Flashcards
Prehistoric Art Midterm
Cards in this deck (42)
- 1—Location: Southern Africa
Significance: Could represent the social rules of hunting - 2—Location: Southern Africa
Significance: Could be proof of the rock paintings of the KhoiSan people to be the result of shamanic rituals (the bloody nose is common when the shamans are doing their thing)
- 3—Location: France
Site: La Madelaine
Date Range: 17,000 BP
Significance: Child burial means children may have been important to this society to some extent (which was odd for the time)
- 4—Location: Crete (Minoan Culture)
Significance: Rare depictions of males mean that they may represent youth rather than masculinity
- 5—Location: Southern Africa
Significance: Could be proof of the rock paintings of the KhoiSan people to be the result of shamanic rituals (the 'front legs' could be the shamans using sticks to hold themselves up)
- 6—Seated Dignitary
Location: Nigeria (Nok Culture)
Date Range: 250 BCE
Significance: Nok figurines are the oldest figurative art in sub-Saharan Africa and were likely part of spiritual or burial practices
- 7—Location: Southern Africa
Significance: Most rock paintings consisted only of animals which no plants, meaning that animals were a huge part of this society's life
- 8—Location: Southern Africa
Significance: Could be proof of the rock paintings of the KhoiSan people as representations of initiation and puberty rituals (this could be depicting birth or the beginning of menstruation)
- 9—Location: South Africa
Site: Blombos Cave
Date Range: 100,000 BP
Significance: One of the earliest examples of symbolic behavior
- 10—Location: Southern Germany
Date Range: 40,000 BP
Significance: Human-animal hybrids usually mean the society is spiritual
- 11—Location: Southern Africa
Site: Great Zimbabwe (Great Enclosure)
Date Range: 1000 CE
Significance: No defensive function indicated that they were a peaceful society or were so respected that they didn't need to defend themselves
- 12—Bull Leaping
Location: Crete (Minoan Culture)
Significance: Large fresco taking up the entire wall could be used to reinforce social stratification to visitors
- 13—Location: Europe
Date Range: 40,000-28,000 BP
Significance: Shells are from foreign coasts, which indicates patterned group movement or extensive trade networks
- 14—Location: Crete (Minoan Culture)
Significance: Marine life is a common depiction on the walls
- 15—Location: Europe
Date Range: 40,000-12,000 BP
Significance: Quality of the painting means that it was done by a very skilled artist (meaning that art was important to the society)
- 16—Location: Southern Africa
Site: Great Zimbabwe (the Hill Complex)
Date Range: 1000-1450 CE
Significance: Elite gathering place, curved walls show mastery of physics/math/technique, and the staircase to the top represents a social hierarchy
- 17—Location: Crete (Minoan Culture)
Significance: Linear A is non-Hellenic and may indicate that the Minoans migrated to the island from somewhere in Asia
- 18—Berekhat Ram figurine
Location: Israel
Date Range: 265,000 BP
Significance: One of the earliest possibilities of symbolic behavior
- 19—Location: Southern Africa
Site: Blombos Cave
Significance: Early example of symbolic art
- 20—Location: Crete (Minoan Culture)
Significance: Nature motifs and gold jewelry (had to trade to get gold)
- 21—Location: Southern Africa
Significance: Shows that distinction between humans and animals are not so distinct in these times
- 22—Location: Crete (Minoan Culture)
Significance: Snake Goddess is a household divinity and may indicate a matriarchal society
- 23—Location: Southern Africa
Significance: Shows how KhoiSan people used their environment to enhance their art (the snake appears to move behind the part of the rock that is sticking out)
- 24—Location: Germany
Site: Vogelherd Cave
Date Range: 32,000-35,000 BP
Significance: Small figures meant that they could be taken with people as they moved
- 25—Female Standing Figurine
Location: Nigeria (Nok Culture)
Date Range: 500 BCE - 500 CE
Significance: Ornate jewelry indicates that personal ornamentation was very important to the Nok people (hierarchial)
- 26—Location: Crete (Minoan Culture)
Significance: Egyptian-like female depictions mean that they probably interbred or often traded with the Egyptians
- 27—Location: Nigeria (Nok Culture)
Date Range: 100 BCE - 200 CE
Significance: Ornate hair and jewelry indicate that personal ornamentation was important (hierarchial)
- 28—Location: Germany
Site: Geißenklösterle Cave
Date Range: 30,000-37,000 y BP
Significance: Musical instruments (50+) indicate that music was used for rituals or ceremonies
- 29—Location: France
Site: Brassempouy
Date Range: 22,000 BCE
Significance: Looks to have been repaired and added onto multiple times which indicates that it was passed down through generations
- 30—Location: France
Site: La Madelaine
Date Range: 17,000 BP
Significance: Child burial means children may have been important to this society to some extent (which was odd for the time)
- 31—Location: Southern Africa
Site: Great Zimbabwe (the Valley)
Date Range: 1000-1450 CE
Significance: Commoners lived in houses made of dung and clay, position in relation to the Hill Complex reinforce social hierarchy
- 32—Location: Southern Africa
Significance: Person giving birth may indicate representation of puberty initiation and rituals
- 33—Location: Southern Africa
Significance: Appears to be a depiction of a man hunting, which could be used to teach younger generations about the importance of the action
- 34—Location: Southern Africa
Site: Great Zimbabwe
Date Range: 1000-1450 CE
Significance: Shona people were spiritual because they often saw birds of prey (like the structures) as messengers between humans and the spirit world
- 35—Location: Crete (Minoan Culture)
Site: Knossos Palace
Significance: Held wine and olives which indicates an extensive trading network with surrounding civilizations
- 36—Location: Southern Africa
Significance: The red line in the back could represent menstruation (puberty initiation)
- 37—Location: Crete (Minoan Culture)
Significance: The hybrid flowers suggest that the artist was more concerned which representing nature as a whole rather than realistic depictions
- 38—Male Figure
Location: Nigeria (Nok Culture)
Significance: Nok figurines are the oldest figurative art in sub-Saharan Africa and were likely part of spiritual or burial practices
- 39—Location: Crete (Minoan Culture)
Site: Knossos
Date Range: 1900 - 1375 BCE
Significance: Advanced running water and plumbing systems indicate a highly sophisticated society
- 40—Location: Southern Africa
Site: Great Zimbabwe (Great Enclosure)
Date Range: 1000 CE
Significance: Curved walls show mastery of math/physics/technique, the largest prehistoric structure in sub-saharan Africa
- 41—Location: France
Site: Chauvet Cave
Date Range: 26,000-33,000 BP
Significance: Overlapping drawings suggest that groups repeatedly returned to the cave to paint
- 42—Location: Crete (Minoan Culture)
Significance: Female goddesses suggests a matriarchal society
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- Prehistoric Art Flashcards on Prehistoric Art Midterm, created by Delaney Edge on 01/03/2020.
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- Delaney Edge
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