Fertile Crescent :
112-666: Art of Central Asia Art of East Asia Art of South Asia Art of Southeast Asia Art of Europe Art of Africa Art of the Americas Art of Oceania In the history of art , prehistoric art is all art produced in preliterate, prehistorical cultures beginning somewhere in very late geological history, and generally continuing until that culture either develops writing or other methods of record-keeping, or makes significant contact with another culture that has, and that makes some record of major historical events. At this point ancient art begins, for
224-519: A Bronze Age archaeological culture of Central Asia , dated to c. 2200–1700 BC, located in present-day eastern Turkmenistan , northern Afghanistan, southern Uzbekistan and western Tajikistan , centred on the upper Amu Darya (known to the ancient Greeks as the Oxus River), an area covering ancient Bactria. Its sites were discovered and named by the Soviet archaeologist Viktor Sarianidi (1976). Bactria
336-593: A nomadic people who lived in Central Asia , the Caucasus , and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. The nomadic nature of Hun society means that they have left very little in the archaeological record. Archaeological finds have produced a large number of cauldrons that have since the work of Paul Reinecke in 1896 been identified as having been produced by the Huns. Although typically described as "bronze cauldrons",
448-518: A 5–6 meter tall statue (which had to be seated to fit within the height of the columns supporting the Temple). Since the sandal of the foot fragment bears the symbolic depiction of Zeus ' thunderbolt , the statue is thought to have been a smaller version of the Statue of Zeus at Olympia . Due to the lack of proper stones for sculptural work in the area of Ai-Khanoum, unbaked clay and stucco modeled on
560-668: A British geologist and palaeontologist , discovered 1.5 million-year-old prehistoric human teeth and part of a jaw indicating that ancient people , intelligent hominins dating as far back as 1,500,000 ybp Acheulean period, lived in the Pinjore region near Chandigarh . Quartzite tools of the lower Paleolithic period were excavated in this region extending from Pinjore in Haryana to Nalagarh ( Solan district in Himachal Pradesh). The lands of Gujarat has been continuously inhabited from
672-495: A characteristic appearance, with belted jackets with a unique lapel of their tunic being folded on the right side, a style which became popular under the Hephthalites, the cropped hair, the hair accessories, their distinctive physionomy and their round beardless faces. The figures at Bamiyan must represent the donors and potentates who supported the building of the monumental giant Buddha. These remarkable paintings participate "to
784-513: A citadel, a Classical theater, a huge palace in Greco-Bactrian architecture, somehow reminiscent of formal Persian palatial architecture, a gymnasium (100 × 100m), one of the largest of Antiquity, various temples, a mosaic representing the Macedonian sun, acanthus leaves and various animals (crabs, dolphins etc...), numerous remains of Classical Corinthian columns. Many artifacts are dated to
896-759: A complex of peoples known collectively in India as the Huna , and in Europe as the Chionites (from the Iranian names Xwn / Xyon ), and may even be considered as identical to the Chionites. The 5th century Byzantine historian Priscus called them Kidarites Huns, or "Huns who are Kidarites". The Huna/ Xionite tribes are often linked, albeit controversially, to the Huns who invaded Eastern Europe during
1008-493: A degree of artistic expression. Similarly, a zigzag engraving supposedly made with a shark tooth on a freshwater Pseudodon shell DUB1006-fL around 500,000 years ago (i.e. well into the Lower Paleolithic ), associated with Homo erectus , could be the earliest evidence of artistic activity, but the actual intent behind this geometric ornament is not known. There are other claims of Middle Paleolithic sculpture, dubbed
1120-424: A grave. Archaeological finds indicate that the Huns wore gold plaques as ornaments on their clothing, as well as imported glass beads. Ammianus reports that they wore clothes made of linen or the furs of marmots and leggings of goatskin. The Kidarites , or "Kidara Huns", were a dynasty that ruled Bactria and adjoining parts of Central Asia and South Asia in the 4th and 5th centuries. The Kidarites belonged to
1232-507: A height of up to 6 m (20 ft) and weighs up to 10 tons. They are fitted into sockets that were hewn out of the bedrock . In the second phase, belonging to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB), the erected pillars are smaller and stood in rectangular rooms with floors of polished lime . On the smoothed surfaces of the pillars there are reliefs of animals, abstract patterns, and some human figures. By convention, prehistory in
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#17328524763981344-482: A massive stone carved with a complex design of spirals . The mound at nearby Knowth has large flat rocks with rock engravings on their vertical faces all around its circumference, for which various meanings have been suggested, including depictions of the local valley, and the oldest known image of the Moon. Many of these monuments were megalithic tombs, and archaeologists speculate that most have religious significance. Knowth
1456-738: A number of other new varieties, such as Homo rhodesiensis and Homo cepranensis about 400,000 years ago. Homo heidelbergensis is a candidate for first developing an early form of symbolic language . Whether control of fire and earliest burials date to this period or only appear during the Middle Paleolithic is an open question. Also, in Europe, a type of human appeared that was intermediate between Homo erectus and Homo sapiens , sometimes summarized under archaic Homo sapiens , typified by such fossils as those found at Swanscombe , Steinheim , Tautavel , and Vertesszollos ( Homo palaeohungaricus ). The hand-axe tradition originates in
1568-478: A previously unknown pre-literate Bronze Age culture whose artefacts included spectacular very large bronze figures (example left), and which appeared culturally very different from the contemporary late Shang, which has always formed part of the account of the continuous tradition of Chinese culture. According to archeological evidence, the Jōmon people in ancient Japan were among the first to develop pottery , dated from
