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Traditionally, rock paintings are called petroglyphs, this is the name for all images on stone from ancient times (Paleolithic) up to the Middle Ages, both primitive cave rock carvings, and later ones, for example, on specially installed stones, megaliths or "wild" rocks.
Such monuments are not concentrated somewhere in one place, but widely scattered across the face of our planet. They were found in Kazakhstan (Tamgaly), in Karelia, in Spain (Altamira cave), in France (caves of Font-de-Gaume, Montespan, etc.), in Siberia, on the Don (Kostenki), in Italy, England, Germany, in Algeria, where the gigantic multicolored paintings of the Tassilin-Adjer mountain plateau in the Sahara, among the sands of the desert, were recently discovered and made a sensation all over the world.
Despite the fact that the rock paintings have been studied for about 200 years, they still remain a mystery.
Rock paintings of the Hopi Indians in Arizona, USA, depicting some kind of kachina creatures. The Indians considered them their heavenly teachers.
According to the generally accepted theory of evolution, primitive man remained a primitive hunter and gatherer for many tens of thousands of years. And then a real insight suddenly visited him, and he began to draw and carve mysterious symbols and images on the walls of his caves, rocks and mountain crevices.
Famous Onega petroglyphs.
Oswald O. Tobisch, a man of generous and varied talents, spent 30 years researching more than 6,000 rock paintings, trying to restore some kind of logical system that unites them. When you get acquainted with the conclusions of his research and numerous comparative tables, it literally takes your breath away. Tobish traces the similarities of various rock paintings, so that it seems that in antiquity there was a single pra-culture and universal knowledge associated with it.
Spain. Rock image. XI century BC
Of course, millions and millions of rock paintings did not appear at the same time; very often (but not always) they are separated by many millennia. In other cases, drawings were created on the same rocks over several millennia.
Africa. Rock drawing. VIII - IV century BC
Nevertheless, it is a striking fact that many cave paintings in various parts of the world arose almost simultaneously. Everywhere, be it Toro Muerto (Peru), where tens of thousands of rock paintings have been found, Val Carmonica (Italy), the vicinity of the Karakoram Highway (Pakistan), the Colorado Plateau (USA), the Paraibo region (Brazil) or southern Japan, almost identical symbols and figures. Of course, I cannot fail to note that in each separate place there are their own, strictly localized types of images that cannot be found anywhere else, but this in no way clears up the mystery of the striking similarity of the rest of the drawings.
Australia. XII - IV century BC
If we consider all these images with all their attributes and symbols, an amazing impression arises that the sound of the same calling trumpet suddenly rang out all over the continents: “Remember: the gods are those who are surrounded by rays!” These "gods" in most cases are depicted as much larger than other little men. Their heads are almost always surrounded or crowned with a halo or nimbus, as if radiant rays emanate from them. In addition, ordinary people are always depicted at a respectful distance from the "gods"; they kneel before them, prostrating themselves on the ground, or raising their hands to them.
Italy. Rock drawing. XIII - VIII century BC
Oswald Tobisch, a rock carving expert who traveled all over the world, by his tireless efforts has come even closer to unraveling this problem. ancient mystery: “Perhaps this striking similarity in the images of deities is explained by “internationalism” that is incredible by our today's standards, and humanity of that era, quite possibly, was still in the powerful force field of the “primordial revelation” of the one and all-powerful Creator?”
Dogu's suit. The world's oldest depiction of a space suit.
Death Valley, USA.
Peru. Rock drawing. XII - IV century BC
Hopi rock paintings in Arizona, USA
Australia
Rock paintings near Lake Onega. Incomprehensible images that some philosophers interpret as aircraft.
Australia
Petroglyphs from the vicinity of the village of Karakol, Ongudai district
Hunting scenes, where anthropomorphic creatures (people or spirits?) with bows, spears and sticks hunt an animal, and dogs (or wolves?) help them, appear 5-6 thousand years ago - it was then that this petroglyph was created.
on a rock in japan 7 thousand years ago
Algerian sahara, Tassili massif (tinted rock paintings). The era of round heads. Reach 8 meters. Stone Age drawings
Similar examples of the creativity of ancient peoples can be found all over the world. In Altai - rock portraits of humanoid creatures in spacesuits, created 4 - 5 thousand years ago. In Central America - launching "spaceships". They are depicted on some Mayan tombs dating back about 1300 years. In Japan, bronze figurines of the 4th century BC are found dressed in helmets and overalls. In the mountains of Tibet - "flying saucers" painted 3000 years ago. Entire galleries of monsters with antennas on their heads, tentacles instead of arms and mysterious weapons are “exhibited” for all to see for us, descendants, in caves, on plateaus and in the mountains in Peru, Sahara, Zimbabwe, Australia, France, Italy.
Huge figures and a number of little men.
