Essential Questions What is the function of Prehistoric

Essential Questions: What is the function of Prehistoric Art and Architecture? How do we get meaning from these works and monuments? What meaning can we glean from these objects and monuments? What are the similarities between objects regardless of their origin? What influence have these objects had on other artists? What does influence look like? How do you recognize it?

The Function of Prehistoric Art and Architecture 1. Connected the worlds of the living and the spirits 2. Established social hierarchies 3. Helped people learn and remember critical information about the natural world 4. A fundamental aspect of human development

Theories on the Meaning of Prehistoric Art Clive Gamble Sculptures are subtle forms of nonverbal communication among small isolated groups of people spread out across vast regions. Sharing these objects may have signaled the groups willingness to interact. Leroy Mc. Dermott Argues that the perspective on the figures is that of a pregnant woman looking down on her body, so the sculptures were made by pregnant women. 19 th century Humans have an innate sense of aesthetics and so cave paintings were created for the sheer love of beauty.

How cave painting got discovered

Theories on the Meaning of Prehistoric Cave Painting Theorist Theory Salomon Reinach, 1903 Suggested theory of Sympathetic Magic. The idea that a picture of a sleeping bison might ensure that hunters found their prey asleep. Abbe Henri Breuil Caves were sacred spaces and were the settings for initiation rites and worship. Andre Leroi. Gourham and Annette Laming. Emperaire Reject Sympathetic Magic after analyzing debris of human settlements and discovering that the animals used for food and shelter were not the same ones found depicted in the caves. Leslie Freeman 1980’s Artists faithfully represented the bison during mating season. Instead of being asleep or dead, they were dust-wallowing, common behavior during mating season. Steve Mithen His study of footprints, hides, patterns of animal feces were recorded and used to teach novice hunters within the group. David Lewis. Williams Shamanism: the belief that certain people (shamans) can travel outside their bodies in order to mediate between the worlds of the living and the spirits.

Building Göbekli Tepe Click for Smithsonian information The Birth of Religion , Gobekli Tepe, Turkey, predates Stonehenge by 6, 000 yrs. We used to think agriculture gave rise to cities and later to writing, art, and religion. Now the world’s oldest temple suggests the urge to worship sparked civilization.

Theories on the Meaning of Stonehenge Theorist Middle Ages Theory Merlin, from the King Arthur legend built it. A ritual site of the Celtic druid priests. An observatory or calendar, because of its orientation and the way the sun comes through the stones at the spring and fall equinoxes. Mike Parker Pearson Contextual approach that looks at the surrounding areas to help decipher its function. It is a site associated with ceremonies linked to death and burials.