Guided Art Tour, Essay Example

Paleolithic, Neolithic, and Ancient Near East Artifacts

Throughout art history beginning during the pre-history period, artwork has always reflected the social, cultural, economic, and political contexts within which it germinated. Paleolithic works of art can only be understood within the context of hunter-gatherer-societies. Because of the dearth of ethnographic information about the Paleolithic epoch, the rock art that survived continues to be used as the documentary evidence from which a historical narrative has been constructed from. The majority of the surviving cave paintings come from caves located in northern Spain and southern France, as archaeologists have discovered in that region over one hundred caves that have paintings dating back to the pre-historic era. The seminal “Hall of Bulls” cave painting from Lascaux France, which is dated to circa 28,000- 10,000 BCE, typifies the earliest examples of cave paintings as the optimal mode of artistic expression during the Paleolithic era, or the Old Stone Age (Bentley and Ziegler 18-19). The Neolithic Era witnessed a seismic shift in the art world as the Stone Age developed immensely, and the emergence of sedentary villages and agricultural resulted in urbanization and technological innovation. Located on Salisbury plain in England, Stonehenge remains one of the most remarkable and recognizable artifacts of the Neolithic period that still attracts visitors. The impact of agriculture is unequivocal as Stonehenge evinces the capability of prehistoric English society to invest time and money on such an awe-inspiring monument that had hitherto been rendered obsolete. Moreover, efforts to create such herculean pieces of art mirror the fact that those living in England during the fourth millennium BCE were contemporaries to the Ancient Egyptians who had been arduously working on constructing the infamous Pyramids. Within the context of the Ancient Near East, the palace relief referred to as Assurnasirpal II Killing Lions, c 875 BCE, which depicts an image of an Assyrian victory as tribute to the Assyrian king, reveals the centrality of religion in Assyrian society. As such, cultural artifacts created during the Paleolithic, Neolithic, and Ancient Near Eastern periods all reflects epochal idiosyncrasies and socio-cultural developments despite the diversity of artistic and design principles deployed therein.

Rock and cave art during the Paleolithic era have resulted in the germination of various theories regarding who created the art and what materials did the artist use to paint the images with. Caves themselves within Paleolithic societies symbolized a birth canal from which life germinated. Animals remained of the most prominent significance for hunter-gatherers to survive, so the perpetual creation of animals remained essential during this epoch. The Lascaux cave paintings are the most well-known and earliest example of Paleolithic art that reflects the centrality of animals and hunting to nomadic hunter-gatherer societies. Animals predominated the subject matter, especially bulls, bison, mammoth, and reindeer, although some human figures were involved in smaller scale. The diminutive size of human figures convey a minimal emphasis the primitive peoples of the Paleolithic era placed on materiality and individual identity. Rather, a collective identity superseded one’s individual identity as part of a hunter-gatherer society. The Hall of the Bulls is located in the main chamber at the entrance of the Lascaux Cave as a part of the Painted Gallery. As the most famous underground gallery of paintings dated back to the Paleolithic era, the Hall of the Bulls is sixty two feet in length and between eighteen and twenty five feet in width. It is clear that the artists deployed available pigments to paint on the cave walls and that available minerals played an integral role. Many scholars argue that rock art created during the Upper Paleolithic era, such as the Hall of the Bulls in Lascaux, typify works that functioned as aids for hunting within the realm magic as the images limned would help guarantee good hunting and bountiful herds. The deployment of hunting magic makes sense within the context of the ethnographic data that is available with regards to the role of magic and shamanism in tribal life during he Paleolithic era. Creating images–which were superimposed over extant images–played an integral role in ensuring that Paleolithic peoples would have access to ample hunting and herds in order to subsist (Bentley and Ziegler 19). It is thus unequivocal that humans depended on animals, and that a meticulous observation of nature was f paramount importance despite the fact that artists merely had access to earth pigments and charcoal as tools to create art with.