1680-465: A rare survival of what may well have been a very common material for sculpture. It is a plank of larch carved with geometric motifs, but topped with a human head. Now in fragments, it would apparently have been over 5 metres tall when made. In Central Europe , many Neolithic cultures, like Linearbandkeramic , Lengyel and Vinča , produced female (rarely male) and animal statues that can be called art, and elaborate pottery decoration in, for example,
1792-587: A remarkable combinations of influences that exemplify the multicultural nature of Central Asian society. The Silk Road transmission of art , Scythian art , Greco-Buddhist art , Serindian art and more recently Persianate culture, are all part of this complicated history. From the late second millennium BC until very recently, the grasslands of Central Asia – stretching from the Caspian Sea to central China and from southern Russia to northern India – have been home to migrating herders who practised mixed economies on
1904-489: A round medallion plate describing the goddess Cybele on a chariot, in front of a fire altar, and under a depiction of Helios , a fully preserved bronze statue of Herakles , various golden serpentine arm jewellery and earrings, a toilet tray representing a seated Aphrodite , a mold representing a bearded and diademed middle-aged man. Various artefacts of daily life are also clearly Hellenistic: sundials , ink wells, tableware. An almost life-sized dark green glass phallus with
2016-739: A royal burial at Pazyryk , Altay Mountains , which featured – among many other important objects – the most ancient extant pile rug , probably made in Persia. Unusually for prehistoric burials, those in the northern parts of the area may preserve organic materials such as wood and textiles that normally would decay. Steppes people both gave and took influences from neighbouring cultures from Europe to China, and later Scythian pieces are heavily influenced by ancient Greek style, and probably often made by Greeks in Scythia. The Ain Sakhri Lovers from modern Israel ,
2128-477: A similar period. They are entirely different from the Hephthalites , who replaced them about a century later. The Hephthalites ( Bactrian : ηβοδαλο , romanized: Ebodalo ), sometimes called the "White Huns", were a people who lived in Central Asia during the 5th to 8th centuries. They existed as an Empire, the "Imperial Hephthalites", and were militarily important from 450 AD, when they defeated
2240-685: A site in Tanzania. A site at the Apollo 11 Cave complex in Namibia has been dated to 27,000 years. Göbekli Tepe in Turkey has circles of massive T-shaped stone pillars dating back to the 10th–8th millennium BCE; the world's oldest known megaliths. Many of the pillars are decorated with abstract, enigmatic pictograms and carved animal reliefs. Asia was the cradle for several significant civilizations, most notably those of China and South Asia. The prehistory of eastern Asia
2352-816: A small owl on the back side and other treasures are said to have been discovered at Ai-Khanoum, possibly along with a stone with an inscription, which was not recovered. The artefacts have now been returned to the Kabul Museum after several years in Switzerland by Paul Bucherer-Dietschi, Director of the Swiss Afghanistan Institute. Some traces remain of the presence of the Kushans in the areas of Bactria and Sogdiana . Archaeological structures are known in Takht-I-Sangin , Surkh Kotal (a monumental temple), and in
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#17328524763982464-430: A total of six known Hunnish diadems. Hunnic women seem to have worn necklaces and bracelets of mostly imported beads of various materials as well. The later common early medieval practice of decorating jewelry and weapons with gemstones appears to have originated with the Huns. They are also known to have made small mirrors of an originally Chinese type, which often appear to have been intentionally broken when placed into
2576-589: A wooden frame were often used, a technique which would become widespread in Central Asia and the East, especially in Buddhist art . In some cases, only the hands and feet would be made in marble. In India, only a few Hellenistic sculptural remains have been found, mainly small items in the excavations of Sirkap. A variety of artefacts of Hellenistic style, often with Persian influence, were also excavated at Ai-Khanoum, such as
2688-405: Is visual art created in Central Asia , in areas corresponding to modern Kyrgyzstan , Kazakhstan , Uzbekistan , Turkmenistan , Tajikistan , Afghanistan , and parts of modern Mongolia, China and Russia. The art of ancient and medieval Central Asia reflects the rich history of this vast area, home to a huge variety of peoples, religions and ways of life. The artistic remains of the region show
2800-456: Is a small Natufian carving in calcite , from about 9,000 BCE. Around the same time, the extraordinary site of Göbekli Tepe in eastern Turkey was begun. During the first phase, belonging to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA), circles of massive but neatly shaped T-shaped stone pillars were erected – the world's oldest known megaliths . More than 200 pillars in about 20 circles are currently known through geophysical surveys . Each pillar has
2912-508: Is a widespread phenomenon, much less well known than the cave-paintings of the Upper Paleolithic, with which it makes an interesting contrast. The sites are now mostly cliff faces in the open air, and the subjects are now mostly human rather than animal, with large groups of small figures; there are 45 figures at Roca dels Moros . Clothing is shown, and scenes of dancing, fighting, hunting and food-gathering. The figures are much smaller than
3024-526: Is especially interesting, as the relatively early introduction of writing and historical record-keeping in China has a notable impact on the immediately surrounding cultures and geographic areas. Little of the very rich traditions of the art of Mesopotamia counts as prehistoric, as writing was introduced so early there, but neighbouring cultures such as Urartu , Luristan and Persia had significant and complex artistic traditions. The earliest Indian paintings were
3136-512: Is more clearly linked to the flake tradition, which spread across southern Europe through the Balkans to appear relatively densely in southeast Asia . Many Mousterian finds in the Middle Paleolithic have been knapped using a Levallois technique, suggesting that Neanderthals evolved from Homo erectus (or, perhaps, Homo heidelbergensis ; see below). Monte Poggiolo , near Forlì , Italy,