It is written in the history textbook that the primitive man wanted to somehow express himself and realize his primitive creativity with what was at hand. So rock paintings appeared on the rocks in deep caves.
But how primitive were our ancestors? And was it really so simple a few thousand years ago, as we imagine it to be? The drawings from primitive art collected in this article may make you think about something.
Primitive (or, otherwise, primitive) art geographically covers all continents except Antarctica, and in time - the entire era of human existence, preserved by some peoples living in remote corners of the planet to this day.
Most of the most ancient paintings were found in Europe (from Spain to the Urals).
It was well preserved on the walls of the caves - the entrances turned out to be tightly filled up millennia ago, the same temperature and humidity were maintained there.
Not only wall paintings have been preserved, but also other evidence of human activity - clear footprints of bare feet of adults and children on the damp floor of some caves.
Reasons for the birth creative activity and functions of primitive art Man's need for beauty and creativity.
beliefs of the time. The man portrayed those whom he revered. People of that time believed in magic: they believed that with the help of paintings and other images, one could influence the nature or outcome of the hunt. It was believed, for example, that it was necessary to hit a drawn animal with an arrow or spear in order to ensure the success of a real hunt.
periodization
Now science is changing its opinion about the age of the earth and the time frame is changing, but we will study by the generally accepted names of the periods.1. Stone Age
1.1 Old Stone Age - Paleolithic. ... to 10 thousand BC
1.2 Middle Stone Age - Mesolithic. 10 - 6 thousand BC
1.3 New Stone Age - Neolithic. From 6 - to 2 thousand BC
2. Bronze Age. 2 thousand BC
3. Age of iron. 1 thousand BC
Paleolithic
Tools of labor were made of stone; hence the name of the era - the stone age.1. Ancient or Lower Paleolithic. up to 150 thousand BC
2. Middle Paleolithic. 150 - 35 thousand BC
3. Upper or late Paleolithic. 35 - 10 thousand BC
3.1 Aurignac-Solutrean period. 35 - 20 thousand BC
3.2. Madeleine period. 20 - 10 thousand BC This period received its name from the name of the La Madeleine cave, where murals related to this time were found.
The earliest works of primitive art date back to the Late Paleolithic. 35 - 10 thousand BC
Scientists are inclined to believe that naturalistic art and the representation of schematic signs and geometric figures arose simultaneously.
Pasta drawings. Impressions of a human hand and a disorderly weave of wavy lines pressed into the wet clay with the fingers of the same hand.
The first drawings from the Paleolithic period (Old Stone Age, 35–10 thousand BC) were discovered at the end of the 19th century. Spanish amateur archaeologist Count Marcelino de Sautuola, three kilometers from his family estate, in the cave of Altamira.
It happened like this:
“An archaeologist decided to explore a cave in Spain and took his little daughter with him. Suddenly she shouted: “Bulls, bulls!” The father laughed, but when he raised his head, he saw on the ceiling of the cave huge, painted figures of bison. Some of the bison were depicted standing still, others rushing with inclined horns at the enemy. At first, scientists did not believe that primitive people could create such works of art. Only 20 years later, numerous works of primitive art were discovered in other places and the authenticity of the cave painting was recognized.
Paleolithic painting
Cave of Altamira. Spain.Late Paleolithic (Madeleine era 20 - 10 thousand years BC).
On the vault of the cave chamber of Altamira, a whole herd of large bison, closely spaced to each other, is depicted.
Panel of bison. Located on the ceiling of the cave. Wonderful polychrome images contain black and all shades of ocher, rich colors, superimposed somewhere densely and monotonously, and somewhere with halftones and transitions from one color to another. A thick layer of paint up to several cm. In total, 23 figures are depicted on the vault, if we do not take into account those of which only outlines have been preserved.
Fragment. Buffalo. Cave of Altamira. Spain. Late Paleolithic. They illuminated the caves with lamps and reproduced from memory. Not primitivism, but the highest degree of stylization. When the cave was discovered, it was believed that this was an imitation of a hunt - the magical meaning of the image. But today there are versions that the goal was art. The beast was necessary for man, but he was terrible and elusive.
Fragment. Bull. Altamira. Spain. Late Paleolithic.
Nice brown shades. The tense stop of the beast. They used the natural relief of the stone, depicted on the bulge of the wall.
Fragment. Bison. Altamira. Spain. Late Paleolithic.
Transition to polychrome art, darker stroke.
Font-de-Gaume cave. France
Late Paleolithic.Characterized by silhouette images, deliberate distortion, exaggeration of proportions. On the walls and vaults of the small halls of the Font-de-Gaumes cave, at least about 80 drawings are applied, mainly bison, two indisputable figures of mammoths and even a wolf.
Grazing deer. Font de Gome. France. Late Paleolithic.
The image of the horns in perspective. Deer at this time (the end of the Madeleine era) replaced other animals.
