Art in the Stone Age - Research Paper Example

Art in the Stone Age Twelve thousand years ago, the minds of men began to develop into more complex structures and a greater understanding of the natural world was beginning to form. The mind of man was developing a sense of itself and beginning to question its role in the greater scheme of things, including conceptions of an afterlife and a knowledge of art and beauty. This knowledge began to manifest itself in primitive attempts to find meaning in this newfound ability to appreciate and understand art. These ideas first began to manifest themselves during the Paleolithic Period and continued to develop through the Neolithic Period. Paleolithic roughly translates to mean Old Stone Age while Neolithic roughly translates to mean New Stone Age. Accordingly, both of these periods are characterized by a prevalence of stone in use by man as a means of shelter, tools, and for their primary artistic surface. It is thanks to the durability of this material that scientists have been able to glean as much information as they have regarding these prehistoric peoples, who left behind no historic account of their lives other than the artifacts that have been recovered. However, as men began to gain a greater understanding of their world, they also began to refine their abilities in working with the stone that had been their primary material for so long, using it to express more advanced ideas and developing new ways of manipulating the material to their own purposes, including grinding it to use as pigments that could then be used to decorate cave walls. Despite the fact that there is no ‘written’ record of these people and their beliefs, the artwork they produced reveals much about the way they thought, what they believed and the technologies they had developed for the easing of everyday concerns or needs. Although both the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods are named for the dependence upon stone as the primary material for everything from tools to shelters, these two eras are distinctly different in the ideas expressed and the technologies mastered evidenced in their artwork as these objects were created. Although it is traditionally thought these two eras are easily marked by a profound shift in social development, this study will show that Paleolithic cave paintings are a highly innovative technology reveling a society far more advanced that previously thought. According to Phillip Myers (1904), early Paleolithic art is essentially non-existent. Based upon those items that have been found, the early Paleolithic period is marked by a concentration on the production of chipped flint tools with an occasional use of bones, horns, tusks or other material to assist in cutting, scraping and other survival needs. “What we know of Paleolithic man may be summed up as follows: he was a hunter and fisher; his habitation was a cave or rock shelter; his implements were in the main roughly shaped flints; he had no domestic animals save possibly the dog and the reindeer; he was practically ignorant of the art of making pottery; he had no belief in a future life, at least we have no evidence that he buried his dead after the manner of those folk who have come to hold such a belief” (Myers, 1904). However, as the Paleolithic period progressed, a period in which there has been no set period of dates to establish a particular length, the implements created by these early humans gradually took on more shape and aesthetic awareness. It was during the Paleolithic period that the first indication of an aesthetic sense of beauty and art first emerged as it is demonstrated in the deceptively simplistic cave paintings and carvings that have been discovered that date back to this stage. There are two types of art that emerged during the Paleolithic period that must be treated independently of each other. These include the cave paintings or stationary art and the small sculptural or portable art. It is believed that a large number of cave paintings have been lost to the ages as environmental factors have encouraged their disintegration; however, those paintings that have been located in hard to reach areas or that have been sealed against new environmental changes have survived to the present day and provide a glimpse into the important aspects of Paleolithic life (Sapar, 1999). Cave art depicts a variety of subjects, most dealing with the natural world in the form of animals and geometric shapes. Although humans don’t figure in the paintings often, there are numerous outlines of human hands to be found (Johnson, 2003). In addition, the cave paintings frequently utilize natural rock formations to help add structure or depth to the images depicted in a type of low relief sculpture. While little is known about the primary purpose of these paintings, they are recognized as having played a vital role in the development of thought in their introduction of new perspectives and seem to have been recognized for contributing a sense of history and thus a vital part of the community even in Paleolithic times. “It [cave art] played a creative role not merely in general education but more specifically in the development of sophisticated language … It is likely too that cave art promoted the birth of a religious spirit … the conditions in which they were viewed, flickering torches bringing to life these fine representations with their deep colors out of the surrendering darkness, induced a sense of wonder and