3248-529: Is often bilingual, combining Greek with the Indian Brahmi script or Kharoshthi . Apart from Ai-Khanoum, Indo-Greek ruins have been positively identified in few cities such as Barikot or Taxila , with generally much fewer known artistic remains. Numerous artefacts and structures were found, particularly in Ai-Khanoum, pointing to a high Hellenistic culture, combined with Eastern influences, starting from
3360-596: Is reputed to have approximately one third of all megalithic art in Western Europe. In the central Alps, the Camunni made some 350,000 petroglyphs: see Rock Drawings in Valcamonica . Central Asian art Art of Central Asia Art of East Asia Art of South Asia Art of Southeast Asia Art of Europe Art of Africa Art of the Americas Art of Oceania Central Asian art
3472-551: Is roughly 700,000 years old. In Europe, the Olduwan tradition (known in Europe as Abbevillian ) split into two parallel traditions, the Clactonian , a flake tradition, and the Acheulean , a hand-axe tradition. The Levallois technique for knapping flint developed during this time. The carrier species from Africa to Europe was undoubtedly Homo erectus . This type of human
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3584-595: Is the location of an Acheulian littoral handaxe industry dating from 1.8 to 1.1 million years ago. The advent of technology and both verbal and non-verbal communication due to transition to group hunting and gathering resulted in the expansion of the parts of the brain associated with these, as well as greater cognition due to it being interlinked with the two. Later, behavioral adaptations to further social life, uncertain food distribution (resulting in need to find and secure food and remember where it could be found) and ecological changes brought about by Homo led to
3696-591: The Homo sapiens Aurignacian archaeological culture in the Upper Paleolithic. However, there is some evidence that the preference for the aesthetic emerged in the Middle Paleolithic , from 100,000 to 50,000 years ago. Some archaeologists have interpreted certain Middle Paleolithic artifacts as early examples of artistic expression. The symmetry of artifacts, evidence of attention to the detail of tool shape, has led some investigators to conceive of Acheulean hand axes and especially laurel points as having been produced with
3808-486: The 11th millennium BCE . With growing sophistication, the Jōmon created patterns by impressing the wet clay with braided or unbraided cord and sticks. The earliest examples of Korean art consist of Stone Age works dating from 3000 BCE. These mainly consist of votive sculptures , although petroglyphs have also been recently rediscovered. Rock arts , elaborate stone tools , and potteries were also prevalent. This early period
3920-530: The 7th millennium BCE and represent either humans or mixtures of humans and fish. Simple pottery began to develop in various places, even in the absence of farming. Compared to the preceding Upper Paleolithic and the following Neolithic, there is rather less surviving art from the Mesolithic. The Rock art of the Iberian Mediterranean Basin , which probably spreads across from the Upper Paleolithic,
4032-719: The Angara River , near Lake Baikal in Irkutsk Oblast , Southern Siberia , and located at the northeastern periphery of Central Asia, created some of the first works of art in the Upper Paleolithic period, with objects such as the Venus figurines of Mal'ta . These figures consist most often of mammoth ivory. The figures are about 23,000 years old and stem from the Gravettian . Most of these statuettes show stylized clothes. Quite often
4144-579: The Bronze Age brought additional media available for use in making art, an increase in stylistic diversity, and the creation of objects that did not have any obvious function other than art. It also saw the development in some areas of artisans, a class of people specializing in the production of art, as well as early writing systems . By the Iron Age , civilizations with writing had arisen from Ancient Egypt to Ancient China . Many indigenous peoples from around
4256-785: The Indonesian island of Borneo , while in 2020 a Megaloceros bone was found in the Harz mountains in Germany, on which specimens of Homo neanderthalensis carved ornaments 51,000 years ago. The oldest undisputed works of figurative art were found in the Schwäbische Alb , Baden-Württemberg , Germany. The earliest of these, the Venus figurine known as the Venus of Hohle Fels and the Lion-man figurine , date to some 40,000 years ago. Further depictional art from
4368-558: The Jeulmun pottery period , with pottery similar to that found in the adjacent regions of China, decorated with Z-shaped patterns. The earliest Neolithic sites with pottery remains, for example Osan-ri , date to 6000–4500 BCE. This pottery is characterized by comb patterning, with the pot frequently having a pointed base. Ornaments from this time include masks made of shell, with notable finds at Tongsam-dong , Osan-ri, and Sinam-ri. Hand-shaped clay figurines have been found at Nongpo-dong. During
4480-548: The Kidarites , to 560 AD, date of their defeat to combined First Turkic Khaganate and Sasanian Empire forces. The Hepthalites appears in several mural paintings in the area of Tokharistan , especially in banquet scenes at Balalyk tepe and as donors to the Buddha in the ceiling painting of the 35-meter Buddha at the Buddhas of Bamiyan . Several of the figures in these paintings have
4592-625: The Megalithic Temples of Malta . They start in the 5th millennium BC, though some authors speculate on Mesolithic roots. One of the best-known prehistoric sites is Stonehenge , part of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site which contains hundreds of monuments and archaeological sites. Monuments have been found throughout most of Western and Northern Europe, notably at Carnac , France. The large mound tomb at Newgrange , Ireland, dating to around 3200 BC, has its entrance marked with
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4704-476: The Mumun pottery period , roughly between 1500 BCE and 300 BCE, agriculture expanded, and evidence of larger-scale political structures became apparent, as villages grew and some burials became more elaborate. Megalithic tombs and dolmens throughout Korea date to this time. The pottery of the time is in a distinctive undecorated style. Many of these changes in style may have occurred due to immigration of new peoples from