Fragment. Buffalo. Font de Gome. France. Late Paleolithic.
The hump and crest on the head are emphasized. Overlapping one image with another is a polypsest. Detailed work. Decorative solution for the tail. Image of houses.
Wolf. Font de Gome. France. Late Paleolithic.
Cave of Nio. France
Late Paleolithic.Round room with drawings. There are no images of mammoths and other animals of the glacial fauna in the cave.
Horse. Nio. France. Late Paleolithic.
Depicted already with 4 legs. The silhouette is outlined in black paint, retouched in yellow inside. The character of a pony horse.
Stone sheep. Nio. France. Late Paleolithic. Partially contour image, the skin is drawn on top.
Deer. Nio. France. Late Paleolithic.
Buffalo. Nio. Nio. France. Late Paleolithic.
Among the images, most of all are bison. Some of them are shown as wounded, arrows in black and red.
Buffalo. Nio. France. Late Paleolithic.
Lascaux cave
It so happened that it was the children, and quite by accident, who found the most interesting cave paintings in Europe:“In September 1940, near the town of Montignac, in the South-West of France, four high school students went on an archaeological expedition they had planned. In place of a long-rooted tree, there was a gaping hole in the ground that aroused their curiosity. There were rumors that this was the entrance to a dungeon leading to a nearby medieval castle.
There was also a smaller hole inside. One of the guys threw a stone at it and, from the noise of the fall, concluded that the depth was decent. He widened the hole, crawled inside, nearly fell over, lit a flashlight, gasped, and called out to the others. From the walls of the cave in which they found themselves, some huge animals looked at them, breathing with such confident force, sometimes it seemed ready to go into a rage, that they became terrified. And at the same time, the power of these animal images was so majestic and convincing that it seemed to them as if they had fallen into some kind of magical kingdom.
Lasko cave. France.
Late Paleolithic (Madeleine era, 18 - 15 thousand years BC).
Called primeval Sistine Chapel. Consists of several large rooms: rotunda; main gallery; pass; apse.
Colorful images on the calcareous white surface of the cave.
Strongly exaggerated proportions: large necks and bellies.
Contour and silhouette drawings. Clear images without layering. A large number of male and female signs (rectangle and many dots).
The scene of the hunt. Lasko. France. Late Paleolithic.
genre image. A bull killed by a spear butted a man with a bird's head. Nearby on a stick is a bird - maybe his soul.
Buffalo. Lasko. France. Late Paleolithic.
Horse. Lasko. France. Late Paleolithic.
Mammoths and horses. Kapova cave. Ural.
Late Paleolithic.
KAPOVA CAVE- to the south. m Ural, on the river. White. Formed in limestones and dolomites. Corridors and grottoes are located on two floors. The total length is over 2 km. On the walls - late Paleolithic picturesque images of mammoths, rhinos
Paleolithic sculpture
Art of small forms or mobile art (small plastic)An integral part of the art of the Paleolithic era are objects that are commonly called "small plastic".
These are three types of objects:
1. Figurines and other three-dimensional items carved from soft stone or other materials (horn, mammoth tusk).
2. Flattened objects with engravings and paintings.
3. Reliefs in caves, grottoes and under natural canopies.
The relief was knocked out with a deep contour or the background around the image was shy.
Relief
One of the first finds, called small plastics, was a bone plate from the Shaffo grotto with images of two fallow deer or deer:
Deer swimming across the river. Fragment. Bone carving. France. Late Paleolithic (Madeleine period).
Everyone knows the wonderful French writer Prosper Mérimée, the author of the fascinating novel The Chronicle of the Reign of Charles IX, Carmen and other romantic novels, but few people know that he served as an inspector for the protection of historical monuments. It was he who handed over this disc in 1833 to the Cluny Historical Museum, which was just being organized in the center of Paris. Now it is kept in the Museum of National Antiquities (Saint-Germain en Le).
Later, an Upper Paleolithic cultural layer was discovered in the Shaffo Grotto. But then, just as it was with the painting of the cave of Altamira, and with other pictorial monuments of the Paleolithic era, no one could believe that this art is older than the ancient Egyptian. Therefore, such engravings were considered examples of Celtic art (V-IV centuries BC). Only at the end of the 19th century, again, like cave painting, they were recognized as the oldest after they were found in the Paleolithic cultural layer.
Very interesting figurines of women. Most of these figurines are small in size: from 4 to 17 cm. They were made of stone or mammoth tusks. Their most notable distinguishing feature is their exaggerated "corpulence", they depict women with overweight figures.
"Venus with a goblet". Bas-relief. France. Upper (Late) Paleolithic.
Goddess of the Ice Age. The canon of the image is that the figure is inscribed in a rhombus, and the stomach and chest are in a circle.
Sculpture- mobile art.
