Honors Art 100
September 13, 2010

List of Characteristics

Paleolithic Period • In the Paleolithic period, people lived in a hunter-gatherer type society. They were nomadic people. • The class system they used was o Leader o Shaman o Hunters o Gatherers Shamans and leaders were sometimes the same. • The Shamans could heal the sick, influence animals, and communicate with animal spirits. • When shamans were depicted in art, they were often combined with some kind of animal. An example of this is “Human with feline head” (1-3). • Human with Humakllfafuman with Feline Head o Made of soft ivory, the inside of a mammoth tusk. o Could be a sculpture of a Shaman or a deity. o The marks on the arms could be military rank, number of times he was in battle, or simply tattoos. • The art they created was mostly drawings and sculptures of animals. • Whenever they would paint animals, they did it from a profile view. This • “Bison with a Turned Head” (1- ) o Broken spear thrower. • A lot of the paintings they did were along cave walls and ceilings. • “Hall of Bulls” o Bulls floating on cave walls. o No sense of proportion. ▪ The largest bull is 11’6” long while others are way smaller. • Artists in the Paleolithic period were not aware of a scale. There drawings were all very disproportional. • They did not use frames around their cave paintings so some of them go on for miles.

Neolithic Period • The Neolithic period began around 8000 BCE. • People in the Neolithic age began to settle down in one place rather than travel around. • They moved from a hunter and gatherer society to a planting crops and domesticating animals. • The Catalhoyuk was built in the Neolithic age. • Paintings were found in on the walls of the Catahoyuk that were similar to cave paintings. • “Deer Hunt” (1-17) o Painting found on Level 3 of the Catalhoyuk. o Similar to cave paintings from the Paleolithic period except people are now included. o Looks as though it is depicting a deer hunt. • “Landscape with volcanic eruption” (1-18) o Found on level 7 of Catalhoyuk. o First Landscape painting. o Arial view of houses but uses a frontal view. • Charactreristics of Neolithic Art: o People are now included in cave paintings. o Pictures begin to tell stories of hunting and rituals. o Landscapes are now being painted. o Use a combination of frontal views and profile views in paintings.

Samarian Period • In the Samarian Period, paintings and sculptures became even more narrative. o They told stories of war, rituals, and even day-to-day life. • Artists began to use frames around their artwork. This helps the artwork stay more organized. • Some say that Samarians were the first to tell stories with their artwork. • Figures in Samarian art stand on ground rather than float around like they do in Paleolithic art or Neolithic art. • “Standard of Ur” (2-8) o Surrounded by a frame. o Has a clearly defined King or leader because he is larger than all of the other people and he is centered and at the top. o Organized in levels. o War Side: ▪ Bottom Row: Battle going on. ▪ Middle Row: The left side look like soldiers and the right side look like prisoners. ▪ Top Row: Slaves to the right, king in the middle, preists and advisors to the left.