Intro to Prehistoric Art, 20,000?-8,000 B.C.
Cupules between 30,000 and 40,000 years old
Cupules (Fig. 1) are the earliest surviving rock art we know about in the world, but this does not necessarily make them the first rock art produced.
Cupules—- the oldest surviving rock art, ROBERT G. BEDNARIK
No doubt, more will be discovered and written about as you grow up.
Timespans for civilizations vary so greatly, that I am not going to try and bring them into this discussion. In 2004, the oldest shelter was 24,000 years old; 2000 it was 600,000 years old. I don’t understand the time references here, so you can explore the links if you like. For the sake of time, we will use the Met’s timeline for prehistoric art and begin in Australia.
| Stone axes from 800,000 years ago? Some think so. “The two sides of a new hand axe from the Bose Basin of South China, made 800,000 years ago.” |
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| Ubirr (ca. 40,000?–present) The site of Ubirr in Arnhem Land, northern Australia, Aborigine Rock Paintings. | |
| abt. 35,000 B.C., Venus from three metres underground, within the Hohle Fels Cave in southern Germany. |  |
| Apollo 11 (ca. 25,500–23,500 B.C.) (southwestern Namibia) and Wonderwerk (ca. 8,000 B.C.) Cave Stones (Northern Cape Province of South Africa |  |
Mal’ta (ca. 20,000 B.C.) Northeast Asia (Siberia and northeastern Asia: the Mal’ta and the Afontova Gora-Oshurkovo. ) |  |
| Wadi Kubbaniya (ca. 17,000–15,000 B.C.) upper Egypt |  |
| Lascaux (ca. 15,000 B.C.) Southwestern France |  Virtual Tour |
| Jomon Culture (ca. 10,500–ca. 300 B.C.) Fired pottery from Japan among the oldest pottery known in the world. |  Jomon is Japan’s oldest culture, also known as the “tree culture”. |
| Eynan/Ain Mallaha (10,000–8,200 B.C.) Situated between the hills of Galilee and Lake Hula in the Levant, Israel |  Natufians, settling down from hunting and gathering and began cooking their food. |
| Blackwater Draw (ca. 9,500–3,000 B.C.) (eastern New Mexico, U.S.) Clovis points |  |
| Fell’s Cave, Pali Aike cave, and other discoveries (9,000–8,000 B.C.) (in Patagonia – southern tip of Chile) |
 A great place to read current information about the Paleoindian. |
| Neothilic Artifacts from 10,000 BC, howerver, pictured are from 3200 to 2700 BC – China, Pottery (Yellow River basin, extending from Gansu Province in northwestern China) |  |
| Pachmari Hills (ca. 9,000–3,000 B.C.) (in the Satpura Range of Central India) |  Take a virtual tour of the zoo rock cave at Bhimbetka asi.nic.in walkthrough Bhimbetka Petroglyphs Photographcs of cave painting |
| Jiahu (ca. 7,000–5,700 B.C.) flutes from site of Jiahu in the Yellow River basin of Henan Province, central China |
Think and Do:
Visit drawing at BrainPop:
Find a rock, no bigger than your fist, to make a paperweight for your desk. Using charcoal or pastels, draw your own cave painting on it. Let me know when you are done and I will spray it with sealer so that you can use it forever.
Additional Fun Places to visit:
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, World Map, 20,000 BC – 8000 BC