While the Paleolithic Era was characterized by a nomadic lifestyle, the Neolithic era was defined by the domestication of fauna and flora as well as the emergence of a sedentary lifestyle, which caused a paradigm shift in artistic and design styles. As such, peoples who lived during the Neolithic era worked as farmers rather than as hunter-gatherers, which translated into the settlement of humans into permanent villages that widely practiced the domestication of animals (Bentley and Ziegler 20). The creation of sedentary villages marked the etiology not only of gender differentiation but also of the notion that the definition of humanity depended on a dyadic view of animals and humans (21). Stonehenge, as one of the seven wonders of the world, stands as one of the most important remnants of Neolithic art because it not only exemplifies massive scale but also balance that reflects a highly technocratic and organized society despite its early origins dating back to the prehistoric era. The sheer immensity of Stonehenge in relation to other structures created during that time period hint at the large amount of organization of labor and planning required to create it as well as technical sophistication when working with such hard stone. The stones had to be modified depending on the respective positioning–whether upright or horizontal–while other stones evince a curvature. As such, it is unequivocal that Stonehenge provides cultural proof that Neolithic society was far more sophisticated than Paleolithic society and that ample leadership as well as free time afforded to laborers by the sedentary structure enabled such an awe-inspiring structure to be constructed (“Stonehenge”). Indeed, Stonehenge remains a British icon and exemplifies an architectural and engineering masterpiece created by a highly organized society that had at its disposal very simplistic technologies and tools.

Finally, the artwork of the Ancient near East further reflects epochal idiosyncrasies and cultural values within which the artwork was created. The palace relief of Ahsurnasirpal II Killing Lions, c. 875 BCE, which depicts combat between beasts and men, underscores the centrality of religion in Assyrian society. Moreover, it is clear that Assyrian kings expected that their greatness and fortitude would be recorded for the sake of posterity. As such, they commissioned contemporary artists and sculptors to devise various narrative reliefs that valorized both their piety and royal clout through the recording of war battles and the conquests of “wild beasts” such as lions. It is discernable that the context and form of the relief is interdependent as evident through the deployment of the bow and arrow, the prominent central figure, the hieratic scale, and the dominant presence of the lion who functions as the king of the beast. Such a visual narrative is critical in underscoring how the Assyrian king must be immortalized because of his ability to tame the untamable. Scale thus figures prominently in underscoring the greatness of the Assyrian kings who possess the fortitude and dexterity to defeat the king of beasts. Despite its cultural relevance, the boundary between human and animal retains great currency in artwork from the Ancient Near East. Rudimentary violence against animals and beasts define what it means to be human, which is pervasive in various ancient texts and printed materials.

In my original work, I was influenced by the notion of dominance over animals and created a sketch in which a slain pig was subjugated and defeated by a human. The very necessity of dominating pigs is present because they have historically been rendered as closest to human. As such, humans must make clear how the pig as an animal and a threatening beast is different by constructing the pig as something that is not human and thus exists to be dominated by humans to feed humans. The distinction between animal and human is one predicated on domination and the notion that human beings can dominate animals. Anxiety germinates when animals eat humans or dominate humans rather than the notion of bipedalism. When pigs eat human beings there is more anxiety about drawing the difference between the animals and the humans. As such, balance is not necessary in a dyadic depiction of human versus beast with blood spewing from its slain mouth.

Works Cited

Bentley, Jerry H., and Herbert F. Ziegler. Traditions & Encounters: a Global Perspective on The Past. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2000. Print.

“The Palace Relief of Assurnasirpal II Killing Lions, c. 875 BCE.” Garner’s Art History. N.d.Web. 14 Jul. 2015.   http://167.206.67.164/resources/humanities/review/ArtHistory/Gardner%20Art%20History%20Chapters%20Study%20Guide/..%5CG2.g.Assyrian/zoom.html?name=Lioness2.jpg

“Stonehenge.” English Heritage. N.d. Web. 14 July 2015. http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge/things-to-do/#Section1

Tedesco, Laura Anne. “Lascaux (ca. 15,000 B.C.)”. Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. N.d. Web. 14 Jul. 2015. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/lasc/hd_lasc.htm