Slide 2
Slide 2 text
bear figures, these four categories account for
about two-thirds of the cave’s animal figures.
In the Gravettian period (c.25,000–20,000
years ago) in Western Europe this situation
appears to alter radically towards the heavy
emphasis on herbivores that is so well-known in
later caves, though it persists somewhat longer
in Central Europe, as seen in the portable art of
Dolní Ve
˘stonice and Russia’s Kostienki Culture.
A CHARCOAL DRAWING of an animal-human from the
Apollo 11 cave in Namibia. The rock slabs date
from about 25,000 years ago and are the earliest
dated rock paintings in Africa. This one shows
what appears to be a feline creature with a heavy
head, deep chest and thin tapering legs. The
drawing seems to have been retouched at some
stage, with the possible alteration of the hind legs
to resemble those of a human.
P A C I F I C
O C E A N
A T L A N T I C
O C E A N
O C E A N
Pedra Furada
rock shelter;
fallen fragments
of painted wall
N O R T H
A M E R I C A
S O U T H
A M E R I C A
MESOAMERICA
N G I A
bison
giant sloth
GREENLAND
1 Palaeolithic Art
coastline at height of last
Ice Age, c. 20,000 years ago
greatest extent of ice cover
tundra
steppe
forest
tropical forest
desert
main routes of colonization
using land bridges
parietal art find site
portable art find site
dominant animal,
source of food and materials
Grotte
Chauvet
Grotte
Cosquer
Rhône
Loire
Ardèche
MEDITER
R
A
N
EAN
SE
A
West European
Palaeolithic Art
parietal art find site
portable art find site
music and song leave no trace. So the surviving
examples of Early Ice Age art are merely the tip of
the iceberg, a tantalizing glimpse of a wealth of
varied artistic activity which probably stretches
back in time to the very first fossil humans.
One particularly important find of recent
years is the small ‘Venus’ of Galgenberg
(Austria, between Dolní Ve
˘stonice and
Willendorf), carved in green serpentine, and
dated by charcoal around it to c.31,000–32,000
years ago. Its lively pose, so different from
those of later, more symmetrical and static
female figurines, is quite remarkable.
SUBJECT-MATTER
Where the Early Ice Age art of Eurasia is
concerned – and for the moment this is the
greater part of the corpus that is reliably dated to
this period – one noteworthy aspect that was
already evident in the small but sophisticated
ivory carvings from several sites in southwest
Germany (Vogelherd, and nearby Geissenklösterle
and Hohlenstein-Stadel, all more than 30,000
years old), and in the later terracotta figurines
from Central Europe is the marked emphasis
on depictions of what might be called large,
powerful or dangerous animals. This has really
come to the fore through the discovery of the
Chauvet Cave. The horse, bison and deer that
would dominate in later Ice Age art were
already present, but the art of Chauvet is
dominated by rhinoceros, mammoths and big
cats. When combined with the site's striking
bear figures, these four categories account for
about two-thirds of the cave’s animal figures.
In the Gravettian period (c.25,000–20,000
years ago) in Western Europe this situation
appears to alter radically towards the heavy
emphasis on herbivores that is so well-known in
later caves, though it persists somewhat longer
in Central Europe, as seen in the portable art of
Dolní Ve
˘stonice and Russia’s Kostienki Culture.
A CHARCOAL DRAWING of an animal-human from the
Apollo 11 cave in Namibia. The rock slabs date
from about 25,000 years ago and are the earliest
dated rock paintings in Africa. This one shows
what appears to be a feline creature with a heavy
head, deep chest and thin tapering legs. The
drawing seems to have been retouched at some
stage, with the possible alteration of the hind legs
to resemble those of a human.
his cave’s art suggest a later
le art sites, several have
us’ figurines, such as that
ivory from Lespugue and the
the ‘Venus with a horn’ from
rate is a carved head of a
assempouy.
1 Palaeolithic Art
coastline at height of last
Ice Age, c. 20,000 years ago
greatest extent of ice cover
tundra
steppe
forest
tropical forest
desert
main routes of colonization
using land bridges
parietal art find site
portable art find site
dominant animal,
source of food and materials
Mesoamerica
Andean
North
America