This document provides an overview of prehistoric art in Europe from the Paleolithic to Neolithic periods. It discusses the Venus of Willendorf sculpture and cave paintings found at sites like Altamira and Lascaux that depict animals. While the exact purpose is unknown, some theories suggest the art was used for fertility rituals, hunting magic, or religious ceremonies. Settlements like Catalhoyuk emerged in the Neolithic, along with megalithic structures like menhirs, dolmens, and henges such as Stonehenge, which may have functioned as astronomical calendars. The document analyzes prehistoric art through the lens of sympathetic magic and its role in early human representation and civilization.
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This is a map of Prehistoric Europe. The art works that we will be covering are located in present day
France, Northern Spain, Austria and Southern England.
Earliest work of art will we be considering in this course is a sculpture that came from a site in
Willendorf, Austria (see above). This sculpture is known as the Venus of Willendorf.
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Figure 1-5 Nude woman (Venus of Willendorf),
from Willendorf, Austria, ca. 28,000–25,000
BCE. Limestone, 4 1/4” high.
Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna.
The Venus of Willendorf is a small
statuette and can easily be held in
your hand. The facial features are
not represented. Instead the head is
covered with something that looks
like a braded cap.
The arms are small and rest on the
breasts. The arms are within the
contours of the oval stone out of
which the figure was carved. This is
done probably because it is easier
to carve arms this way rather then
to represent them extended out as
appendages. The figure has very
large breasts and a swelling
abdomen. The belly button and
vagina are shown. The figure has
large thighs and no feet. Legs might
be broken off below the knees.
See Link: Venus of Willendorf
Read section Willendorf
p. 18 in text
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Figure 1-6 Woman holding a bison horn, from
Laussel, France, ca. 25,000–20,000 BCE. Painted
limestone, approx. 1’ 6” high. Musée d’Aquitaine,
Bordeaux.
Another sculpture of a female figure
from the Paleolithic period is shown
here. As you can see, the proportions of
the figure are similar to the Venus of
Willendorf, i.e. large breasts, swelling
abdomen and thighs. The arms are more
completely represented then in the
Venus of Willendorf and the right arm
holds what may be a bison horn.
Another major difference between these
two sculptures is that the Venus of
Willendorf is an example of sculpture in
the round (it is fully 3 dimensional) while
this one is an example of a relief
sculpture, i.e. a sculpture carved on a
surface.
This is an example of a relief sculpture,
i.e. a sculpture carved on a surface rather
then existing in the round.
Read Laussel p. 18 in text
Also, make a virtual visit to the museum
website which houses this sculpture and
read about it. See Link:
Laussel Venus
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There are many interpretations of the figurines, often based on little argument or fact. Like many
prehistoric artifacts, the cultural meaning of these figures may never be known. Archaeologists
speculate, however, that they may be emblems of security and success, fertility icons, or direct
representations of a mother goddess. The female figures, as part of Upper Paleolithic portable art,
appear to have no practical use in the context of subsistence.
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Cave paintings are paintings found on cave walls and ceilings, and
especially refer to those of prehistoric origin. The exact purpose of the
Paleolithic cave paintings is not known. Evidence suggests that they were
not merely decorations of living areas since the caves in which they have
been found do not have signs of ongoing habitation. They are also often
located in areas of caves that are not easily accessible. Some theories hold
that cave paintings may have been a way of communicating with others,
while other theories ascribe a religious or ceremonial purpose to them.
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Figure 1-9 Bison, detail of a painted ceiling
in the cave at Altamira, Spain, ca. 12,000–
11,000 BCE. Each bison 5’ long.
This is a photograph of cave paintings at
Altamira, Spain. The animals depicted there
are Bison. One of the surprising things about
the style of these very old images is how
realistic or naturalistic they are. The bison on
the right, which is sometimes called the
wounded bison, seems to be curled up with
its legs drawn in beneath its body. You can
clearly see not only the from of the animal
but also some internal details. There is no
ground line in this representation. Also, the
images conform to the irregular shapes of the
cave ceiling, suggested that the painter saw a
suggested images of animals in the wall
configuration and then added detail to make
the image complete.
