Art Origins



Figure 1.-- The final prehistoric step in the development of art was the representation of human beauty. The first such example was like human representations in general was again a woman--the Venus of Brassempouy, a piece of carved mammoth ivory found in France (about 25,000 BP). Archaeologists have found several minatures venusesin roughly the same era, but none so realistically depicting beauty. The carver was nothing short of a prehistoric Michelangelo.

It has long been debated as to when prehistoic homonids made the jump from apes (animals) to man. It was once thought it was tool making, but we now know of animals which make tools. The dawn of humanity may well be the ability to make and enjoy art. There are several major momentous steps in the origins of art. An interesting question about both art and human development is just who invented art and when. The oldest know artistic work is a matter of some debate. Some Archaeologistspoint to a cupule at the Auditorium Cave at Bhimbetka, Madhya Pradesh, India (variuously dated from (290,000-700,000 BP). The oldest uncontested piece of art is believed to be an ochre stone incised with a cross-hatch patterns found in Blombos Cave along the coast of South Africa (about 70,000 BP). Here there can be no doubt about it. There is no possible reason for the cross hatching other than it was aesthetically pleasing. The next major jump in the history of art was the development of art was figurative art. We have found early artstic creations dating back to 35,000-40,000 BP. So far no one has dated figurative art earlier than 40,000 BP. Precise dating is not possible, but methods like carbon dating and isotope half lives give us a rough idea of dates. The earliest examples of art is cave art. Some artifacts might be classified as art, but cave art is the earliest indisputable works of figurative art. The best known examples come from French and Spanish caves. This magnificent images of wild horses in the Chauvet Cave of the Ardeche region are amazing, sophiticated art work. They have been roughly dated (abou 30,000-32,000 BP). There are also hand stencils which may have been a kind of signature. Given the sophistication surely there were earlier efforts. Less well known are caves on the island of Sulawesi. Archaelogists have found hand stencils (39,900 BP) and drawings of a pig-like animal (35,700 BP). These findings suggest that figurative art was invented indepedently by atanomically modern Homo sapiens indepedently in Europe and Southeast Asia at about the same time. There is of course another possibility, that human artistic expression began even earlier before humans had begun the migration out of Africa. And this could have been before the evolution of fully modern humans. The earliest depictions are mostly animals. Some researchers, however, believe a female figurine excavated in Germany and dating to about the same time as the cave art is the oldest known example of a human being. All the earliest depictions were of women, and thus presumably done by men. The final major prehistoric step in the development of art was the representation of human beauty. Again the first example was a woman--the Venus of Brassempouy, a piece of carved mammoth ivory (25,000 BP).

Becoming Human

It has long been debated as to when prehistoic homonids made the jump from apes (animals) to man. It was once thought it was tool making, but we now know of animals which make tools. The dawn of humanity may well be the ability to make and enjoy art.

Momentous Steps

There are several major momentous steps in the origins of art.

Inventing Art

An interesting question about both art and human development is just who invented art and when. The oldest know artistic work is a matter of some debate. Some Archaeologistspoint to a cupule (a geomerric shaoe) at the Auditorium Cave at Bhimbetka, Madhya Pradesh, India (variously dated from (290,000-700,000 BP). The oldest uncontested piece of art is believed to be an ochre stone incised with cross-hatching (geometric patterns). It was found in Blombos Cave along the coast of South Africa (about 70,000 BP). Here there can be no doubt about it. There is no possible reason for the cross hatching other than it was aesthetically pleasing. It is interesting that the first art is the representation of abstract geometric shapes rather than someyhing thsat was oibserved in nature. Of course what we have is art on nonpershiable materials. Earlier efforts could have included wood carving, feathers, body painting and much more.

Figurative Depictions

The next major jump in the history of art was the development of art was figurative art. We have found early artstic creations dating back to 35,000-40,000 BP. So far no one has dated figurative art earlier than 40,000 BP. Precise dating is not possible, but methods like carbon dating and isotope half lives give us a rough idea of dates. The earliest examples of art is cave art. Some artifcts might be classified as art, but cave art is the earliest indisputable works of figurative art. The best known examples come from French and Spanish caves. This magnificent images of wild horses in the Chauvet Cave of the Ardeche region are amazing, sophiticated art work. They have been roughly dated (abou 30,000-32,000 BP). There are also hand stencils which may have been a kind of signature. Given the sophistication surely there were earlier efforts. Less well known are caves on the island of Sulawesi. Archaelogists have found hand stencils (39,900 BP) and drawings of a pig-like animal (35,700 BP). These findings suggest that figurative art was invented indepedently by atanomically modern Homo sapiens indepedently in Europe and Southeast Asia at about the same time. There is of course another possibility, that human artistic expression began even earlier before humans had begun the migration out of Africa. And this could have been before the evolution of fully modern humans.

Human Depictions

The earliest depictions are mostly animals. Some researchers, however, believe a female figurine excavated in Germany and dating to about the same time as the cave art is the oldest known example of a human being. All the earliest depictions were of women, and thus presumably done by men.

Beauty

The final major prehistoric step in the development of art was the representation of human beauty. Again the first example was a woman--the Venus of Brassempouy, a piece of carved mammoth ivory (figure 1). It dates to the end of the prehistoric era --the Upper Palaeolithic (about 25,000 BP). It is a fragmentary ivory figurine. It tells us what the population was huning and eating. The manouth ivory provides a material that was not only no perhisable, but was soft enough to permit detailed carving once the approipriate toos were available. Given the skill involved, it is certain that he must have done other carving, perhaos in different masterial. The Venus was discovered in a cave at Brassempouy, France in southwest France. It was found in 1892. The Venus, often call dame in France, is the earliest known realistic representations of a human face discovered to date. It also provides a realistic depiction of hair styling. There are earlier European miniatures (Venus figurine traditions), but none approaching the realism of the Venus of Brassempouy. This of course means that the carver was an artistic master like the painter of the Chauvet Cave animals. The Venus is the the surviving head and neck of the original figure. What is left is tiny, anout 3.5 cm in height, 2.2 cm deep and 1.9 cm wide. Unlike the other prehistoric venuses of the era, this one features discernable facial features (forehead, brows, eyes, nose but no mouth). And we clearly see the depiction of braided hair or an Egyptian-style headdress. This of course was millennia before Egyptian civilization had developed. We do not know about the rest of her body, which was destroyed during Antiquity.

Children in Art

The first human depictions in art are of women. Then we see men being depicted as hunters. What we do not see in prehistoric art for what ever reason is children. This could be because prehistoric man did not have the technical skills to depict age. Here of course they could hsave used size. But we do not know of any examples. The first children we see in art are from ancient Egypt. We do not know of any artistic depictions from the other River Valley civilization (Mesopotanmia, Indus Valley, and China), the first great generators of art. Perhaps readers will know more, but unil the advent of later civilzations we do not see depictions of children.






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Created: 9:18 PM 4/22/2018
Last updated: 9:18 PM 4/22/2018