Paleolithic Art Essay

Paleolithic: The Paleolithic period lasted from about 200,000 b.c. to about 10,000 b.c. It was the early phase of the Stone Age; and encompassed a steady development of stone tools, antler and bone artifacts, engraving on bone and stone, and paintings on the walls of caves and rock structures. There was not much structure built or agriculture done in this period as the people lived a nomadic lifestyle, migrating with the herds of animals they hunted for food.

The Paleolithic Era, translating to “old stone age,” references a time period over 2,600,000 to 12,000 years ago, in which man developed new skills for survival through the use of stone. The Neolithic Era, the “new stone age,” began around 10,000 BCE, introducing a more complex society where agriculture was a primary factor in everyday life. From the Paleolithic Era to Neolithic Era, there were many continuities that occurred. One continuity was the use of weapons and tools. For instance, in both eras, stone was used to make weapons for protection, food, etc. Although, in the Neolithic Age tools were more advanced and developed, they progressed based off of Paleolithic inventions, like the tools from both ages had spear tips, but different methods were used to come about their creations. In addition, while there were many continuities, the Neolithic man did not always agree with their ancestors choices. In fact, there were many changes that occurred from the two time periods. One drastic change the Neolithic man dealt with was choosing to live in permanent settlements rather than following with the Paleolithic way, living nomadic. For instance, the Paleolithic men were hunters and gatherers, indicating that they had to adapt to the natural environment of their location by studying the seasonal migrations of animals, the life cycles of plants, and many more elements. On the other hand, the Neolithic man lived in a time of general warming, increased rainfall, and a stable

There were many social and economic changes that took place in human development from the Paleolithic through Neolithic periods. First, humans invented agriculture to use in their day to day lives. Next, roles of men and women began to shift. Finally, another change between these two periods had to do with living quarters. Art was affected in all of these changes made during the transition from Paleolithic to Neolithic eras.

In the beginning of the Paleolithic Era, bands of humans progressively migrated from East Africa to Eurasia, Australia, and then to the Americas while adapting to their new regions. During the Paleolithic era, hominids used crude tools like clubs and choppers to crack open bones, simple axes, and scrapers to prepare animal hides. As the years went on the Neanderthal, Cro-Magnon, and Homo sapiens amended these tools and created new ones. They made these tools so that they can provide shelter, protection, defense from other predators, food, and also clothing. As the Paleolithic era was ending, the hominids were building much more innovative wood and stone structures. They also started

dy of plant fossils and the understanding the evolution of plant life and ecology of earlier eras is known as paleobotany. Paleobotanists concern with fossil records of plants and their geologic history greatly describes the main concept of paleobotany. Only a small percentage of the plants that ever lived left evidence of existence. The major plant fossils that have been discovered are mineralized wood, flowers in amber, leaf imprints in coal, or other plant life many years ago. Paleobotanists document fossil records and use this evidence to find the past evolution of plants.

During the Paleolithic to the Neolithic period, there were some major cultural changes or contributions to the humanities that occurred. The Paleolithic lived a nomadic life in which they were known as nomadic hunters and gatherers. During the Paleolithic period (circa 40,000 – 8,000 B.C.E.) their form of art were wall paintings instituted deep inside the caves. They would stay by the opening of the cave, where there was light and depended on animals to feed on. Other than cave paintings, another form of their art was sculpting. The Paleolithic sculpts human figures, mostly female figures. The materials used were ivory, bone, horn, stone, and clay. Only a few were made of wood. By circa 8,000 B.C.E., hunters became farmers, using plants, seeds,

The Paleolithic era began about 2.6 million years ago; this was considered the Old Age. The Neolithic era began about 10,000 BC where it was named the New Age. There were several differences that existed between the men who lived in these two ages. The Paleolithic man consisted of nomads who hunted and gathered their food to survive. Their hunting tools consisted of chipped and dull stones and wooden weapons. Their shelter consisted of huts and skin tents, and they were characterized as a tribal society. On the other hand, the Neolithic men were characterized by farmers who resided in permanent settlements, as opposed to wandering around. Their shelter was made up of bricks supported by timber, which seems to be a lot more durable

