3000 BCE.5 They would prepare and clear lands using hoes, digging sticks, axes
and adzes.

The hunter gatherers would only catch and hunt animals and eat them. However with
the Agricultural revolution, they would breed and domesticate animals. They would
acquire milk from them, which the paleolithic people did not. Animal fibers became a
good source of textile
development. Agricultural
tools found in the Iberian
settlement (late 5th
century) is shown.

The Sumerians in
southern Mesopotamia
built city walls and
temples and dug canals,
which were the world's
first engineering
structures. It is also
interesting that these
people have been fighting for water rights since the beginning of recorded history.
Irrigation was extremely important to Mesopotamia, Greek for "land between rivers."
Flooding problems were more severe in Mesopotamia than in Egypt because the Tigris
and Euphrates carried several times more silt per unit volume of water than the Nile.
This caused the rivers in Mesopotamia to rise faster and change their courses more
often.6

5
Robert Angus Buchanan ,History of Technology, tehcnology in the ancient world, Britannica
https://www.britannica.com/technology/history-of-technology/Technology-in-the-ancient-world
6
Larry W. Mays, Irrigation Systems.
http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Hy-La/Irrigation-Systems-Ancient.html