Almost everyone who has studied Paleolithic female figurines, with some differences in detail, explains them as cult objects, amulets, idols, etc., reflecting the idea of motherhood and fertility.
"Willendorf Venus". Limestone. Willendorf, Lower Austria. Late Paleolithic.
Compact composition, no facial features.
"The Hooded Lady of Brassempouy". France. Late Paleolithic. Mammoth bone.
The facial features and hairstyle have been worked out.
In Siberia, in the Baikal region, a whole series of original figurines of a completely different stylistic appearance was found. Along with the same as in Europe, overweight figures of naked women, there are figurines of slender, elongated proportions and, unlike European ones, they are depicted dressed in deaf, most likely fur clothes, similar to "overalls".
These are finds at the Buret sites on the Angara River and Malta.
conclusions
Rock painting. Features of the pictorial art of the Paleolithic - realism, expression, plasticity, rhythm.
Small plastic.
In the image of animals - the same features as in painting (realism, expression, plasticity, rhythm).
Paleolithic female figurines are cult objects, amulets, idols, etc., they reflect the idea of motherhood and fertility.
Mesolithic
(Middle Stone Age) 10 - 6 thousand BCAfter the melting of the glaciers, the usual fauna disappeared. Nature becomes more pliable for man. People become nomads.
With a change in lifestyle, a person's view of the world becomes broader. He is not interested in a single animal or an accidental discovery of cereals, but in the vigorous activity of people, thanks to which they find whole herds of animals, and fields or forests rich in fruits.
Thus, in the Mesolithic, the art of multi-figured composition was born, in which it was no longer the beast, but the man who played the leading role.
Change in the field of art:
the main characters of the image are not a separate animal, but people in some action.
The task is not in a believable, accurate depiction of individual figures, but in the transfer of action, movement.
Many-figured hunts are often depicted, scenes of honey gathering, cult dances appear.
The nature of the image is changing - instead of realistic and polychrome, it becomes schematic and silhouette. Local colors are used - red or black.
A honey harvester from a hive, surrounded by a swarm of bees. Spain. Mesolithic.
Practically everywhere where planar or three-dimensional images of the Upper Paleolithic era were found, there seems to be a pause in the artistic activity of people of the subsequent Mesolithic era. Perhaps this period is still poorly understood, perhaps the images made not in caves, but in the open air, were washed away by rain and snow over time. Perhaps, among the petroglyphs, which are very difficult to accurately date, there are those related to this time, but we still do not know how to recognize them. It is indicative that objects of small plastics are extremely rare during excavations of Mesolithic settlements.
Of the Mesolithic monuments, only a few can be named: Stone Grave in Ukraine, Kobystan in Azerbaijan, Zaraut-Sai in Uzbekistan, Mines in Tajikistan and Bhimpetka in India.
In addition to rock art, petroglyphs appeared in the Mesolithic era.
Petroglyphs are carved, carved or scratched rock art.
When carving a picture, ancient artists knocked down the upper, darker part of the rock with a sharp tool, and therefore the images stand out noticeably against the background of the rock.
In the south of Ukraine, in the steppe, there is a rocky hill of sandstone rocks. As a result of strong weathering, several grottoes and sheds were formed on its slopes. Numerous carved and scratched images have long been known in these grottoes and on other planes of the hill. In most cases, they are difficult to read. Sometimes images of animals are guessed - bulls, goats. Scientists attribute these images of bulls to the Mesolithic era.
Stone grave. South of Ukraine. General view and petroglyphs. Mesolithic.
To the south of Baku, between the southeastern slope of the Greater Caucasus Range and the coast of the Caspian Sea, there is a small plain Gobustan (a country of ravines) with highlands in the form of table mountains composed of limestone and other sedimentary rocks. On the rocks of these mountains there are many petroglyphs of different times. Most of them were opened in 1939. Most Interest and famous were large (more than 1 m) images of female and male figures, made with deep carved lines.
Many images of animals: bulls, predators and even reptiles and insects.
Kobystan (Gobustan). Azerbaijan (territory of the former USSR). Mesolithic.
Grotto Zaraut-Kamar
In the mountains of Uzbekistan, at an altitude of about 2000 m above sea level, there is a monument widely known not only among archaeologists - the Zaraut-Kamar grotto. Painted images were discovered in 1939 by local hunter I.F.Lamaev.
The painting in the grotto is made with ocher of different shades (from red-brown to lilac) and consists of four groups of images, in which anthropomorphic figures and bulls participate. 
Here is a group in which most researchers see bull hunting. Among the anthropomorphic figures surrounding the bull, i.e. There are two types of "hunters": figures in robes that expand downwards, without bows, and "tailed" figures with raised and stretched bows. This scene can be interpreted as a real hunt of disguised hunters, and as a kind of myth.
The painting in the grotto of Shakhta is probably the oldest in Central Asia.
