Neolithic Art

1. Paleolithic and
Neolithic Art

2. History Timeline
Prehistoric Art
Paleolithic
“Old Stone Age”
30, 000 BCE – 8, 000 BCE
Neolithic
“New Stone Age”
8,000 BCE-5,000 BCE
“Hall of Bulls”
Lascaux Caves, France
15,000 BCE – 13, 000 BCE

4. Neolithic Period
(c. 8,000 – 5,000 BCE)
•Neolithic-from
Greek words neo
and lithos meaning
“new” and “stone”.

5. NEOLITHIC means New Stone Age, and is characterized by:
2.The domestication of plants and animals and
3.The development of a sedentary lifestyle.

6. Our Neolithic Ancestors
•The greatest impact on the lives of the Neolithic
people was the transition from hunters and
gatherers to farmers.
•Domestication of animals
•Settlement into permanent villages.

7. Food
•Hunting from domesticated animals and
birds
•Vegetables and fruit from farming
•Wheat and grains cultivated from farming.
•Now able to supply food for more people.
•Now able to have more free time.

8. Clothing
•Brightly coloured clothes made from dyed
wool.
•Created jewelry from bones and stones.

9. Shelter
•Wooden and grass huts
•Stones built as shelters

10. Villages were established. Spaces were dedicated
to family life, worship, commerce, and defensive
walls were built.

11. Occupation
•A wide variety of roles were becoming
available.
•Some were farmers, others were clothes
makers, potters, etc.

12. Religion
•Worshipped many gods and goddesses,
however, strongly based on nature

13. Language
•Neolithic people didn’t have a written language.
Instead they had an oral language- stories were
passed down through generations.

14. Megaliths
More than 4,000 years ago, the people of
the Neolithic period decided to build a
massive stone monument or megalith
using earth, timber and eventually, stones,
placing it high on Salisbury Plain in
Wiltshire, England.
This megalith is known as Stonehenge.

15. Stonehenge
Salisbury Plain, England
3000 BCE and 1400 BCE

16. •Stonehenge was built over a 2,000 year
period, and modern scientists are still
attempting to figure out how these
Neolithic people were able to erect such
large stones without the use of machines.
•Stonehenge tells us that the Neolithic
people knew a lot about architecture,
mathematics and astrology.

17. Ariel View of
Stonehenge

18. Neolithic Architecture
•Stonehenge demonstrates the first use of post
and lintel construction. We still use this
technique today in modern architecture.
•Post and lintel is a simple construction
technique, also called "post and beam", where a
horizontal member (the lintel) is supported by
two vertical posts at either end. This very simple
form is commonly used to support windows and
doors.

19. post
lintel

20. How?
•Construction took place in three phases,
over 25 generations. Most of it was the
result of human muscle and a system of
ropes and wooden levers used to
transport the massive stones. Primitive
tools, such as red deer antlers, were used
to dig up the chalky countryside of
Salisbury Plain, which was then taken
away on ox shoulder blades.

21. An artists concept of how
Stonehenge looked when
complete.


22. Built in 3 stages,
Stonehenge is a kind
of astrological
observatory.
It was built of an
earth-work trench
and wall…then a
ring of small stones
placed flush to the
ground encircling an
inner ring that
encircles a horse
shoe configuration.

24. The Builders
•No one can say for sure who built the
monument. Seventeenth century, English
antiquarian, John Aubrey, implicated the Druids,
a religious sect known to worship at modern day
Stonehenge. But this theory is now considered
implausible. The modern Druid, possibly formed
from a Celtic priesthood, is believed to have
come along 2,000 years after the stone
monument had been built and perhaps was in
ruin.

25. Why?

26. •Stonehenge is believed to have religious significance
due to its many alignments to celestial events.
(Primarily the rising and setting of the sun on the winter
and summer solstice.)
Stonehenge Summer Solstice 1987.gvi

27. Stonehenge Summer Solstice 2004.gvi

28. What?
•The megalith, “Stonehenge”.

29. Where?
•Salisbury Plain, England

30. When?
•3,000 BCE to 1,400 BCE, over a 2000
year period.

31. Who?
•Neolithic people, possibly the Celts or the
Druids.

32. How?
• Using the post and lintel technique.
•A system of ropes, wooden levers and
primitive tools were used to transport the
massive stones.
•The Neolithic people had knowledge of
architecture, mathematics and astrology.

33. Why?
•We don’t know for sure, however some
theories suggest:
•For religious ceremonies
•An astronomical calendar
•Burial ground

34. History Timeline
Prehistoric Art
Paleolithic
“Old Stone Age”
30, 000 BCE – 8, 000 BCE
Neolithic
“New Stone Age”
8,000 BCE-5,000 BCE
“Hall of Bulls”
Lascaux Caves, France
15,000 BCE – 13, 000 BCE
“Stonehenge”
Salisbury Plain, England
3,000 BCE – 1,400 BCE

35. Moai, Easter Island, Chile
A.D. 1000–1100.

36. •Moai are statues of heads carved from
volcanic rock on Easter Island, Chile.
•The statues are all monolithic, that is,
carved in one piece.

38. Easter Island Rapa Nui Holiday video with music..gvi

39. •The largest moai
erected, "Paro", was
almost 10 metres (33
feet) high and
weighed 75 tonnes.
One unfinished
sculpture has been
found that would have
been 21 metres (69 ft)
tall and would have
weighed about 270
tons.

40. How?
•It is not known exactly how the moai were
moved but the process almost certainly
required human energy, ropes, wooden
sledges and/or rollers. Another theory is
that the moai may have been "walked" by
rocking them forward.

41. •We are still
trying to
figure out
today how
these
statues
were
erected
without
modern
equipment.

42. •In recent years, toppled
moai have been found
untouched and face-
down. This led to the
discovery that the famous
deep eye sockets of the
moai were designed to
hold coral eyes. Replica
eyes have been
constructed and placed in
some statues for
photographs.

43. What?
•“Moai”, monolithic statues of people
carved out of volcanic ash.

44. When?
•1,000- 1,100 AD

45. Where?
•Easter Island, Chile.

46. How?
•Human energy, ropes, wooden sledges
and/or rollers.
•Another theory is that the moai may have
been "walked" by rocking them forward.

47. Who?
•The statues were carved by the
Polynesian colonizers of the island
beginning by about A.D. 1000–1100.

48. Why?
•In addition to representing deceased
ancestors, the moai, once they were erect
on ceremonial sites, may also have been
regarded as the embodiment of powerful
living chiefs.

49. History Timeline
Prehistoric Art
Paleolithic
“Old Stone Age”
30, 000 BCE – 8, 000 BCE
Neolithic
“New Stone Age”
8,000 BCE-5,000 BCE
“Hall of Bulls”
Lascaux Caves, France
15,000 BCE – 13, 000 BCE
“Stonehenge”
Salisbury Plain,
England
3,000 BCE – 1,400
BCE
“Moai”
Easter Island,
Chile
1,000 – 1,100
AD