reverence” (Johnson, 2003: 6). Despite the lack of religious symbolism found in the cave paintings themselves, there are a number of surviving artifacts from the Paleolithic Age that seem to suggest some kind of cult belief among the natives. According to the Texas Council for the Humanities (2004), “Many Ice Age images suggest that they were made for use in rituals to insure good hunting, human and animal fertility, seasonable weather and favor with supernatural powers.” These indications are found particularly in the many small statuettes of corpulent women found in places as diverse as what is now France and eastern Russia. Of the many figurines that have been discovered, there is a great diversity of style and approach; however, there is a common theme among the female figures in the exaggeration or emphasis that is placed upon their female attributes as well as in the fact that most of them are depicted in a pregnant state. Like the cave paintings, it has been difficult to ascertain with any degree of certainty what the original purpose of these figures might have been. “What is clear is that the Venus figurines are found through out Europe in a variety of places. With their differing physiques, and the symbolism attached to them, they are thought by the majority of scholars to be fertility objects, or symbols of an earth goddess cult” (“Venus Figurines”, 2003). Other forms of portable art included sculptures of animals and low relief sculptures incised on pieces of flat bone, rock or bark. The Neolithic period is distinguished from the Paleolithic in that man had made a significant shift in their way of life presumably as a direct result of the developments that had been shaped and developed through earlier art practices and communal development. Where Paleolithic man was primarily a hunter and gatherer, often roaming over the land in pursuit of the game they hunted yet still marking their territory with their own form of recorded history, Neolithic man was beginning to establish a more stationary lifestyle, having learned how to cultivate the soil and greatly refined the tools they made. “Chipped or hammered stone implements still continued to be used, but what characterizes this period was the use of ground or polished implements” (Myers, 1904). Artistically, Neolithic people had also advanced their technology to an understanding of pottery, spinning and weaving, which not only provided them with increased control over their materials, but also expanded their means of expression. Because of the greater fragility of the textiles, there remain many more examples of Neolithic pottery than textiles and pottery is thus the art form that is principally linked with this age rather than the paint or stone carvings of the Paleolithic. Of greater scale and even wider notoriety are the still perplexing constructions of monoliths and other forms of architecture built during this time period. In the Neolithic age, pottery affords each community an opportunity to explore their own preferences in terms of form, function and decoration, again greatly influenced by the leap into abstract thought shown by the Paleolithic communities. For example, in the Yarmukian culture alone (a culture identified as having existed in the Southern Levant region around the 6th century BC), “there are a variety of forms including bowls and globular jars with tall necks. Some have handles or knobs and/or pedestals. Decoration is not applied to all vessels, but where present it may be painted, incised or both, and in confined to geometric forms – zigzag lines and simple bands” (Gopher & Gophna, 1993: 298). Other cultures, such as the Neolithic Greeks, created shapes that were more reminiscent of the amphora with the longer necks and crudely shaped pouring spouts. Preferences in whether decoration was present, the styles that were represented, colors used and use of pictures or geometric shapes all represent some form of meaning, such as whether a particular form of pottery was used for more esoteric purposes than simply carrying the day’s water. Thus, the Paleolithic tendencies to paint their histories can be seen developing into a means by which the various tribes of peoples began identifying themselves, giving shape and structure to future generations. Although pottery was principally used to create storage and other types of containers for a variety of purposes, there have been several small figures found created of ceramics and many vessels were made that have obvious links to more religious or spiritual functions. An example of this is discussed in an article announcing the discovery of a larger (20 centimeters) female figure found in a Neolithic burial site in Italy in 2006: “The figure was unearthed in a tomb that is part of a larger Neolithic burial site outside Vicofertile, a town around 10km southwest of Parma. The grave, which belonged to a middle-aged woman, contained a number of pottery bowls in addition to the statuette … Neither the containers nor the statuette in the grave were properly fired, suggesting the items were not in everyday use prior to the burial” (“Neolithic”, 2006). The observation that the pottery had not been properly fired indicates that these items were created for the express purpose of the burial ceremonies, indicating not only a much more developed spiritual sense, but also an understanding of pottery as an art form in itself. In addition, the particular type of pottery found, because of its unique style and decoration, helps