The Neolithic Revolution began in Southwest Asia and other areas during 10,000 B.C.E to 3, 000 B.C.E (Council for Economic Education, 2012). The Neolithic Revolution also known as the Agricultural Revolution was a new way of life. Our society is constantly changing and moving forward. As a part of human culture, humans strive to learn, discover, create and evolve (Barber, n.d.). As a society, we have made many technological and social advancements, but have we ever taken the time to appreciate the past? The Neolithic Revolution is where it all began. Prior to the Neolithic Revolution, the early humans lived in the Paleolithic Age. This presentation will display life before the Neolithic Revolution and the shift that lead to some of the first social and technological advancements in history.

Many people collect Native American art today. To what factors do you attribute this popularity?

As the climate in ancient times began to change, Paleolithic peoples adapted. As a result, the mostly nomadic peoples began to adopt permanent settlements.

One of the earliest evidences of the belief in a higher power comes from deep within the “Lascaux Labyrinth”, a deep cave “decorated by our Paleolithic ancestors in the stone age, seventeen thousand years ago”(Armstrong 2). The great numbers and locations of art within the Lascaux and surrounding region gives evidence that these were sacred places for the purpose of rituals, and some have compared these dwellings to temples (Armstrong 3). Whether art within cave dwellings dating back to the Paleolithic era, to magnificent churches rising to great heights around the world, the wondrous temples of the Mayans, a mountain that appears to seamlessly morph into the city of Machu Picchu, to trailers, tents and fortified compounds, belief in a power higher than one’s self has been deeply ingrained throughout centuries and a multitude of cultures. These different places are what many refer to as a church, a place to record and follow the rituals specific to their belief and to worship. Through the generations of the development of the human psyche, belief in a higher power is taught young and ingrained for many, yet meaningless for some. Furthermore, throughout the evolution of many centuries, it is inevitable that branches of these religions will follow a different path, create new churches to better practice their views of religion, and for some, belief in a higher power can be contorted to the preaching’s and worship of hate. There is a fine line between preaching scriptures and

In order to understand the difficulty many contemporary artists face when trying to accurately portray their culture, it is important to know where these stereotypes originated from. The word “Indian” is a European-derived concept. Prior to the invasion of the Europeans, Native American people were not considered Indians. They were members and leaders of their own socio-political and cultural groups. Dichotomy arose soon after the arrival of the Europeans, and Native people quickly lost their identity when they were merged together under a single defining word. There are currently 10 to 20 million people in the United States today with Indian blood, but only a small percentage identify as predominantly Indian.

The Paleolithic Era consists of hunter-gather societies. Living a nomadic lifestyle, the Paleolithic people followed their PREY and used resources provided by the land. AS A RESULT, THEY WERE ALWAYS MOVING SINCE they hunted mammoths, bison, deer, and rodents and gathered roots and berries. The earliest humans used very rudimentary and basic tools for tasks like cracking open bones and preparing animal hide. These tools were later improved on to help provide protection, food, and clothing. By the end of the Paleolithic Era, the hominids made weapons for hunting and food preparation, such as spears and the bow and arrow, out of bone and were creating more advanced stone and wood structures. There is also evidence of fishing. The development of tools helped hominids adapt to different

Long time ago in a galaxy far far away, back in the olden times of ancient civilizations, art and culture was essential to the lore, society, and survivability of a civilization. Although often differing in style, forms, and mediums, these art works/pieces contributed deeply and truly to the importance of civilization. They always had a purpose and meaning behind them. In ancient Egyptian times. The Egyptians would create exquisite works of art to place into their temples, tombs, and other such religious structures. The Egyptians were completely sold on the idea of Eternal life. You could even say they were obsessed with this idea of eternal life. Because of this, we find today that all of their art, writing, and music revolved around

The paleolithic people were nomads; knowledge of their lives comes from the cave paintings they left behind.