What Have We Learned from Prehistoric Cave Paintings?

The aesthetic characteristics of prehistoric art in the classical period: "noble simplicity and quiet greatness" are the essential characteristics of Greek art in the classical period. Prehistoric art in the classical period advocated the artistic principle of combining idealism with realistic style. At this time, architecture and sculptures perfectly reflected the artistic ideals of ancient Greece. Classical architecture exudes a sense of harmony, clarity, and dignity; classic sculptures are full of solemnity, beauty, harmony, and vividness, with a strong idealistic color.

Prehistoric art

Right!

The aesthetic characteristics of prehistoric art in the classical period: "noble simplicity and quiet greatness" are the essential characteristics of Greek art in the classical period. Prehistoric art in the classical period advocated the artistic principle of combining idealism with realistic style. At this time, architecture and sculptures perfectly reflected the artistic ideals of ancient Greece. Classical architecture exudes a sense of harmony, clarity, and dignity; classic sculptures are full of solemnity, beauty, harmony, and vividness, with a strong idealistic color.

Chinese name

Prehistoric art

Features

Functionality is fundamental to the existence and development of art. This can be found from the numerous successful artworks in the development process of human society.

Art is first of all used by humans for its survival and development value, and its artistic purpose can only truly be a success if it expresses its own functional purpose more successfully and more accurately. This kind of function is one of spiritual feeling and one of practical application. No matter the former or the latter, it actually promoted the birth and development of human art. I do not object to and deny the character and personality of art, but I emphasize that the character and personality of art, apart from highlighting the existence of arts as a form of human activity, is still attached to practical functions.

Let's start with this argument from archeological research's primitive early human art activities. All through

About 25,000 years ago, the Cromnon experienced the last glacial period of the Vum Glacier. A prehistoric man living on the edge of the ice field gathered in caves in the present south of France and northern Spain to avoid the cold. They learned to use traps to capture bison, and use stabbed stone axe and spears to assassinate goats and reindeer. In the hunting life all year round, they stimulated their talents to create art. Their aesthetic consciousness emerged and matured in this long-term labor practice. The animal murals on and around the caves of the Altamira caves in Spain are the best evidence of this prehistoric art.

In 1875, a Spanish engineer named Marcelino de Sautuoal came to Pisa

Humans on Earth are known to be at least four or five million years old. So, when did human-created art originate? Under what motives did art arise? On this question, in the past 100 years, the investigation and research of art historians from various countries have proved that human art has at least 30,000 years of history. To produce art, we must first have two previous questions: first, human beings should be able to overcome the difficulties of existence and create stable living conditions for their existence; second, human intelligence must develop to a certain level. In this way, art as a social phenomenon can possibly arise from them.

According to prehistoric archeology, many artworks have appeared in the late Paleolithic period in Europe. Western scholars based on the measurement of radioisotope carbon, divided the cultural stages of this period into the Moster period (about 46,000 BC to 27000 BC), the Parrott period (about 43,000 BC to 30,000 BC), Gera Witt period (approximately 25,000 BC to 20,000 BC), Orina period (approximately 35,000 BC to 17000 BC), Magdalen period (approximately 18000 BC to 11,000 BC), Thorut period (approximately 20,000 BC to 15,000 BC). The names of these stages are named after the address of the art relics or caves where this period was first discovered. "Welendau's Venus" belongs to the works of the Orina period. It has been found in the Wilendorfer Cave in Moravia, Austria, more than 30,000 years ago.

An Analysis of the Prehistoric Art of Humanity

This small round sculpture is carved from soft limestone. Her head and limbs are carved very general. The facial features are not carved, but her hair is evenly arranged in a roll. The statue is about 10 cm high and 5 cm wide. The chest is prominent, the abdomen is wide, and the waist and legs are thick. The feminine characteristics are extremely exaggerated. It is a reflection of the papal social concept of matriarchy. At that time, women led collective life. On the other hand, this statuette may have something to do with witchcraft at the time. Western art archeologists funnyly called the women's small round sculpture "Venus of Weldon Astoria".

Archaeologists believe that the earliest traces of human art were sculptures, which appeared even earlier than cave paintings. The "Wellendorfer's Venus" and the "Witch with a Horn Cup" relief statue to be enumerated in the latter part all illustrate that the production of women's statues is the origin of primitive art. Some of these statues are small and can be carried around, usually without feet, and have a tapered lower extremity. According to American archeologists, the statues were made in order to facilitate the insertion into the ground; in addition, it also had a sorcerous meaning to fear that they would run away from themselves.