"What does the word Mines mean," writes V.A. Ranov, "I don't know. Perhaps it comes from the Pamir word "mines", which means rock."
In the northern part of Central India, huge rocks with many caves, grottoes and sheds stretch along the river valleys. In these natural shelters, a lot of rock carvings have been preserved. Among them, the location of Bhimbetka (Bhimpetka) stands out. Apparently, these picturesque images belong to the Mesolithic. True, one should not forget about the uneven development of cultures of different regions. The Mesolithic of India may turn out to be 2-3 millennia older than in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Some scenes of driven hunts with archers in the paintings of the Spanish and African cycles are, as it were, the embodiment of the movement itself, brought to the limit, concentrated in a stormy whirlwind.
Neolithic
(New Stone Age) from 6 to 2 thousand BCNeolithic- New Stone Age, the last stage of the Stone Age.
periodization. The entry into the Neolithic is timed to coincide with the transition of culture from an appropriating (hunters and gatherers) to a producing (agriculture and/or cattle breeding) type of economy. This transition is called the Neolithic Revolution. The end of the Neolithic dates back to the time of the appearance of metal tools and weapons, that is, the beginning of the copper, bronze or iron age.
Different cultures entered this period of development at different times. In the Middle East, the Neolithic began about 9.5 thousand years ago. BC e. In Denmark, the Neolithic dates from the 18th century. BC, and among the indigenous population of New Zealand - the Maori - the Neolithic existed as early as the 18th century. AD: before the arrival of Europeans, the Maori used polished stone axes. Some peoples of America and Oceania still have not fully passed from the Stone Age to the Iron Age.
The Neolithic, like other periods of the primitive era, is not a specific chronological period in the history of mankind as a whole, but characterizes only the cultural characteristics of certain peoples.
Achievements and activities
1.
New features of the social life of people:
- Transition from matriarchy to patriarchy.
- At the end of the era in some places (Anterior Asia, Egypt, India) a new formation of a class society took shape, that is, social stratification began, the transition from a tribal-communal system to a class society.
- At this time, cities begin to be built. One of the most ancient cities is Jericho.
- Some cities were well fortified, which indicates the existence of organized wars at that time.
- Armies and professional warriors began to appear.
- One can quite say that the beginning of the formation of ancient civilizations is connected with the Neolithic era.
2.
The division of labor, the formation of technologies began:
- The main thing is simple gathering and hunting as the main sources of food are gradually being replaced by agriculture and cattle breeding.
The Neolithic is called the "Age of Polished Stone". In this era, stone tools were not just chipped, but already sawn, polished, drilled, sharpened.
- Among the most important tools in the Neolithic is an ax, previously unknown.
development of spinning and weaving.
In the design of household utensils, images of animals begin to appear.
An ax in the shape of an elk head. Polished stone. Neolithic. Historical Museum. Stockholm.
Wooden ladle from the Gorbunovsky peat bog near Nizhny Tagil. Neolithic. GIM.
For the Neolithic forest zone, fishing becomes one of the leading types of economy. Active fishing contributed to the creation of certain stocks, which, combined with the hunting of animals, made it possible to live in one place all year round.
The transition to a settled way of life led to the appearance of ceramics.
The appearance of ceramics is one of the main signs of the Neolithic era.
The village of Chatal-Guyuk (Eastern Turkey) is one of the places where the most ancient samples of ceramics were found.
Cup from Ledce (Czech Republic). Clay. Culture of bell-shaped goblets. Eneolithic (Copper Stone Age).
Monuments of Neolithic painting and petroglyphs are extremely numerous and scattered over vast territories.
Their accumulations are found almost everywhere in Africa, eastern Spain, on the territory former USSR- in Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, on Lake Onega, near the White Sea and in Siberia.
Neolithic rock art is similar to Mesolithic, but the subject matter becomes more varied.
"Hunters". Rock painting. Neolithic (?). Southern Rhodesia.
For about three hundred years, the attention of scientists was riveted to the rock, known as the "Tomsk Pisanitsa".
"Pisanitsy" refers to images painted with mineral paint or carved on the smooth surface of a wall in Siberia.
Back in 1675, one of the brave Russian travelers, whose name, unfortunately, remained unknown, wrote:
“The prison (Verkhnetomsky prison) did not reach the edges of the Tom, a stone is large and high, and animals, and cattle, and birds, and all sorts of similarities are written on it ...”
Real scientific interest in this monument arose already in the 18th century, when, by decree of Peter I, an expedition was sent to Siberia to study its history and geography. The result of the expedition was the first images of the Tomsk petroglyphs published in Europe by the Swedish captain Stralenberg, who participated in the trip. These images were not an exact copy of the Tomsk inscription, but conveyed only the most general outlines of rocks and the placement of drawings on it, but their value lies in the fact that they can be seen drawings that have not survived to this day.
Images of the Tomsk petroglyphs, made by the Swedish boy K. Shulman, who traveled with Stralenberg across Siberia.
