List of Stone Age art explained

This is a descriptive list of Stone Age art, the period of prehistory characterised by the widespread use of stone tools. This article contains, by sheer volume of the artwork discovered, a very incomplete list of the works of the painters, sculptors, and other artists who created what is now called prehistoric art. For fuller lists see Art of the Upper Paleolithic, Art of the Middle Paleolithic, and and its many sub-categories.

Upper Paleolithic

See main article: Art of the Upper Paleolithic.

Aurignacian

The oldest undisputed figurative art appears with the Aurignacian, about 40,000 years ago, which is associated with the earliest presence of Cro-Magnon artists in Europe. Figurines with date estimates of 40,000 years are the so-called Lion-man and Venus of Hohle Fels, both found in the Southern Germany caves of the Swabian Jura.

Gravettian

The Gravettian spans the Last Glacial Maximum, ca. 33 - 21 kya. The Solutrean (c. 22 - 17 kya) may or may not be included as the final phase of the Gravettian.

Epigravettian, Magdalenian

Australasia

See main article: Indigenous Australian art. Australia and parts of Southeast Asia remained in the Paleolithic stage until European contact. The oldest firmly dated rock-art painting in Australia is a charcoal drawing on a rock fragment found during the excavation of the Nawarla Gabarnmang rock shelter in south western Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. Dated at 28,000 years, it is one of the oldest known pieces of rock art on Earth with a confirmed date.

Mesolithic

Mesolithic Europe
Epipalaeolithic Near East
Mesolithic Asia
North African Mesolithic
Americas

See also: Lithic stage and Archaic Period (Americas).

Neolithic

See also: Megalithic.

Near East and North Africa
Neolithic Europe
Neolithic China

See also

Notes and References

  1. Kind . C.-J. . Ebinger-Rist . N. . Wolf . S. . Beutelspacher . T. . Wehrberger . K. . The Smile of the Lion Man. Recent Excavations in Stadel Cave (Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany) and the Restoration of the Famous Upper Palaeolithic Figurine . Quartär . 2014 . 61 . 129–145 . 2021-04-25 . 2017-08-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170822143451/http://www.quartaer.eu/pdfs/2014/2014_07_kind.pdf . dead .
  2. 10.1126/science.1219957 . 336 . U-Series Dating of Paleolithic Art in 11 Caves in Spain . 2012 . Science . 1409–1413 . Pike . A. W. G. . 6087 . 22700921. 2012Sci...336.1409P . 7807664 .
  3. https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21925?full=true "Oldest confirmed cave art is a single red dot"
  4. Book: Clottes, Jean . Jean Clottes . Paul G. Bahn (translator) . Chauvet Cave: The Art of Earliest Times . 2003 . University of Utah Press . 0-87480-758-1. Translation of La Grotte Chauvet, l'art des origins, Éditions du Seuil, 2001, p. 214.
  5. Web site: Red dot becomes 'oldest cave art' . BBC News . Amos . Jonathan . June 14, 2012 . live . https://archive.today/20130113233037/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18449711 . 13 January 2013 . 15 June 2012 . One motif – a faint red dot – is said to be more than 40,000 years old. .
  6. Book: Insoll, Timothy. The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Figurines. 2017. Oxford University Press. 9780199675616. Oxford. en.
  7. http://musee-prehistoire-eyzies.fr/en/collection/tid-4/cid-5/collection-bison-se-lechant, "Collections", National Museum of Prehistory
  8. Web site: Horse engraving on bone . British Museum . 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121022144311/http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_prb/h/horse_engraving_on_bone.aspx . 22 October 2012 . dead .
  9. Book: British Museum. Ann Sieveking. A catalogue of palaeolithic art in the British Museum. 14 October 2011. 1987. Published for the Trustees of the British Museum by British Museum Publications. 978-0-7141-1376-0. 112–.
  10. Donaldson, Mike The Gwion or Bradshaw art style of Australia's Kimberley region is undoubtedly among the earliest rock art in the country –but is it Pleistocene? (free download) L'art pléistocène en Australie (Pré-Actes) IFRAO Congress, September 2010 p. 4.
  11. Web site: Masters. Emma. 4 October 2009. Aboriginal rock art collection 'world's largest'. ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).
  12. Michel Geneste. Jean. Earliest Evidence for Ground-Edge Axes: 35,400±410 cal BP from Jawoyn Country, Arnhem Land. Australian Archaeology. 2010. 71. December. 66–69. 10.1080/03122417.2010.11689385. 10289/5067. 134077798. free.
  13. Robert Gunn, Bruno David, Jean-Jacques Delannoy and Margaret Katherine, "The past 500 years of rock art at Nawarla Gabarnmang, central-western Arnhem Land" in: Bruno David,Paul S.C. Taçon,Jean-Jacques Delannoy,Jean-Michel Geneste (eds.),The Archaeology of Rock Art in Western Arnhem Land, Australia (2017), pp. 303 - 328.
  14. Web site: Aboriginal heritage. Office of Environment and Heritage. Government of New South Wales. 7 May 2011 .
  15. Web site: Les Combarelles – Grotte – Eyzies-de-Tayac – Périgord – Dordogne . Hominidés.com . fr . December 2007 . 1 May 2011.
  16. News: Bulgarian rock art: the Magura Cave paintings . 21 Nov 2014 . TRACCE Online Rock Art Bulletin . November 19, 2014.
  17. Web site: The Magoura Cave with drawings from the bronze age. UNESCO World Heritage Centre. 16 May 2013.
  18. https://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/vNEwNR8rSzGPSwSn3yeJwA A History of the World -7
  19. Web site: Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka . World Heritage Site. 2007-02-15.
  20. Book: Mathpal . Yashodhar . Prehistoric Painting Of Bhimbetka . 1984 . Abhinav Publications . 9788170171935 . 220 . en.
  21. Book: Tiwari . Shiv Kumar . Riddles of Indian Rockshelter Paintings . 2000 . Sarup & Sons . 9788176250863 . 189 . en.
  22. Book: Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka . 2003 . UNESCO . 16 .
  23. Book: Mithen . Steven . After the Ice: A Global Human History, 20,000 - 5000 BC . 2011 . Orion . 9781780222592 . 524 . en.
  24. Book: Javid . Ali . Jāvīd . ʻAlī . Javeed . Tabassum . World Heritage Monuments and Related Edifices in India . 2008 . Algora Publishing . 9780875864846 . 19 . en.
  25. Cueva de las Manos at the UNESCO:
    • Web site: UNESCO World Heritage Centre . Cueva de las Manos, Río Pinturas . live . 2021-04-07 . UNESCO World Heritage Centre . en . 2021-04-14 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210414171517/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/936.
    • Book: World Heritage Sites: a Complete Guide to 1007 UNESCO World Heritage Sites . 2014 . . 978-1-77085-640-0 . 6th . 607 . 910986576.
  26. Book: South American Handbook. 1976. Trade and Travel Publications Limited.
  27. Book: David S. Whitley. Handbook of Rock Art Research. 2001. Rowman & Littlefield. 978-0-7425-0256-7. 712–.
  28. Book: Aldenderfer, Mark S.. Mark Aldenderfer. Montane Foragers: Asana and the South-Central Andean Archaic. 1998. University of Iowa Press. Iowa City. 978-1-58729-474-7 . 56–57.