An example is the nude Lespuque female portrait in Upper Garona, France. It is about 15 centimeters high and belongs to the Parrot culture, but some people have also verified that it should belong to the Orina culture period. The texture is ivory. The breasts and hips of the statue are more swollen than "Wilendau". The head shows a small round sphere. Although it has a nose and eyebrow arch, it is not clear. Weak arms rested on his chest. A pair of thighs are very thick, but they are merged into the lower leg part into a pointed wedge, which is not carved out, and can be inserted on the ground or rested on a base. There are still many opinions about the intention of making these small female statues that can be carried with them. Some scholars have determined that it is a by-product of love; but other scholars have found that there is almost no tendency to have sex in their research on these earliest artworks.

Since the end of the 19th century, some scholars in the West have put forward a new perspective on the theory of the origin of art. They believe that witchcraft is the original motive for the birth of art, and many researchers have taken a negative attitude to the theory that originated from imitation life. In fact, before the discovery of prehistoric cave paintings, the relationship between witchcraft beliefs and artistic activities had been noticed.

When a large number of prehistoric artworks were discovered, this "witchcraft theory" became more noticeable. They affirmed that the motive for the creation of prehistoric cave paintings was derived from witchcraft. The argument is: 1. Many cave paintings are always painted. In the deepest part of the cave, choosing such a dark place to paint is hard to say that it is for people to appreciate. It is difficult to see even under the unstable oil lamp or torch lighting. 2. Rock paintings seen in some excavations. It is often drawn again and again, it seems that no matter the outline of the image has been overlapped, this may be the first painting is considered to have had the expected effect, so draw it again in the same place, in order to achieve the magic of witchcraft; Traces of stabbing with spears or sticks on the animal image proved the utilitarian purpose of the "painter".

In Lauselle, France, there are several nude embossed statues of different shapes. There are about four female figures and one male figure. The "Witch with a Horn Cup" is engraved with the image of a woman holding a bull horn in her right hand and a slightly raised belly in her left hand. The shawl's long hair was wrapped around her left shoulder, her breasts and buttocks were very engraved, her face was not carved, and her feet were unclear. According to the above explanation of the origin of art, she is obviously presiding over a witchcraft ritual, perhaps praying for the tribe to return with a full load of hunting, or wishing the clan prosperity. But judging from several other similar statues, it seems that it has nothing to do with witchcraft activities, there may be a deeper idea, or it represents a more ancient legend that has long been forgotten by history. This relief is a work belonging to the Orina culture period, and it has been about 2-3 years.

No matter what the archaeologists think about the origin of prehistoric art, there is no doubt that the connection between artistic activities and the utilitarian nature of the struggle for human existence.

Architecture, as one of the best barriers for primitive people to resist harsh natural forces, has long belonged to the art category. For primitive people, to separate themselves from the vast natural space, to avoid continuous potential threats and to benefit survival and development, we must first use buildings to serve ourselves.

The latest archeology believes that the oldest building of mankind was found in the Odwe Gorge in Tanzania in 1960. It is a "wall" belonging to the lowest cultural layer of the Paleolithic Age, and it may be 1.75 million years ago. In the Paleolithic period, in addition to trees, grass and stones, the use of megaliths as "stone houses" is also an architectural style. However, this "stone house" was probably initially closely related to the worship of boulder by primitive people. The so-called "prehistoric boulder" (scientific name Menhir) in Europe is considered to be the earliest monumental art of mankind. It is often arranged in rows of dozens or even dozens. For example, the "megaliths" in the Carnac region of Brittany, France, each boulder is more than 24 meters high, and the length of the arrangement is more than three kilometers. A round megalithic art known as "Dolmen" found in the Salisbury of the Wilt Group in the south of England, covers an area of about 11 hectares. So "Stone Table" is a vermiculite slab placed horizontally on top of two upright stones. This form is also called Trilith. The big stone platform is placed in a continuous ring. There are at least five thousand years. The problem is that such a large stone platform is built, so far no one has figured out its true purpose. To erect such a large stone block, the principle of leverage is needed. For prehistoric productivity is still in its original state Archaeologists can only make many incredible conjectures of the capabilities of primitive people under the conditions of the conditions. However, one thing is certain, these megalithic arts have a certain relationship with prehistoric megalith worship. Residents in rural Africa and Nigeria still worship megaliths. They Offering food to god stones for healing. It is quite possible for imaginative primitive people to use boulder for witchcraft activities. Similar to this ring-shaped boulder platform in Scandinavia, Germany, and Found in Italy and other places.

