ART APPRECIATION

Art Appreciation

Art Appreciation

1. Discuss Paleolithic cave paintings and carved figures in terms of their functions in the prehistoric world and give examples of each.

Paleolithic or "Old Stone Age" is a term used to define the oldest period in the human history. The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic - lit. old stone from the Greek paleos=old and lithos=stone. It began about 2 million years ago, from the use of first stone tools and ended of the Pleistocene epoch, with the close of the last ice age about 13,000 BC.

Subdivisions of the Paleolithic include the: Lower Paleolithic (Oldowan, Clactonian, Abbevillian, Acheulean), Middle Paleolithic, the time of the hand axe-industries (Mousterian) and Upper Paleolithic (Châtelperronian, Aurignacian, Solutrean, Gravettian, Magdalenian). The Paleolithic is followed by the Mesolithic or Epipaleolithic.

The Lower spans the time from around 4 million years ago when the first humans appear in the archaeological record, to around 120,000 years ago when important evolutionary and technological changes ushered in the Middle Palaeolithic.

In Europe and Africa the Middle Paleolithic (or Middle Palaeolithic) is the period of the early Stone Age that lasted between around 120,000 and 40,000 years ago. It was the time when early humans gained increasing control over their surroundings and later saw the emergence of modern humans around 100,000 years ago. Stone tool manufacturing developed a more sophisticated tool making technique which permitted the creation of more controlled and consistent flakes. Hunting provided the primary food source but people also began to exploit shellfish and may have begun smoking and drying meat to preserve it. This would have required a mastery of fire and some sites indicate that plant resources were managed through selective burning of wide areas. Artistic expression emerged for the first time with ochre used as body paint and some early rock art appearing. There is also some evidence of purposeful burial of the dead which may indicate religious and ritual behaviors.

2. Respond to this statement: “The Minoans created a peaceful, secure, and joyful culture that, in the arts, celebrated aspects of the natural world.

The Minoans were a peaceful trade civilization that developed on and around the island of Crete beginning around 3000 B.C. This highly influential culture is widely considered to be the foundation of European civilization. They enjoyed great success as merchants, developed the most advanced sea trade fleet known to date, were a leisure and art-loving culture, and were able to benefit from all of this without ever knowing one major military conflict.

The island of Crete, located between Asia Minor and Greece in the Aegean Sea, was first settled around 3000 B.C. by people migrated from Asia Minor. Crete had very fertile soil, but little else in the way of resources. In order to survive as a society, they developed trade with neighboring island and mainland cultures. They exported wine, oil, and jewelry, and imported other raw resources and foodstuffs. Out of necessity, they constructed the world's first major fleet of ships.

The Minoan naval fleet was developed solely for trade and commerce, rather than ...