4816-682: The Nile River valley, spread as far west as Mali about 10,000 years ago. Noted sites containing early art include Tassili n'Ajjer in southern Algeria, Tadrart Acacus in Libya (A Unesco World Heritage site), and the Tibesti Mountains in northern Chad. Rock carvings at the Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa have been dated to this age. Contentious dates as far back as 29,000 years have been obtained at
4928-771: The Siberian permafrost , in the Altay Mountains , Kazakhstan and nearby Mongolia . The mummies are buried in long barrows (or kurgans ) similar to the tomb mounds of Scythian culture in Ukraine . The type site are the Pazyryk burials of the Ukok Plateau . Many artifacts and human remains have been found at this location, including the Siberian Ice Princess , indicating a flourishing culture at this location that benefited from
5040-623: The Yangshao culture and Longshan culture of the Yellow River valley. During China's Bronze Age , Chinese of the ancient Shang dynasty and Zhou dynasty produced multitudes of Chinese ritual bronzes , which are elaborate versions of ordinary vessels and other objects used in rituals of ancestor veneration , decorated with taotie motifs and by the late Shang Chinese bronze inscriptions . Discoveries in 1987 in Sanxingdui in central China revealed
5152-767: The ancient Middle East . Roundels containing a dot serve the same purpose on the stag and other animal renderings executed by contemporary Śaka metalworkers. Animal processions of the Assyro-Achaemenian type also appealed to many Central Asian tribesmen and are featured in their arts. Certain geometric designs and sun symbols , such as the circle and rosette , recur at Pazyryk but are completely outnumbered by animal motifs. The stag and its relatives figure as prominently as in Altai-Sayan. Combat scenes between carnivores and herbivores are exceedingly numerous in Pazyryk work;
5264-665: The marrow . The move from the mostly frugivorous or omnivorous diet of hominin Australopithecus to the carnivorous scavenging lifestyle of early Homo has been explained by the climate changes in East Africa associated with the Quaternary glaciation . Decreasing oceanic evaporation produced a drier climate and the expansion of the savannah at the expense of forests. Reduced availability of fruits stimulated some proto- australopithecines to search out new food sources found in
5376-582: The Želiesovce and painted Lengyel style. Megalithic (i.e., large stone) monuments are found in the Neolithic Era from Malta to Portugal, through France, and across southern England to most of Wales and Ireland. They are also found in northern Germany and Poland, as well as in Egypt in the Sahara desert (at Nabta Playa and other sites). The best preserved of all temples and the oldest free standing structures are
5488-451: The " Venus of Tan-Tan " (before 300 kya) and the " Venus of Berekhat Ram " (250 kya). In 2002 in Blombos cave , situated in South Africa , stones were discovered engraved with grid or cross-hatch patterns, dated to some 70,000 years ago. This suggested to some researchers that early Homo sapiens were capable of abstraction and production of abstract art or symbolic art. Several archaeologists including Richard Klein are hesitant to accept
5600-423: The 1st century BCE of a widespread, locally distinctive, bronzeworking culture. The time between 300 BCE and the founding and stabilization of the Three Kingdoms around 300 CE is characterized artistically and archaeologically by increasing trade with China and Japan, something that Chinese histories of the time corroborate. The expansionist Chinese invaded and established commanderies in northern Korea as early as
5712-401: The 1st century BCE; they were driven out by the 4th century CE. The remains of some of these, especially that of Lelang , near modern Pyongyang , have yielded many artifacts in a typical Han style. Chinese histories also record the beginnings of iron works in Korea in the 1st century BCE. Stoneware and kiln -fired pottery also appears to date from this time, although there is controversy over
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#17328524763985824-588: The 280–250 BC period. Overall, Aï-Khanoum was an extremely important Greek city (1.5 sq kilometer), characteristic of the Seleucid Empire and then the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom , remaining one of the major cities at the time when the Greek kings started to occupy parts of India, from 200 to 145 BC. It seems the city was destroyed, never to be rebuilt, about the time of the death of king Eucratides around 145 BC. Archaeological missions unearthed various structures, some of them perfectly Hellenistic, some other integrating elements of Persian architecture , including
5936-405: The 2nd century BC, which corresponds to the early Indo-Greek period. Various sculptural fragments were also found at Ai-Khanoum , in a rather conventional, classical style, rather impervious to the Hellenizing innovations occurring at the same time in the Mediterranean world. Of special notice, a huge foot fragment in excellent Hellenistic style was recovered, which is estimated to have belonged to
6048-432: The 8th century BC. The Chinese adopted the Scythian-style animal art of the steppes (descriptions of animals locked in combat), particularly the rectangular belt-plaques made of gold or bronze, and created their own versions in jade and steatite . Following their expulsion by the Yuezhi , some Saka may also have migrated to the area of Yunnan in southern China. Saka warriors could also have served as mercenaries for
6160-438: The Blombos caves as the first example of actual art. In September 2018 the discovery in South Africa of the earliest known drawing by Homo sapiens was announced, which is estimated to be 73,000 years old, much earlier than the 43,000 years old artifacts understood to be the earliest known modern human drawings found previously. The drawing shows a crosshatched pattern made up of nine fine lines. The sudden termination of all of
6272-660: The Indonesian island of Sulawesi are up to 40,000 years old, a similar date to the oldest European cave art, which may suggest an older common origin for this type of art, perhaps in Africa. Monumental open-air art in Europe from this period includes the rock-art at Côa Valley and Mazouco in Portugal, Domingo García and Siega Verde in Spain, and Rocher gravé de Fornols [ fr ] in France. A cave at Turobong in South Korea containing human remains has been found to contain carved deer bones and depictions of deer that may be as much as 40,000 years old. Petroglyphs of deer or reindeer found at Sokchang-ri may also date to
