Abstract An examination of these figurines which have become symbolic representation of art form of the Paleolithic period. The paper shows that these figurines are also the portrayal of mother goddesses and a symbol of sexuality. The main conclusion archaeologists came to was that they represent the animistic or shaministic symbol of fertility and fecundity. It also has the function of depicting the ideology of the female form and their influence on the society.
From the Paper "When the ice age figurines were first discovered, archaeologists speculated its existence something that represent the transition period between the Neanderthals of the Middle Paleolithic and the Homo sapiens of the Upper Paleolithic period. The differences are quite marked in the expression of the figurines. For instance the first time in human archaeology the image of the sculpture are used as a means of communication."
Tags:Paleolithic, Neanderthals, archaeology, female, fertility, imagery, ice, age
From the Paper "This paper will examine paleolithic art, and the insights it affords to man's earliest cultures, and to the basics of his own today.There is much to be learned from paleolithic art.There is an interesting history to the discovery of the cave paintings. Don Marcelino de Santinola discovered them. His findings were denied and judged false.... "
Abstract Discusses images of women in Paleolithic society. How depictions of women in prehistoric art can determine the traditions and lifestyles of their society. Features of the images found in caves and grottoes and figurines. Women as symbols of fertility, as matriarchs who ruled over their domestic environment. Specific examples.
From the Paper "I. Introduction
Since the early discoveries of prehistoric art in the mid-19th century, scholars and archaeologists have sought to determine the functions and the significance of art in Paleolithic society. The uncovering of artistic images in caves and grottoes, along with figurines of various shapes and sizes, provides clues to the lives, culture, language and myths of prehistoric people. The emergence of the aesthetic perception of the prehistoric people from a strictly utilitarian lifestyle also offers evidence of how the human brain has developed over the centuries.
In this paper, the depictions of women in prehistoric art will be used to determine the traditions and lifestyles of prehistoric people in ..."
Abstract This paper discusses prehistoric art in the context of two particular features: one, the most dominant forms of this art are "portable" graphics, suggesting that iconic art was mobilized throughout geographic areas, and second, that much of this artwork is intextricable from technological innovations in carving, etching, "pecking/chipping" and shaping various mediums such as bone, ivory, horns, antlers, and softer stones.
Abstract This paper provides a critical assessment to the book "Neanderthin : Eat Like a Caveman to Achieve a Lean, Strong, Healthy Body" by Ray Audette and the Paleolithic diet in general.
Abstract This paper examines how, from the earliest of times, humankind has used words and symbols to display needs desires and necessities to both the gods and other humans and how, the prehistoric sketches of Paleolithic man and the current scrawls of modern man, while on the surface seem to be absolutely different, are inherently the same. In particular, it compares two works, a red and black bison on the ceiling at Altamira, Spain from 30,000 to 10,000 BC, and a terrier and tic-tac-toe board from the side of a building, New York City, late 1980s AD.
From the Paper "The composition of the painting, or lack thereof seems to be rather significant in prehistoric art. The lack of connection to the horizon, or anywhere else, denotes some type of religious meaning. Whether this entails simply a celebratory incantation for the fact that the animal lives to provide us with more food, or allows the magic in a shamanic spell to become more powerful against the animals, one has no knowledge. But the art of the caves does not appear to be simple art for art's sake. Christensen says, "It has been suggested that painting may have served as teaching material in which the spoken word, music, dance and masks were involved." (343) The time of Paleolithic man was wild and uncertain, but one could say the same about the current times."
Abstract This paper explains that the history of human kind started with the Paleolithic era, continued through the Neolithic and the emergence of the ancient civilizations of the Middle East and Greece. Human beings of the Paleolithic era, which can be considered the basic period for the evolution of the human kind, the author relates, have several distinguished features that characterize the period. The Neolithic period, which accounts for a considerable improvement of the evolution of man, is often considered a revolution in the history of the human kind. Next, the author discusses the Mesopotamian, Egyptian and the early Greek civilizations.
From the Paper "The political organization included the pharaoh, considered a living god for its subjects and the embodiment of perfection. The administrative part of the state was conducted by scribes, the cornerstone of the administrative apparatus. The society in general was made up of small agrarian communities, led by the elderly who had administrative, fiscal, and judiciary attributions. An important element of the society was however slavery. Unlike other parts of the antique world, they were not totally limited in their rights, and were in general war prisoners."
Tags: tools revolution, direct consumers, unitary civilization, slavery
From the Paper "Like all other creatures on earth hominids adapted to their environment through physiological change. But, at a certain point, they began to adapt by means of culture. They were, therefore, an entirely new type of creature--possessing capabilities that had not existed before. Rather than undergoing a few small adaptations that took place over the course of hundreds of thousands of years, these new creatures engaged in continuous adaptation via culture. Their cultures were not static over very long periods. To the extent that new circumstances required additional adaptations they were capable of making them and, to the extent that new adaptations proved superior to previous versions, they were capable of replacing the old with the new. The archaeological study of the prehistoric emergence of the cultural animal has led to the classification of.."
From the Paper "The period of the late Ice Age hunter-gatherers rides the tag-end of the Paleolithic development of humankind. It is a period that, given the nuances of scientific interpretation and the influences of geography upon the Paleolithic peoples themselves, ended as long ago as 12,000 B. C. (Guilaine, 1991, P. 64) or as recently as 8,000 B. C. (Hawkes, 1976, p. 16), after which agricultural cultures took root in the prehistoric society, leading almost immediately (in relative terms compared with the millennia of slow development that had come before) to dramatic advances in technology, communication and the general raising of living standards for humankind. It was an interesting choice for late Paleolithic man to make - this switching from hunter-gatherer to farmer - for game was plentiful in the late Ice Age: "wandering" in the nomadic terms that we have come to associate..."