For hunters, deer and elk were the main source of livelihood. Gradually, these animals began to acquire mythical features - the elk was the "master of the taiga" along with the bear.
The image of the elk plays the main role in the Tomsk petroglyphs: the figures are repeated many times.
The proportions and shapes of the animal's body are absolutely correctly conveyed: its long massive body, a hump on its back, heavy big head, a characteristic protrusion on the forehead, swollen upper lip, bulging nostrils, thin legs with cloven hooves.
In some drawings, transverse stripes are shown on the neck and body of moose.
On the border between the Sahara and Fezzan, on the territory of Algeria, in a mountainous area called Tassili-Ajer, bare rocks rise in rows. Now this region is dried up by the desert wind, scorched by the sun and almost nothing grows in it. However, earlier in the Sahara meadows were green ...
- Sharpness and accuracy of drawing, grace and grace.
- A harmonious combination of shapes and tones, the beauty of people and animals depicted with a good knowledge of anatomy.
- The swiftness of gestures, movements.
The small plastic of the Neolithic acquires, as well as painting, new subjects.
"Man Playing the Lute". Marble (from Keros, Cyclades, Greece). Neolithic. National Archaeological Museum. Athens.
The schematism inherent in Neolithic painting, which replaced Paleolithic realism, also penetrated small plastic arts.
Schematic representation of a woman. Cave relief. Neolithic. Croisart. Department of the Marne. France.
Relief with a symbolic image from Castelluccio (Sicily). Limestone. OK. 1800-1400 BC National Archaeological Museum. Syracuse.
conclusions
Mesolithic and Neolithic rock artIt is not always possible to draw a precise line between them.
But this art is very different from the typically Paleolithic:
- Realism, accurately fixing the image of the beast as a target, as a cherished goal, is replaced by a broader view of the world, the image of multi-figured compositions.
- There is a desire for harmonic generalization, stylization and, most importantly, for the transfer of movement, for dynamism.
- In the Paleolithic there was a monumentality and inviolability of the image. Here - liveliness, free fantasy.
- A desire for elegance appears in the images of a person (for example, if we compare the Paleolithic "Venuses" and the Mesolithic image of a woman collecting honey, or Neolithic Bushman dancers).
Small plastic:
- There are new stories.
- Greater craftsmanship and mastery of craft, material.
Achievements
Paleolithic- Lower Paleolithic
> > fire taming, stone tools
- Middle Paleolithic
> > out of Africa
- Upper Paleolithic
> > sling
Mesolithic
- microliths, bow, canoe
Neolithic
- Early Neolithic
> > Agriculture, cattle breeding
- Late Neolithic
> > ceramics
Eneolithic (Copper Age)
- metallurgy, horse, wheel
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is characterized by the leading role of bronze products, which was associated with an improvement in the processing of metals such as copper and tin, obtained from ore deposits, and the subsequent production of bronze from them.The Bronze Age succeeded the Copper Age and preceded the Iron Age. In general, the chronological framework of the Bronze Age: 35/33 - 13/11 centuries. BC e., but different cultures are different.
Art is becoming more diverse, spreading geographically.
Bronze was much easier to work than stone and could be molded and polished. Therefore, in the Bronze Age, all kinds of household items were made, richly decorated with ornaments and of high artistic value. Ornamental decorations consisted mostly of circles, spirals, wavy lines and similar motifs. Particular attention was paid to jewelry - they were large in size and immediately caught the eye.
Megalithic architecture
In 3 - 2 thousand BC. appeared peculiar, huge structures of stone blocks. This ancient architecture was called megalithic.The term "megalith" comes from the Greek words "megas" - "big"; and "lithos" - "stone".
Megalithic architecture owes its appearance to primitive beliefs. Megalithic architecture is usually divided into several types:
1.
Menhir is a single vertically standing stone, more than two meters high.
On the Brittany Peninsula in France, the so-called fields stretched for miles. menhirs. In the language of the Celts, the later inhabitants of the peninsula, the name of these stone pillars several meters high means "long stone".
2.
Trilith - a structure consisting of two vertically placed stones and covered by a third.
3.
A dolmen is a building whose walls are made up of huge stone slabs and covered with a roof made of the same monolithic stone block.
Initially, dolmens served for burials.
Trilit can be called the simplest dolmen.
Numerous menhirs, triliths and dolmens were located in places that were considered sacred.
4.
Cromlech is a group of menhirs and triliths.
Stone grave. South of Ukraine. Anthropomorphic menhirs. Bronze Age.
Stonehenge. Cromlech. England. Age of Bronze. 3 - 2 thousand BC Its diameter is 90 m, it consists of boulders, each of which weighs approx. 25 tons. It is curious that the mountains from where these stones were delivered are located 280 km from Stonehenge.