to place the date of the burial and the culture of the people who performed the burial ceremony. The combination of pottery as well as statuary in the Neolithic burial places bridges the distance between the two forms of art that this period has become known for – pottery and free standing stone creations. One of the most famous stone creations made during the Neolithic period is Stonehenge, the megalithic stone circles located on Salisbury Plain just outside of Amesbury in England, but there are numerous constructions of this type scattered through England and Europe. According to a history of architecture, these types of constructions were immediately preceded and made possible by technologies developed during the Paleolithic as a result of spiritual observances in which megaliths were eventually used to build passage graves (graves containing a tomb chamber in the center of a mound of some sort with a passage leading to it) (“Occasional Caves”, 2007). As this technology developed, and the religious observations increasingly became tied with the natural world, the constructions began to include astronomical links as graves were aligned with annual cycles of the sun. “An outstanding example is the passage grave at Newgrange in Ireland, dating from about 2500 BC. Huge slabs of stone, carved in intricate spiral patterns, form the walls of the chamber. At sunrise on the winter solstice (the shortest day of the year, when the sun itself seems in danger of dying) the rays penetrate the length of the passage to illuminate the innermost recess” (“Occasional Caves”, 2007). Eventually, this concept moved away from the grave as such and into the greater realm, focusing nearly exclusively upon the astronomical cycles. However, this, too, is a matter of conjecture. As in the designs and statuettes of the Neolithic pottery creations and in the Paleolithic cave paintings and portable art, the meanings behind the large circles of stone and other materials can only be guessed at. As has been noted, the earlier grave sites were normally aligned with the winter solstice, allowing a shaft of sunlight to enter the chamber only on that day and that hour. However, once they were removed from such a close association with death, it is argued that the larger standing stones became aligned instead with sunrise at the summer solstice. While the stones are aligned to various astronomical times (Souden, 1997), there are several indications that the circles may have served a deeper purpose than providing a necessary solar calendar for people who survived on cultivating the land. One theory holds that the circles are indeed aligned with the summer solstice as a means of reflecting the joining of the Earth Goddess, symbolized by the womb-like shape of the monument and the supine, glittering surface of the Altar Stone, with the Sky Father, symbolized by the open air structure and the entrance of light. Others, such as Christopher Chippendale (1994) suggest that the alignment is more closely aligned with the midwinter sunset. About the only thing sure about Stonehenge is that its meaning was complex and immensely important to the generations of Neolithic farmers who lived in the area. In both the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods, art can be seen to play an integral role in the daily lives of the people, representing a tremendous leap forward in innovation and abstract thought processing. The cave painting of the Paleolithic age took a comparative toll on the resources of the community as the tremendous rock-moving efforts of the Neolithic age just as the symbolism of each age took on increasingly esoteric and spiritual connections. Although the Paleolithic peoples didn’t demonstrate anything near the level of religious observation illustrated in the creations of the Neolithic age, portable art forms in the shape of similar female figures begin to demonstrate a growing belief in an Earth Goddess type figure even as cave paintings began to promote a sense of history, development and provoke higher thought. Neolithic people can be seen to have taken the art and talents of their forefathers to create ever more detailed sculptures on a larger scale and to transfer the decorating skills they learned to create more meaningful designs on ceremonial tools. Although both periods depended heavily upon the use of stone and stone technology for their survival and primary building and/or artistic materials, they are strongly differentiated by the level of skill demonstrated and the level of spiritual/intellectual development as a community. Works Cited Chippindale, Christopher. Stonehenge Complete. London and New York: Thames & Hudson, 1994. Gopher, A. & Gophna, R. “Cultures of the Eighth and Seventh Millennia BP in the Southern Levant: A Review for the 1990s.” Journal of World Prehistory. Vol. 7, N. 3, 1993. Johnson, Paul. Art: A New History. New York: HarperCollins, 2003. Myers, Philip Van Ness. Ancient History. Boston: Ginn and Company, 1904. March 31, 2010 “Neolithic Figurine Unearthed in Italy.” Archaeo News. (September 16, 2006). March 31, 2010 “Occasional Caves and Temporary Tents.” History of Architecture. (2007). History World. March 31, 2010 Sapar. “Paleolithic Cave Paintings.” (1999). Virtual Museum. March 31, 2010 Souden, David. Stonehenge Revealed. London: Facts on File, 1997. Texas Council for the Humanities. “Ice Age Art.” (2004). Freeman Center. March 31, 2010 “Venus Figurines.” (2003). Minnesota State University. March 31, 2010 Read More