Read section on Paleolithic Cave Paintings
and Altamira p. 20 in text.
See video:
Altamira
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Another important site for
Paleolithic cave art is the caves at
Lascaux France. Like the Altamira
site the images on the walls and
ceiling of these cave represent
primarily animals in a relatively
naturalistic style. The animals
include horses, bison and deer.
This is a photograph of a section of
the cave known as the Hall of the
Bulls.
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This is an image of what has come to be called the “Chinese horse,” a detail of the left wall in the Axial Gallery
of the cave at Lascaux, France, ca. 15,000–13,000 BCE. 4’ 11” long. Notice the marks above and around the
horse. There is no consensus as to what these forms represent. The may be weapons or just about any other man
made thing.
12. Rhinoceros, wounded man, and disemboweled bison, painting in the well of the cave at Lascaux, France ca.
15,000 – 13,000 BCE. Bison 3’ 8” long.
This is another photograph from the Lascaux cave. This images includes the representation of a bison, that
looks like it has been injured. Notice the entrails hanging from the back of its body. There is also a stick
figure of a man, who might be wearing some form of mask. The representation of humans is relatively rare in
cave paintings and they do not get the detailed treatment that the human figures do. Read Lascaux p. 22
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Why?
One of the biggest questions that arise when art historians consider
works produced during the Prehistoric period is why were they made?
Why would Paleolithic people take the time necessary to make
sculptural images of the female form and to paint images of animals and
sometime humans on the wall and the ceiling of caves? As you can
imagine, it must have been a difficult period to live involving a constant
struggle for survival. So why waste time on something that to us would
see to have no practical function at all?
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Although there is no definite answer to this question and probably
never will be, there are hypothesis offered and the one that I think
is the most plausible is that making these images was done in
relation to magical practice. Sympathetic magic is a kind of magic
based on imitation or correspondence. If you perform an act
symbolically, it effects a change in reality.
Sir James George Frazer in The Golden Bough (1889) subcategorized
sympathetic magic into two varieties: that relying on similarity, and that relying
on contact or 'contagion':
“If we analyze the principles of thought on which magic is based, they will
probably be found to resolve themselves into two: first, that like produces like,
or that an effect resembles its cause; and, second, that things which have once
been in contact with each other continue to act on each other at a distance after
the physical contact has been severed. The former principle may be called the
Law of Similarity, the latter the Law of Contact or Contagion. From the first of
these principles, namely the Law of Similarity, the magician infers that he can
produce any effect he desires merely by imitating it: from the second he infers
that whatever he does to a material object will affect equally the person with
whom the object was once in contact, whether it formed part of his body or
not.”
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In the case of the female figures
what might have been involved is an
attempt to increase human
population which is crucial for
survival. The figures often, although
not always, have large breasts and
swelling abdomens, i.e. bodies that
resemble those of woman in a state
of pregnancy. Lacking any
understanding of the biological basis
for fertility or infertility perhaps the
belief was that if you create a
sculpture of a pregnant woman, you
help to bring out that desired
outcome in reality.
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In the case of the
cave paintings,
perhaps a form of
generative or
hunting magic was
involved. If
prehistoric people
wanted to increase
animal
populations, they
might attempt to
do so by creating
images of animals.
If they wanted to
insure a successful
hunt, they might
have performed an
hunting ritual in
which images of
animals were
hunted and killed.
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Although we can not ultimately say anything definitive about why these images were
made, we can nevertheless point out their crucial importance. Prehistoric art
exemplifies the first attempt at representation, creating images or symbols that
stand for something in the real world. Civilization it built on representation, whether
it be imagistic, verbal or numerical. Interestingly, art represents the very earliest form
of representation, before the written word or the written number. This argues for the
crucial importance of art for human survival.
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Neolithic Period
8,0000 to 2300 BCE
The Neolithic period involves the
change from hunting to farming as
a means of survival.