Abstract Archaeological discoveries of female figures representing cult fertility objects an ancient goddesses. Representations of Paleolithic, Neolithic periods. Greek and Roman depictions of goddesses. Feminist ideology & goddess imagery. Patriarchal ideology. Varied views of contemporary ecofeminism in deconstructing patriarchy.
From the Paper "Contemporary Ecofeminism
Introduction
Prepatriarchal Representations
The earliest interpretations of archaeological discoveries of female figures was that they represented cult fertility objects. However, by the 1970s, there were numerous interpretations of these figures, and others, as representing ancient goddesses.
These representations varied between civilizations and epochs in how they represented goddesses and stories that were told about them. In the Paleolithic period, the representations were the simplest. These are the female figurines that early archaeologists identified as Venus figurines (Eisler, 1987). They were often broad-hipped, pregnant, stylized, and sometimes were missing faces or..."
Abstract Examines how depictions of women throughout history illustrate the roles of women in various groups. Focuses on Paleolithic, Egyptian & Indian art. Venus sculptures. Reductioin of female figure to its reproductive function. Lower status depicted in size of female figure. Female deities as representatives of power & protector of society, not just fertility objects.
From the Paper "In many cultures throughout history, depictions of women in art were far less common than representations of men. When women are shown in art the form of representation offers some clues as to the roles of women in the various groups. In the examples considered here two so-called Venus figures from Paleolithic art, two Egyptian "portraits" of women and girls of the highest class, and two goddess sculptures from India offer some insight into the ways women were perceived in these societies. They do not, however, offer more than a slight indication--especially in the Paleolithic and Indian examples--of the ways women functioned in everyday life, although it is possible to infer some things from these works of art.
Two Paleolithic sculptures of women are of the type that have been designated "Venus" figures because they are presumed to..."
Abstract As long as there has been art there has been public art. But this does not mean that public art has always meant the same thing to the people who made it or the community that it was made for. This paper examines four moments in history and four specific artworks as a way of examining how the function of art in public places has changed, as well as the ways in which it has not changed, over the centuries. This paper begins at a moment long before many people would place the beginnings of public art ? with the Paleolithic drawings on the walls in French caves and ends with the works of Maya Lin. As each moment in time presents a different form of public art, no single, overriding definition of the term is offered here. Rather, each moment in history and each example of art requires its own definition of public art.
From the Paper "Some nineteenth-century scholars argued that the cave paintings should be seen as attempts to influence reality, that the images painted on cave walls (and this would perhaps have been especially true of the portrayals of animals) had a totemistic value. In other words, people painted animals to help hunters have better luck in the hunt, either in terms of capturing prey or in terms of surviving the hunt without injury. In a similar vein, other important types of Paleolithic that seem to celebrate female fertility, such as the Venus of Wallendorf, might have been used as totems that would help to ensure the continuing existence of the tribe itself."
Tags: Ice, Age, cathedrals, Diego, Rivera, Allegory, of, California
Abstract This essay will assume the position that the pre-modern societies of East Asia were isolated and stagnant. It is recognized that this argument is controversial, and dependent upon certain geographical and social assumptions. "isolation" and "stagnation" are relative concepts. It will be seen that two of the main economies of the region - that of China and Japan - possessed flourishing domestic economies and some degree of trade with other economies in the region. However, given the inescapable fact that European colonial powers in this era came to dominate Asia, first economically and then politically, a balanced view of the pre-modern economic history of the region must explain why this came to pass. Key to this explanation is a recognition that, in comparison to the nations of the West, the pre-modern economies of China and Japan were stagnant and isolated.
Tags: ARCHAEOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY (ANCIENT HISTORY) / PRIMITIVE CULTURE (PALEOLITHIC), ANCIENT EMPIRES, economies east asia
Abstract This paper looks at the relatively recent discovery of cave art and how many experts were, at first, skeptical of its authenticity. The paper describes some of the art found and how it was accidentally discovered, as well as how it finally came to be recognized as authentic Paleolithic art.
From the Paper "Despite being the most ancient of all human artistic forms, cave art was discovered only within the last one hundred years or so, usually by accident and by amateurs. In 1879, near Santander in northern Spain, Marcelino de Sautuola was exploring with his little daughter the Altamira caves on his estate. Since the ceiling of the debris-filled cavern "was only a few inches above Marcelino's head, it was his daughter who was first able to discern the shadowy forms of painted beasts on the cave roof" (Berenquer, 25). De Sautuola was the first modern man to explore this cave and he was certain that the paintings dated back to prehistoric times. Archeologists, however, were highly dubious of their authenticity, but in 1880 the Altamira paintings were officially dismissed as forgeries. In 1896, at Pair-non-Pair in the Gironde district of France, more paintings were discovered that were partially covered by calcareous deposits that would have taken thousands of years to accumulate and soon after, these paintings were recognized as authentic by the experts. The caves at Lascaux near Montignac in France were discovered accidentally in 1941 by two young boys who were playing in a field. Their dog chased a ball down a hole and disappeared, and the boys then followed the dog down into the caves."