6384-499: The Lower Paleolithic and recorded the appearance of the more advanced prepared-core tool-making technologies such as the Mousterian . Whether the earliest control of fire by hominins dates to the Lower or to the Middle Paleolithic remains an open question. The Lower Paleolithic began with the appearance of the first stone tools in the world. Formerly associated with the emergence of Homo habilis , some 2.8 million years ago, this date has been pushed back significantly by finds of
6496-416: The Mediterranean in eastern Spain and the earliest of the Rock Drawings in Valcamonica in northern Italy, but not in between these areas. Examples of portable art include painted pebbles from the Azilian culture which succeeded the Magdalenian , and patterns on utilitarian objects, like the paddles from Tybrind Vig , Denmark . The Mesolithic statues of Lepenski Vir at the Iron Gate , Serbia date to
6608-418: The Mediterranean. Already in the Bronze Age (3rd and 2nd millennium BC), growing settlements formed part of an extensive network of trade linking Central Asia to the Indus Valley, Mesopotamia and Egypt. The arts of recent centuries are mainly influenced by Islamic art , but the varied earlier cultures were influenced by the art of China, Persia and Greece, as well as the Animal style that developed among
6720-421: The Near East is taken to continue until the rise of the Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century BCE, although writing existed in the region from nearly 2,000 years earlier. On that basis the very rich and long tradition of the art of Mesopotamia , as well as Assyrian sculpture , Hittite art and many other traditions such as the Luristan bronzes all fall under prehistoric art, even if covered with texts extolling
6832-449: The Pazyryk beasts are locked in such bitter fights that the victim's hindquarters become inverted. Tribes of Europoid type appear to have been active in Mongolia and Southern Siberia from ancient times. They were in contact with China and were often described for their foreign features. The art of the Saka was of a similar styles as other Iranian peoples of the steppes, which is referred to collectively as Scythian art . In 2001,
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#17328524763986944-532: The Pazyryk burials include the oldest woollen knotted-pile carpet known, the oldest embroidered Chinese silk, and two pieces of woven Persian fabric (State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg). Red and ochre predominate in the carpet, the main design of which is of riders, stags, and griffins. Many of the Pazyryk felt hangings, saddlecloths, and cushions were covered with elaborate designs executed in appliqué feltwork, dyed furs, and embroidery. Of exceptional interest are those with animal and human figural compositions,
7056-420: The Pleistocene (the Gelasian), and fall into the late Pliocene (the Piacenzian ). The early members of the genus Homo produced primitive tools, summarized under the Oldowan industry, which remained dominant for nearly a million years, from about 2.5 to 1.7 million years ago. Homo habilis is assumed to have lived primarily on scavenging , using tools to cleave meat off carrion or to break bones to extract
7168-446: The Tokharistan school such as Balalyk tepe , in the depiction of clothes, and especially in the treatment of the faces. Lower Paleolithic Europe : Africa : Siberia : The Lower Paleolithic (or Lower Palaeolithic ) is the earliest subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age . It spans the time from around 3.3 million years ago when the first evidence for stone tool production and use by hominins appears in
7280-432: The Upper Palaeolithic period (broadly 40,000 to 10,000 years ago) includes cave painting (e.g., those at Chauvet , Altamira , Pech Merle , Arcy-sur-Cure and Lascaux ) and portable art : Venus figurines like the Venus of Willendorf , as well as animal carvings like the Swimming Reindeer , Wolverine pendant of Les Eyzies , and several of the objects known as bâtons de commandement . Paintings in Pettakere cave on
7392-406: The Upper Paleolithic through to the Mesolithic , cave paintings and portable art such as figurines and beads predominated, with decorative figured workings also seen on some utilitarian objects. In the Neolithic evidence of early pottery appeared, as did sculpture and the construction of megaliths . Early rock art also first appeared during this period. The advent of metalworking in
7504-538: The Upper Paleolithic. Potsherds in a style reminiscent of early Japanese work have been found at Kosan-ri on Jeju island , which, due to lower sea levels at the time, would have been accessible from Japan. The oldest petroglyphs are dated to approximately the Mesolithic and late Upper Paleolithic boundary, about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. The earliest undisputed African rock art dates back about 10,000 years. The first naturalistic paintings of humans found in Africa date back about 8,000 years apparently originating in
7616-399: The animals of Paleolithic art, and depicted much more schematically, though often in energetic poses. A few small engraved pendants with suspension holes and simple engraved designs are known, some from northern Europe in amber , and one from Starr Carr in Britain in shale . The rock art in the Urals appears to show similar changes after the Paleolithic, and the wooden Shigir Idol is
7728-408: The arrival of modern humans in Europe. In July 2021, scientists reported the discovery of a bone carving , one of the world's oldest works of art , made by Neanderthals about 51,000 years ago. In November 2018, scientists reported the discovery of the oldest known figurative art painting , over 40,000 (perhaps as old as 52,000) years old, of an unknown animal, in the cave of Lubang Jeriji Saléh on
7840-467: The art of Gandhara, thanks to the patronage of the Kushans . The Kushans apparently favoured royal portraiture, as can be seen in their coins and their dynastic sculptures. A monumental sculpture of King Kanishka I has been found in Mathura in northern India, which is characterized by its frontality and martial stance, as he holds firmly his sword and a mace. His heavy coat and riding boots are typically nomadic Central Asian, and are way too heavy for
