Student Essay on Early Paleolithic Art

The Paleolithic period is the oldest period in human history. It is defined as going as far back as 2 million years ago then ended about 13,000 BC. Paleolithic Art is known to have started around 32,000 years ago. Tiny figurines and cave paintings best represent Paleolithic art. However before either of these art forms came along there were body decoration and jewelry. Around 33,000 B.C sculpture begins to appear. At this point in time "humans" weren't fully "human" - they are referred to as Cro-Magnon. A prime example of one of the earliest signs of sculpture is the Venus of Willendorf. The statuette measures about 11.25 centimeters in length.

She was carved from a fine limestone. Venus is a woman with a large stomach that overhangs but does not hide her pubic area. She has a large but pretty flat bottom. Her thighs are also large but press together all the way down to the knees. However her arms are extremely thin. They are sitting on her large breasts. Her large breasts and stomach, suggests that the focal point of the sculpture is female reproduction, the piece today, being identified as a fertility idol. The Willendorf statuette lacks a face, which is a key feature in human identity, meaning that she is probably to be regarded as an anonymous sexual object rather than a person; it is her physical body and what it represents that is important. This figure is important because it shows us the first signs of representation, a huge step in human evolution because it meant humans would eventually be able to create language. Venus personally fascinates me. There is something about her that seems very contemporary to me. For so long society has been creating figures and paintings that worship women that are on the skinny side or convey the idea of ideal beauty (those women are obviously meant simply for pleasure instead of reproduction). The Venus of Willendorf may meet those standards of beauty back in her day but in no recent time period would someone have titled her Venus a.k.a Aphrodite. Obviously the people who discovered her thought that same thing since they gave her this ironic name. She is hysterically adorable; I love her exaggerated features.

Another example of Paleolithic art is the cave paintings found in Altimira, Lauscaux, and Chauvet. These are three major sites containing cave paintings in Europe which are presumed to have been painted somewhere between 16,000-9,000 BC. The paintings at Altamira primarily focus on bison. Bison were important because of the food they provided; skin, bones and fur could also be taken from the remains of such a large animal. The ceiling painting is of 15 large bison with a few other animals including a horse. The groups of animals portrayed are of bison, deer, and wild boar, but animals only, no landscape.

The paints used for these creations were derived from natural earth pigments. The artists would then grind the pigment, put it in their mouth to mix it with some saliva and spray it all over the wall. They would base the shape and size of the animals on a specific swell in the wall which they would use as a outline- to suggest volume. The animals were also painted from a twisted perspective. Animals were shown with every important feature whether or not it made sense from the viewpoint. The reason for these paintings is described in a theory called "hunting magic." Hunting magic is the accepted theory behind the cave paintings. Scientists agree that the people painted those animals in the hopes of thickening the herd. Animal herds and hunting were the only means of living and a thinning herd of animals meant a thinning population of humans. That is why the images were very optical. The people wanted them to look as life like as possible in order to make the "magic" as strong as possible. Spraying the paint with saliva on the wall may have been a way of mixing oneself into the painting. Ceremonies were believed to taken place in these caves. However people did not live in these caves. At this point in time the people were still nomadic.

In the Mesolithic period things start

changing dramatically. People start to become better hunters and gathers, however they are still nomadic. People had domesticated the dog. In about 7000 B.C the ice age had ended and the temperature is the way it is today. Rock shelter paintings become the dominant art form. A rock shelter painting was done outside, instead of in a cave so everyone could see them. We also see more of humans in the paintings. We start to see people with a real sense of action and movement. A great example of this in a Mesolithic painting is Marching Warriors. However the paintings of humans are very different from the paintings of animals. While the paintings of animals were optical, very life like, the paintings of humans are more schematic. Scientists believe the reason humans were depicted so schematically was because people wanted the magic to stay away from them. They believed if a person was drawn in an optical way, part of their soul would be captured in the images. Marching Warriors is the first time we see people in groups and we get a sense of action and movement.

I love both the Paleolithic and the Mesolithic period but I only wish that the people didn't carry such believes about painting a real picture of themselves. To see how well they could paint animals only means they could do just as good a job with a human portrait. Had they drawn a picture of themselves, it could have been as useful as having a photograph from the times.