Prehistoric Art

Altamira cave painting

Lascaux cave painting

Chauvet cave painting

Art has existed ever since man
learned to draw and before he
could even start to talk.
 CAVE PAINTINGS
Among the earliest records of human activity are the
paintings on the walls of caves executed in the Paleolitic
Period, also called Old Stone Age
CAVE PAINTINGS
are prehistoric images found on the walls of caves all over
the world.

The purposeof cave paintings is uncertain. Studies suggest that they

were not merely decorations. Some theories hold that cave paintings
may have been a way of communicating with other people,
documenting hunting expeditions or part of spiritual beliefs.
The materials used in cave paintings were natural
substances such as black charcoal, animal blood, different
colored minerals and lump ochers or earth pigments
combined with clay
 Cave of Altamira
The first cave paintings were found in 1879 in Altamira Spain.
- The Sistine Chapel of Paleolitic Art.
The cave with its paintings has been declared a UNESCO World
Heritage Site in 1985
CAVE OF
LASCAUX
The site of some of the earliest known art recorded, is found in
Southern France.
Discovered in 1940 four teenagers on an excursion into the
French hillside, the cave displays numerous images painted by
Paleolitic humans.
CAVE OF CHAUVET
Contains the most important preserved cave paintings of the
Paleolitic Era dated about 30,000 BCE
Discovered in 1994 by Eliette Brunel- Deschamps, Christian Hillaire
and Jean Marie Chauvet for whom it was named.
PREHISTORIC SCULPTURE
Sculpture is one of the oldest arts of man.
Experts believed that the earliest sculpted objects dated from 27,000
to 32,000 years ago were cut from ivory, horn, bone or stone
 VENUS FIGURINES
Some of the early sculpted objects arr statuettes of women.
Considered by late nineteenth century archaeologist to
represent the prehistoric idea of feminine beauty they were
dubbed venuses in reference to the Roman goddess of beauty.
The Venus of Berekhat Ram
The Venus of Tan- tan
230,000- 700 000 BCE
The Venus of Willendorf
25 000 BCE- Austria
The Venus of Laussel
23 000 BCE
ANIMAL FIGURES
PREHISTORIC ARCHITECTURE
 Menhir or Monolith
This is a prehistoric monument consisting of a single
uprightstone or megalith
 Dolmen
This is a prehistoric monument of two or more upright
stones supporting a horizontal stone lab. Often used as a
tomb or grave
 Cromlech
This is a prehistoric monument consisting of one large flat stone
which is supported by two or more upright stones. It is also a circular
arrangement of megalith enclosing a dolmen or burial mound.
Stonehenge in Salisbury, England
it is thought to have been used for astronomical, religious
or ceremonial purposes.
It is included in UNESCO's World Heritage List
Thank you
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