7952-457: The art of the cities of Ai-Khanoum and Nysa . At Khalchayan, rows of in-the-round terracotta statues showed Kushan princes in dignified attitudes, while some of the sculptural scenes are thought to depict the Kushans fighting against the Sakas . The Yuezis are shown with a majestic demeanour, whereas the Sakas are typically represented with side- wiskers , displaying expressive and sometimes grotesque features. According to Benjamin Rowland,
8064-504: The artistic tradition of the Hephthalite ruling classes of Tukharistan ". The paintings related to the Hephthalites have often been grouped under the appellation of "Tokharistan school of art", or the "Hephthalite stage in the History of Central Asia Art". The paintings of Tavka Kurgan , of very high quality, also belong to this school of art, and are closely related to other paintings of
8176-464: The cauldrons are often made of copper, which is generally of poor quality. Maenchen-Helfen lists 19 known finds of Hunnish cauldrons from all over Central and Eastern Europe and Western Siberia. They come in various shapes, and are sometimes found together with vessels of various other origins. Both ancient sources and archaeological finds from graves confirm that the Huns wore elaborately decorated golden or gold-plated diadems . Maenchen-Helfen lists
8288-611: The continent, can also be found in Kofun era Japan. Margiana and Bactria belonged to the Medes for a time, and were then annexed to the Achaemenid Empire by Cyrus the Great in sixth century BC , forming the twelfth satrapy of Persia. Under Persian rule, many Greeks were deported to Bactria, so that their communities and language became common in the area. During the reign of Darius I ,
8400-636: The current archaeological record , until around 300,000 years ago, spanning the Oldowan ("mode 1") and Acheulean ("mode 2") lithics industries. In African archaeology, the time period roughly corresponds to the Early Stone Age , the earliest finds dating back to 3.3 million years ago, with Lomekwian stone tool technology, spanning Mode 1 stone tool technology, which begins roughly 2.6 million years ago and ends between 400,000 and 250,000 years ago, with Mode 2 technology. The Middle Paleolithic followed
8512-491: The dates. Pottery of distinctly Japanese origin is found in Korea, and metalwork of Korean origin is found in northeastern China. Superb samples of Steppes art – mostly golden jewellery and trappings for horse – are found over a vast expanses of land stretching from Hungary to Mongolia . Dating from the period between the 7th and 3rd centuries BCE, the objects are usually diminutive, as may be expected from nomadic people always on
8624-462: The discovery of an undisturbed royal Scythian burial-barrow illustrated Scythian animal-style gold that lacks the direct influence of Greek styles. Forty-four pounds of gold weighed down the royal couple in this burial, discovered near Kyzyl , capital of the Siberian republic of Tuva . Ancient influences from Central Asia became identifiable in China following contacts of metropolitan China with nomadic western and northwestern border territories from
8736-431: The discovery of the earliest known drawing by Homo sapiens , which is estimated to be 73,000 years old, much earlier than the 43,000 years old artifacts understood to be the earliest known modern human drawings found previously. Engraved shells created by Homo erectus dating as far back as 500,000 years ago have been found, although experts disagree on whether these engravings can be properly classified as 'art'. From
8848-452: The drier savannah ecology. Derek Bickerton (2009) has designated to this period the move from simple animal communication systems found in all great apes to the earliest form of symbolic communication systems capable of displacement (referring to items not currently within sensory perception) and motivated by the need to "recruit" group members for scavenging large carcasses. Homo erectus appeared by about 1.8 million years ago, via
8960-563: The early 2000s, the Oldowan or Mode 1 horizon, long considered the oldest type of lithic industry, is now considered to have developed from about 2.6 million years ago, with the beginning Gelasian ( Lower Pleistocene ), possibly first used by australopithecine forebears of the genus Homo (such as Australopithecus garhi ). However, even older tools were later discovered at the single site of Lomekwi 3 in Kenya , in 2015, dated to as early as 3.3 million years ago. As such, they would predate
9072-547: The expense of the declining Kushans . They captured the provinces of Sogdiana , Bactria and Gandhara from the Kushans in 225 AD. The Kushano-Sassanids traded goods such as silverware and textiles depicting the Sassanid emperors engaged in hunting or administering justice. The example of Sassanid art was influential on Kushan art, and this influence remained active for several centuries in northwest South Asia. The Huns were
9184-520: The extensive corpus of metal objects point to a sophisticated tradition of metalworking. Wearing large stylised dresses, as well as headdresses that merge with the hair, "Bactrian princesses" embody the ranking goddess, character of the central Asian mythology that plays a regulatory role, pacifying the untamed forces. The Pazyryk culture is a Scythian nomadic Iron Age archaeological culture (of Iranian origin; c. 6th to 3rd centuries BC) identified by excavated artifacts and mummified humans found in
9296-402: The face is depicted. The tradition of Upper Paleolithic portable statuettes being almost exclusively European, it has been suggested that Mal'ta had some kind of cultural and cultic connection with Europe during that time period, but this remains unsettled. The Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC, also known as the "Oxus civilization") is the modern archaeological designation for
9408-691: The famous head of a Yuezhi prince from Khalchayan, and the head of Gandharan Bodhisattvas , giving the example of the Gandharan head of a Bodhisattva in the Philadelphia Museum of Art . The similarity of the Gandhara Bodhisattva with the portrait of the Kushan ruler Heraios is also striking. According to Rowland the Bactrian art of Khalchayan thus survived for several centuries through its influence in