It consists of triliths arranged in a circle, inside a horseshoe of triliths, in the middle - blue stones, and in the very center - a heel stone (on the day of the summer solstice, the luminary is exactly above it). It is assumed that Stonehenge was a temple dedicated to the sun.
Age of Iron (Iron Age)
1 thousand BCIn the steppes of Eastern Europe and Asia, pastoral tribes created the so-called animal style at the end of the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age.
Plaque "Deer". 6th century BC Gold. Hermitage Museum. 35.1 x 22.5 cm. From a mound in the Kuban region. The relief plate was found attached to a round iron shield in the chief's burial. An example of zoomorphic art ("animal style"). The deer's hooves are made in the form of a "big-beaked bird".
There is nothing accidental, superfluous - a complete, thoughtful composition. Everything in the figure is conditional and extremely truthful, realistic.
The feeling of monumentality is achieved not by size, but by the generalization of form.
Panther. Plaque, shield decoration. From a mound near the village of Kelermesskaya. Gold. Hermitage Museum.
Age of Iron.
Served as a shield decoration. The tail and paws are decorated with figures of curled up predators.
Age of iron
Age of Iron. The balance between realism and stylization is tipped in favor of stylization.
Cultural links with Ancient Greece, the countries of the ancient East and China contributed to the emergence of new plots, images and visual means in the artistic culture of the tribes of southern Eurasia.
Scenes of a battle between barbarians and Greeks are depicted. Found in the Chertomlyk barrow, near Nikopol.
Zaporozhye region Hermitage Museum.
conclusions
Scythian art - "animal style". Striking sharpness and intensity of images. Generalization, monumentality. Stylization and realism.Vintage cave drawings primitive people were very amazing images, basically they were all drawn on stone walls.
There is an opinion that the rock paintings of ancient people are various animals that were hunted at that time. Then these drawings were made leading role in magical rites, hunters wanted to attract real animals during their hunt.
Pictures and rock paintings of primitive people very often resemble a two-dimensional image. Rock art is very rich in drawings of bison, rhinos, deer, mammoths. Also in many pictures you can see hunting scenes or people with spears and arrows.
What did the first people draw?
Rock paintings of ancient people- this is one of the manifestations of their emotional state and figurative thinking. Not everyone was able to create a vivid image of an animal or a hunt; only those people who could create such an image in their subconscious could do this.
There is also an assumption that ancient people with the help of rock art conveyed their visions and experiences That's how they expressed themselves.
Where did primitive people paint?
Parts of the caves that were hard to find - this is one of the best places to draw. This explains the significance of the rock paintings. Drawing was a certain ritual, the artists worked by the light of stone lamps.
December 18, 1994, the famous French speleologist Jean Marie Chauvet discovered the cave gallerycancient depictions of animals. The find was named after its discoverer — Chauvet cave. We decided to talk about the most beautiful caves with rock paintings.
Chauvet cave
The discovery of the Chauvet cave in the south of France near the town of Pont d'Arc became a scientific sensation that forced us to reconsider the existing idea of the art of ancient people: it was previously believed that primitive painting developed in stages. At first, the images were very primitive, and more than one thousand years had to pass for the drawings on the walls of the caves to reach their perfection. The discovery of Chauvet suggests the opposite: the age of some images is 30-33 thousand years, which means that our ancestors learned to draw even before moving to Europe. The found rock art is one of the oldest examples of cave art in the world, in particular, the drawing of black rhinos from Chauvet is still considered the oldest. The south of France is rich in such caves, but none of them can be compared with the Chauvet cave either in size, or in the preservation and skill of the drawings. Mostly animals are depicted on the walls of the cave: panthers, horses, deer, as well as woolly rhinoceros, tarpan, cave lion and other animals of the Ice Age. In total, 13 images were found in the cave various kinds animals.
Now the cave is closed to tourists, as changes in air humidity can damage the images. Archaeologists can only work in a cave for a few hours a day. To date, the Chauvet cave is a national treasure of France.
Caves of Nerja
Nerja Caves is an amazingly beautiful series of huge caves near the city of Nerja in Andalusia, Spain. Received the nickname "Prehistoric Cathedral". They were discovered by accident in 1959. They are one of the main attractions of Spain. Some of their galleries are open to the public, and one of them, which forms a natural amphitheater and has excellent acoustics, even hosts concerts. In addition to the largest stalagmite in the world, several mysterious drawings were found in the cave. Experts believe that seals or fur seals are depicted on the walls. Fragments of charcoal were found near the drawings, radiocarbon dating of which gave an age between 43,500 and 42,300 years. If experts prove that the images were made with this charcoal, the seals of the Nerja cave will be significantly older than the cave paintings from the Chauvet cave. This once again confirms the assumption that the Neanderthals had the ability for creative imagination no less than that of a reasonable person.