The original primitive art of human beings contains the original philosophical thoughts of human beings, scientific and technological cognition, and even the creative ideas of literal culture. It can be said that the primitive art of human beings has bred and induced later cultures such as writing and fine arts in the continuous creative accumulation.

As the cradle of ancient civilizations, the two river basins have also spread to the Central Asian region, which has stimulated the culture there, and produced extremely rich folk traditional crafts in Central Asia. Here are two crafts that provide us with proof of this cultural origin.

The first is an exquisitely crafted prehistoric horn-shaped cup unearthed from the Treasury of Oxus in Armenia (now in Afghanistan). It belongs to the gold and silver utensils enjoyed in the palace.

The animal figures on this silver beast-shaped cup are the head of a wild sheep, antelope horns, the mouth of an eagle, and the legs of a rabbit. It is an imaginary monster. The ancient people were good at making comprehensive creations with various animal images, which may be related to the concept of totems in the prehistoric period. On this piece of silverware, the second half of the animal borrows the shape of a rabbit tail and exaggerates into a horn-shaped cup with a round pattern on it, which is 25.4 cm high. Judging from the shape of the mouth of the cup and the deformed posture of the animal, you can imagine that the ancient Central Asian artists had a very high level of gold and silver crafts. The silverware is now in the British Museum in London, England.

The first is an original painted pottery excavated by French archeologists from other influences in the culture of the two river basins (now Iran). China has also excavated this type of pottery many times, such as the Hemudu clan culture in the Yangtze River basin and the Yangshao cultural site in the Yellow River basin. According to research, China's original painted pottery was earlier or later than the discoveries of French archeologists, and it is certain that they were in the same period as those of French archeologists.

This pottery cup is 28.5 centimeters high and was made around 5000 BC. What is interesting is the above painting: the cup body draws an exaggerated wild goat whose patterned line shape makes the horns become two semi-circles, and the body of the sheep is just an addition to the horned solitary line; The horizontal band decoration is a few stretched running hounds, and the body is completely pulled close to the horizontal line. The vertical line pattern on the edge of the cup is more interesting. If you look at it carefully, it turns out that some of the necks are pulled tall and slender. What looks like geometric patterns are actually deformed animal patterns. The bold use of decorative elements in changing shapes can make modern designers feel ashamed. It also reminds us of the painting of ancient Greek pottery vases, which are in contrast. Here, it highlights the abstract aesthetic ability of ancient Orientals. This pottery cup was unearthed in the summer palace that was built during the ancient Persian dynasty, the site of Susa city (now Iran). The object is intact and is now in the Louvre in Paris, France.

Ancient hieroglyphs in the East, such as the hieroglyphs in ancient Egypt and the Chinese characters in China, have once again proved the superpower of this abstract aesthetic. However, the cultural disruption caused by the war of aggression in ancient Egyptian script has been annihilated. Only Chinese characters, relying on the extraordinary national resilience and ethnic cohesion of the Chinese nation, have survived through thousands of years of military disaster.

Prehistoric Art in Europe-a general term for European Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic architecture, sculpture, painting, and craftsmanship.

It is known so far that the earliest works of art in Europe appeared in the early part of the Late Paleolithic Period, about 2.5 to 30,000 years ago, that is, the earth was in the Yumu Glacial Period. This Paleolithic art disappeared with the end of the Ice Age around 10,000 BC. The types of art in the Middle Stone Age have increased. With the imbalance of cultural development in various regions, there has been an independent development of art traditions, which have evolved into neolithic art to varying degrees.

Paleolithic fine arts Before the late Paleolithic period, although there was a lack of evidence of human imitation of images, the production and improvement of practical tools had shown many aesthetic factors. For example, the geometrical shape, symmetry of the hand axe, the small modification of the cutting edge and the score are not without elementary decorative value, and the process of manufacturing tools also prepares modeling skills for the creation of artistic works.

The Late Paleolithic period was traditionally divided into 4 main cultural periods: Orina culture, Perigord culture, Solut culture, Magdalen culture. Orina culture is named after the Orina caves in Haute-Garonne, France. The Périgord culture is named after the Périgord of France. They synthesize the early stages of the development of Paleolithic art. Women's figurines have been found in the cultural layer of Villerdorf near Mordovia, known as " "Venus of Velendorf", bone and stone fragments carved in the same period, can find the corresponding style in the cave paintings, the famous cave Lascoe is the main representative at this stage. Solut culture is named after Solut in Saone-et-Loire, France.Magdalen culture is named after the Magdalen cave in Dordogne, France. They form the late stage of Paleolithic art. Typical is the cave of Altamira in Spain.