9520-639: The founding of the Three Kingdoms of Korea , which are documented in the Samguk Sagi , a 12th-century CE text written in Classical Chinese (the written language of the literati in traditional Korea), as beginning in the 1st century BCE; some mention of earlier history is also made in Chinese texts, like the 3rd-century CE Sanguo Zhi . Clearer evidence of culture emerges in the late Neolithic, known in Korea as
9632-574: The further expansion of the brain in the areas of problem-solving, memory etc., ultimately leading to the great behavioral flexibility, highly efficient communication, and ecological dominance of humanity. The biological pre-adaptations of the great apes and earlier primates allowed the brain to expand threefold within just 2 to 2.3 million years of the Pleistocene , in response to increasingly complex societies and changing habitats. The appearance of Homo heidelbergensis about 600,000 years ago heralds
9744-747: The inhabitants of the Greek city of Barca , in Cyrenaica , were deported to Bactria for refusing to surrender assassins. In addition, Xerxes also settled the "Branchidae" in Bactria; they were the descendants of Greek priests who had once lived near Didyma (western Asia Minor) and betrayed the temple to him. Herodotus also records a Persian commander threatening to enslave daughters of the revolting Ionians and send them to Bactria. Persia subsequently conscripted Greek men from these settlements in Bactria into their military, as did Alexander later. The Greco-Bactrians ruled
9856-433: The lines on the fragment edges indicate that the pattern originally extended over a larger surface. It is also estimated that the pattern was most likely more complex and structured in its entirety than shown on the discovered area. Initially, when this drawing was found, there was much debate. To prove that this drawing was created by Homo Sapiens, French team members who specialized in chemical analysis of pigments, reproduced
9968-408: The many trade routes and caravans of merchants passing through the area. The Pazyryk are considered to have had a war-like life. Other kurgan cemeteries associated with the culture include those of Bashadar, Tuekta, Ulandryk, Polosmak and Berel . There are so far no known sites of settlements associated with the burials, suggesting a purely nomadic lifestyle. The remarkable textiles recovered from
10080-435: The margins of sedentary societies. The prehistoric 'animal style' art of these pastoral nomads not only demonstrates their zoomorphic mythologies and shamanic traditions but also their fluidity in incorporating the symbols of sedentary society into their own artworks. Central Asia has always been a crossroads of cultural exchange, the hub of the so-called Silk Road – that complex system of trade routes stretching from China to
10192-678: The most notable of which are the repeat design of an investiture scene on a felt hanging and that of a semi-human, semi-bird creature on another (both in the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg ). Clothing, whether of felt, leather, or fur, was also lavishly ornamented. Horse reins either had animal designs cut out on them or were studded with wooden ones covered in gold foil. Their tail sheaths were ornamented, as were their headpieces and breast pieces. Some horses were provided with leather or felt masks made to resemble animals, with stag antlers or rams' horns often incorporated in them. Many of
10304-592: The move. Art of the steppes is primarily an animal art , i.e., combat scenes involving several animals (real or imaginary) or single animal figures (such as golden stags) predominate. The best known of the various peoples involved are the Scythians , at the European end of the steppe, who were especially likely to bury gold items. Among the most famous finds was made in 1947, when the Soviet archaeologist Sergei Rudenko discovered
10416-540: The nomadic peoples of the steppes . The first modern human occupation in the difficult climates of North and Central Asia is dated to circa 40,000 ago, with the early Yana culture of northern Siberia dated to circa 31,000 BCE. By around 21,000 BCE, two main cultures developed: the Mal'ta culture and slightly later the Afontova Gora-Oshurkovo culture . The Mal'ta culture culture, centered around at Mal'ta , at
10528-434: The north, although this is a subject of debate. At a number of sites in southern Korea there are rock art panels that are thought to date from this period, mainly for stylistic reasons. While the exact date of the introduction of bronzework into Korea is also a matter of debate, it is clear that bronze was being worked by about 700 BCE. Finds include stylistically distinctive daggers, mirrors, and belt buckles, with evidence by
10640-434: The older literate cultures. The end-date for what is covered by the term thus varies greatly between different parts of the world. The earliest human artifacts showing evidence of workmanship with an artistic purpose are the subject of some debate. It is clear that such workmanship existed 40,000 years ago in the Upper Paleolithic era, although it is quite possible that it began earlier. In September 2018, scientists reported
10752-454: The palace of Khalchayan . Various sculptures and friezes are known, representing horse-riding archers, and, significantly, men with artificially deformed skulls , such as the Kushan prince of Khalchayan (a practice well attested in nomadic Central Asia). The art of Khalchayan of the end of the 2nd–1st century BC is probably one of the first known manifestations of Kushan art. It is ultimately derived from Hellenistic art , and possibly from
10864-494: The ranks of omnivorous predators (and possibly became hypercarnivores before Homo sapiens again transformed into hypocarnivores ). As active hunters, they came in opposition to other, quadruped predators and started living in large groups. Homo erectus migrated out of Africa and dispersed throughout Eurasia. Stone tools in Malaysia have been dated to be 1.83 million years old. The Peking Man fossil, discovered in 1929,
10976-524: The rock paintings of prehistoric times, the petroglyphs as found in places like the Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka , and some of them are dated to c. 8,000 BC . The Indus Valley civilization produced fine small stamp seals and sculptures, and may have been literate, but after its collapse there are relatively few artistic remains until the literate period, probably as perishable materials were used. The Gobustan National Park reserve located at
