Prehistoric Art: The Beginning

Neanderthal tool-making mentality gives way to the Cro-Magnon urge to

make images.

Lascaux Cave Paintings30,000 – 24,000 BCE

600 cave paintings and 1500 engravingsDiscovered in 1940 by four teenagers, Marcel Ravisdat, Jacques Marsal, Georges Agnel and Simon Coencas.

Venus de Willendorf24,000–22,000 BCE (Before Common Era)

StonehengeWiltshire, U.K.

3,100 – 2,000 BCE

Megalith(greek) – large stone use to create a structure or monument

Trilithon – structure of 2 upright posts and lintel across

El CastilloYucatan, Mexico

900 – 1200 CE (Common Era)

Ziggurat – Structures built on a raised area

Ziggurat of UrIran

2,100 BCE

Easter Island Moai1,250 – 1,500 CE

Monolith: Single piece of rock placed as, or within, a monument (25 – 50 tons)Note: 1 ton = 2,000 lbs

Triskele Nautilus ShellJewelry

Fibonacci SpiralItalian mathematician

Spiral: a curve emanating from a central point moving farther away as it revolves around the pointHelix: a 3D Spiral

Pottery1800 BCE

Chevron: inverted V-shaped pattern (Greek)

RankInsignia

Newgrange1000 years older than Stonehenge

Architecture Everyday Art Logos

Ogee – a curve shaped somewhat like an S, consisting of 2 arcs that curve in opposite directions

A meander or meandros is a decorative border constructed from a continuous line, shaped into a repeated motif.

Architecture Jewelry Fabric Modern Furniture

Greek Key – an ornamental pattern consisting of repeated vertical and horizontal lines.

Patterns Architecture Ancient Greek Art Modern Fabric