Farming makes possible more
stable and permanent communities
and this brings about the
settlement of communities and the
possibility of monumental
architecture
19. Figure 1-16A Restored view of a section of Level
VI, Çatal Höyük, Turkey, ca. 6000–5900 BCE
(John Swogger).
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Çatal Hoyuk was a very large Neolithic city
settlement in southern Anatolia which existed from
approximately 7500 BC to 5700 BC, and flourished
around 7000BC. It is the largest and best-preserved
Neolithic site found to date. Çatal Hayek was
composed entirely of domestic buildings, with no
obvious public buildings. While some of the larger
ones have rather ornate murals, these rooms'
purpose remains unclear. The population of the
eastern mound has been estimated at up to 10,000
people, but population likely varied over the
community’s history. An average population of
between 5,000 to 8,000 is a reasonable estimate. The
inhabitants lived in mud-brick houses that were
crammed together in an agglutinative manner. No
footpaths or streets were used between the
dwellings, which were clustered in a honeycomb-
like maze. Most were accessed by holes in the
ceiling, with doors reached by ladders and stairs.
The rooftops were effectively streets. The ceiling
openings also served as the only source of
ventilation, allowing smoke from the houses' open
hearths and ovens to escape.
See Reading p. 26 in text.
Watch video: Out of Egypt –
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Aside from the beginning of stable settlements and cities, the Neolithic period also saw the
development of large scale architectural monuments. There are primarily three types which will be
included here:
1)menhir
2)dolmen
3)henge.
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A menhir is a large upright
standing stone. Menhirs may
be found singly as
monoliths, or as part of a
group of similar stones.
Their size can vary
considerably, but their shape
is generally uneven and
squared, often tapering
towards the top. Menhirs are
widely distributed across
Europe, Africa and Asia, but
are most numerous in
Western Europe; in
particular in Ireland, Great
Britain and Brittany. There
are about 50,000 megaliths in
these areas, while there are
1,200 menhirs in northwest
France alone.
Menhirs at Carnac, Brittany, France
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A dolmen, also known as a portal
tomb, portal grave or quoit, is a type
of single-chamber megalithic tomb,
usually consisting of two or more
upright stones supporting a large flat
horizontal capstone (table), although
there are also more complex
variants. Most date from the early
Neolithic period (4000 to 3000 BC).
Dolmens were typically covered with
earth or smaller stones to form a
barrow. In many instances, that
covering has weathered away,
leaving only the stone "skeleton" of
the burial mound intact.
Dolmen in County Clarie, Ireland
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A dolmen is an example of an architectural structure known as post and lintel.
There are two main force vectors acting upon the post and lintel system:
weight carrying compression at the joint between lintel and post, and
tension induced by deformation of self-weight and the load above and
between the posts. The two posts are under compression from the weight
of the lintel (or beam) above. The lintel will deform by sagging in the
middle because the underside is under tension and the topside is under
compression.
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Compression strength = The ability to resist crushing. Compressive strength is the capacity of a material
or structure to withstand loads tending to reduce size
Tension strength = the ability of a material to resist stretching.
25. Figure 1-20 Aerial view of Stonehenge, Salisbury Plain, England, ca. 2550–1600 BCE. Circle is 97' in
diameter; trilithons 24' high.
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The final type of architectural structure from the Neolithic Period that is the most complex of the
three types is known as a henge or cromlech. The most famous example is is on the planes of
Salisbury in England. It is called Stonehenge.
27. While the purpose or purposes that Stonehenge served are not definitely known, it is clear that it functioned
as an astronomical observatory that was used to calculate the passage of the calendar year. When viewed from the
center, the heal stone, off to the east, was aligned with the position of the rising sun at the summer solstice, June 21,
which would have been a crucial date for a society that survived by growing crops rather then hunting and gathering.
When the sun rose over the heal stone, it was indicative of the change of seasons. See text p. 28 and Link: Virtual Tour
of Stonehenge.