11088-524: The ruler, as many Assyrian palace reliefs are. The Art of the Upper Paleolithic includes carvings on antler and bone, especially of animals, as well as the so-called Venus figurines and cave paintings , discussed above. Despite a warmer climate, the Mesolithic period undoubtedly shows a falling-off from the heights of the preceding period. Rock art is found in Scandinavia and northern Russia, and around
11200-630: The same lines using a variety of techniques. They concluded that the lines making up the drawing were intentional and were most likely made with ocher. This discovery adds further dimensions to understanding the behavior and cognition of early homo sapiens. Neanderthals may have made art . Painted designs in the caves of La Pasiega ( Cantabria ), a hand stencil in Maltravieso ( Extremadura ), and red-painted speleothems in Ardales ( Andalusia ) are dated to 64,800 years ago, predating by at least 20,000 years
11312-953: The same period. The intermediate may have been Homo heidelbergensis , held responsible for the manufacture of improved Mode 2 Acheulean tool types, in Africa, after 600,000 years ago. Flakes and axes coexisted in Europe, sometimes at the same site. The axe tradition, however, spread to a different range in the east. It appears in Arabia and India , but more importantly, it does not appear in southeast Asia. From about 300,000 years ago, technology, social structures and behaviour appear to grow more complex, with prepared-core technique lithics, earliest instances of burial and changes to hunting-gathering patterns of subsistence. Homo sapiens first appeared about 300,000 years ago, as evidenced by fossils found at Jebel Irhoud in Morocco. Guy Ellcock Pilgrim ,
11424-670: The south-east of the Greater Caucasus Mountains in Azerbaijan, 60 km away from Baku date back more than 12 thousand years ago. The reserve has more than 6,000 rock carvings depicting mostly hunting scenes, human and animal figures. There are also longship illustrations similar to Viking ships . Gobustan is also characterized by its natural musical stone called Gavaldash (tambourine stone). Prehistoric artwork such as painted pottery in Neolithic China can be traced back to
11536-464: The southern part of Central Asia from the 3rd to the 2nd century BC, with their capital at Ai-Khanoum . The main known remains from this period are the ruins and artifacts of their city of Ai-Khanoum , a Greco-Bactrian city founded circa 280 BC which continued to flourish during the first 55 years of the Indo-Greek period until its destruction by nomadic invaders in 145 BC, and their coinage, which
11648-454: The styles and ethnic type visible in Kalchayan already anticipate the characteristics of the later Art of Gandhara and may even have been at the origin of its development. Rowland particularly draws attention to the similarity of the ethnic types represented at Khalchayan and in the art of Gandhara, and also in the style of portraiture itself. For example, Rowland find a great proximity between
11760-519: The transitional variety Homo ergaster . Homo erectus moved from scavenging to hunting , developing the hunting-gathering lifestyle that would remain dominant throughout the Paleolithic into the Mesolithic . The unlocking of the new niche of hunting-gathering subsistence drove a number of further behavioral and physiological changes leading to the appearance of Homo heidelbergensis by some 800,000-600,000 years ago. As such, Homo rose to
11872-476: The trappings took the form of iron, bronze, and gilt wood animal motifs either applied or suspended from them; and bits had animal-shaped terminal ornaments. Altai-Sayan animals frequently display muscles delineated with dot and comma markings, a formal convention that may have derived from appliqué needlework. Such markings are sometimes included in Assyrian , Achaemenian , and even Urartian animal representations of
11984-562: The trousers and boots, the heavy tunics, and heavy belts. The Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom (also called "Kushanshas" KΟÞANΟ ÞAΟ Koshano Shao in Bactrian ) is a historiographic term used by modern scholars to refer to a branch of the Sasanian Persians who established their rule in Bactria and in northwestern Indian subcontinent (present day Pakistan ) during the 3rd and 4th centuries AD at
12096-521: The various kingdoms of ancient China. Excavations of the prehistoric art of the Dian civilisation of Yunnan have revealed hunting scenes of Caucasoid horsemen in Central Asian clothing. Saka influences have been identified as far as Korea and Japan. Various Korean artifacts, such as the royal crowns of the kingdom of Silla , are said to be of "Scythian" design. Similar crowns, brought through contacts with
12208-507: The warm climate of India. His coat is decorated by hundreds of pearls, which probably symbolize his wealth. His grandiose regnal title is inscribed in the Brahmi script : "The Great King, King of Kings, Son of God, Kanishka". As the Kushans progressively adapted to life in India, their dress progressively became lighter, and representation less frontal and more natural, although they retained characteristic elements of their nomadic dress, such as
12320-509: The world continued to produce artistic works distinctive to their geographic area and culture, until exploration and commerce brought record-keeping methods to them. Some cultures, notably the Maya civilization , independently developed writing during the time they flourished, which was then later lost. These cultures may be classified as prehistoric, especially if their writing systems have not been deciphered. The earliest undisputed art originated with
12432-457: Was followed by the art styles of various Korean kingdoms and dynasties. In these periods, artists often adopted Chinese style in their artworks. However, Koreans not only adopted but also modified Chinese culture with a native preference for simple elegance, purity of nature and spontaneity. This filtering of Chinese styles later influenced Japanese artistic traditions, due to cultural and geographical circumstances. The prehistory of Korea ends with
12544-472: Was the Greek name for Old Persian Bāxtriš (from native * Bāxçiš ) (named for its capital Bactra, modern Balkh ), in what is now northern Afghanistan, and Margiana was the Greek name for the Persian satrapy of Margu , the capital of which was Merv , in today's Turkmenistan. Fertility goddesses, named "Bactrian princesses", made from limestone, chlorite and clay reflect agrarian Bronze Age society, while
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