Kapova Cave (Shulgan-Tash)
This karst cave was found in Bashkiria, on the Belaya River, in the area of \u200b\u200bwhich is now the Shulgan-Tash reserve. This is one of the longest caves in the Urals. Rock paintings of ancient people from the Late Paleolithic era, the likes of which can only be found in very limited places in Europe, were discovered in Kapova Cave in 1959. Images of mammoths, horses and other animals are made mainly with ocher - a natural pigment based on animal fat, their age is about 18 thousand years. There are several charcoal drawings. In addition to animals, there are images of triangles, stairs, oblique lines. The most ancient drawings, dating from the early Paleolithic, are in the upper tier. On the lower tier of the Kapova cave there are later images of the Ice Age. The drawings are also notable for the fact that the human figures are shown without the realism inherent in the animals depicted. The researchers suggest that the images were made in order to propitiate the "gods of the hunt." In addition, cave paintings are designed to be perceived not from one specific point, but from several angles of view. To preserve the drawings, the cave was closed to the public in 2012, but an interactive kiosk was installed in the museum on the territory of the reserve for everyone to take a virtual look at the drawings.
Cueva de las Manos Cave
Cueva de las Manos ("Cave of Many Hands") is located in Argentina, in the province of Santa Cruz. The world fame of Cueva de las Manos in 1964 was brought by the research of archeology professor Carlos Gradin, who discovered many wall paintings and human handprints in the cave, the oldest of which date back to the 9th millennium BC. e. More than 800 prints, overlapping each other, form a multi-colored mosaic. Until scientists came to consensus about the meaning of the images of hands, from which the cave got its name. Mostly left hands are captured: out of 829 prints, only 36 are right. Moreover, according to some researchers, the hands belong to teenage boys. Most likely, drawing the image of one's hand was part of the initiation rite. In addition, scientists have built a theory about how such clear and crisp palm prints were obtained: apparently, a special composition was typed into the mouth, and through the tube it was blown with force onto the hand attached to the wall. In addition to handprints, the walls of the cave depict people, Nanda ostriches, guanacos, cats, geometric figures with ornaments, hunting processes (the drawings show the use of bolas, a traditional throwing weapon of the Indians of South America) and observations of the sun. In 1999, the cave was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Interesting and picturesque messages from the past - drawings on the walls of caves, which are up to 40 thousand years old - fascinate modern people with their conciseness.
What were they for the people of antiquity? If they served only to decorate the walls, then why were they performed in the remote corners of the caves, in those places where, most likely, they did not live?
The oldest of the found drawings were made about 40 thousand years ago, others are several tens of thousands of years younger. It is interesting that in different parts of the world the images on the walls of the caves are very similar - in those days people depicted mainly ungulates and other animals that were common in their area.
The image of hands was also popular: members of the community put their palms against the wall and outlined them. Such pictures are really inspiring: by pressing a palm to such an image, a person can feel as if he has formed a bridge between modern civilization and antiquity!
Below we bring to your attention interesting images made by ancient people from different parts of the world on the walls of caves.
Pettakere Lime Cave, Indonesia
Cave Pettakere 12 kilometers from the city of Maros. At the entrance to the cave, there are white and red outlines of hands on the ceiling - 26 images in total. The age of the drawings is about 35 thousand years. Photo: Cahyo Ramadhani/wikipedia.org
Chauvet cave, south of France
Images, whose age is about 32-34 thousand years, are placed on the walls of a limestone cave near the city of Valon-pon-d'Arc. In total, in the cave, which was discovered only in 1994, there are 300 drawings that amaze with their picturesqueness.
One of the most famous images from the Chauvet cave. Photo: JEFF PACHOUD/AFP/Getty Images
Photo: JEFF PACHOUD/AFP/Getty Images
Photo: JEFF PACHOUD/AFP/Getty Images
Photo: JEFF PACHOUD/AFP/Getty Images
Photo: JEFF PACHOUD/AFP/Getty Images
Cave of El Castillo, Spain
El Castillo contains some of the oldest examples of cave art in the world. The age of the images is at least 40,800 years.
Photo: cuevas.culturadecantabria.com
Covalanas Cave, Spain
The unique cave of Kovalanas was inhabited by people less than 45 thousand years ago!
Photo: cuevas.culturadecantabria.com
Photo: cuevas.culturadecantabria.com
The walls of the caves located near Covalanas and El Castillo are also decorated with numerous drawings made by people thousands of years ago. However, these caves are not so famous. Among them are Las Monedas, El Pando, Chufin, Ornos de la Pena, Culalvera.
Lascaux cave, France
The Lascaux cave complex in southwest France was discovered by accident in 1940 local, an 18-year-old boy named Marcel Ravid. A huge number of drawings on the walls, which are surprisingly well preserved, give this cave complex the right to claim the title of one of the largest galleries. ancient world. The age of the images is about 17.3 thousand years.
