Stone Age

Stone Age

1. Prehistory

   • period before any writing system was developed
   • survival and religion was the primary motivation for art
   • Paintings
     • Cave Paintings
       • located in Northern Spain
   • Sculptures
     • Venus Willendorf
       • portable sculpture in the round
     • Venus of Laussel
       • bas-relief

2. Rococco Period

   • the Feminine Period
   • by Madame De Pompadour, the mistress of the king

3. Main Eras

   • Paleolithic
   • Mesolithic
   • Neolithic
     • 9000 BCE
     • shift from hunting and gathering to farming
     • monumental architecture began to be developed
     • Neolithic Architecture
       • responsive to environment filled with cultural symbols
       • Beehive Hut
         • Northern Part of UK
       • Vernacular Architecture
         • architecture without an architect
       • Trullo Huts
         • dry walled rough stone shelter with corbelled roof
         • dabbing
           • dry roughly plastered walls
     • Megalithic Architecture
       • Menhirs
         • single stones usually standing upright in the ground
         • symbolizes fertility
         • symbolized the phallic power of the male fertilizing the Mother Earth
       • Dolmens
         • chambers or enclosures
         • consists of two or more vertical stones supporting a single stone
       • Chormlech
         • groups of menhirs arranged to form circles or semi-circles
         • Celtic word for "circle"
     • Mesopotamia
       • center of Near Eastern civilization
       • derived from Greek word mesos meaning middle, and potamos meaning river
       • known as the Fertile Crescent
       • Mesopotamians were the first ones to use the wheel and plow, learn how to control floods and construct irrigation canals, and establish the first great urban communities
       • religion was polytheistic and were represented anthropomorphically and zoomorphically
       • Sumerian
         • architecture
           • developed monumental temples
           • city plan reflected the daily life of the city state's occupants
         • cuneiform
           • from Latin word "cuneus" meaning wedge
         • Eshnunna Statuettes
           • soft gypsum statuettes 
           • inlaid with shell and black limestone
           • also referred to as votive statues
       • Akkadian
         • founder of the century was Sargon I
         • Semitic-speaking people, under the northern rulers
         • Victory stele of Naram-Sin
           • to commemorate his conquest, showing him leading his army
           • stele
             • a carved stone slab erected to mark a grave
       • Old Babylonian
         • ruling with a centralized government
         • dominated Mesopotamia
         • Hammurabi
           • the most famous king of the Amorite dynasty 
           • the Code of Hammurabi
             • provides a unique glimpse into the social and legal structure of ancient Mesopotamia
             • comprises of 300 statutes in 51 cuneiform columns
       • Uruk Period
         • known as Protoliterate period, because of the earliest writing developed
         • cylinder seals
           • glyptic art
           • originally used to designate ownership, to keep inventories and accounts, and later, to legalize documents
           • intaglio
             • process of impressing glyptic art onto a soft surface
       • Assyrian
         • the next unifying force in Mesopotamia
         • Dur Sharrukin
           • the royal citadel of Sargon II
           • most completely excavated of the many Assyrian palaces
           • Lamassu
             • monumental guardians representing divine genii who guard the palace entrance
         • Palaces
           • introduced brickwork and also high [ground] and great stone slabs places on edges, usually carved with low relief sculpture
       • Neo-Babylonian
         • reign of Nebuchadnezzar
         • Ishtar Gate
           • glazed brick structure
         • Hanging Garden
           • seven-tiered ziggurat rising from a 90-meterr base
           • Dedicated to Nebuchadnezzar's wife, Amytis.
         • Biblical Tower of Babel
           • 300 ft. tall with a temple at the apex
           • dedicated to the god Marduk
       • Persian
         • Achaemenid dynasty founded by King Cyrus II (or Cyrus the Great)
         • followed the teaching of Zoroaster who taught that the world's two central forces were light and dark
         • no temple because rituals are done outdoors
         • palaces became the most important piece of architecture in the Persian culture
         • Persepolis
           • literally City of the Persians
           • built by Darius I, and by his successors Xerxes and Artaxerxes I
           • built on a stone platform and consisted of multi-structured rooms
           • reliefs lining the stairs at the Palace of Persepolis
           • Apadana
             • audience hall where the king received foreign delegates
           • Bull capital
             • used as impost blocks
             • represents fertility and power
             • metaphor for the position of the king as the head of state