fall 2011 fiero intro
TRANSCRIPT
Introduction: Prehistory and the Birth of Civilization
Professor Lauren Martilli
The Humanistic Tradition: The First Civilizations and the Classical
Legacy, Book 1
Paleolithic (“Old Stone”) Cultureca. 7 million-10,000 BCE
Coincides with the Ice Age (geological) Predecessors of Homo sapiens, the “self-
conscious, symbol-making” human species
Nomadic hunters and gatherers Cave Art
Cave “Art”: Lascaux Caves, France
Hall of the Bulls, cave painting, Lascaux (Dordogne), Francec. 15,000–13,000 BCE Left wall.
• Polychrome• Naturalistic
Wall Paintings: Lascaux Caves, France
Hall of the Bullsc. 15,000–10,000 BCE
Pech-Merle Caves, France
Spotted horses and negative hand prints. ca. 15,000-10,000 BCE.
• Polychrome• Naturalistic
Reconstruction of a mammoth-bone house, Mezhirich, Ukraine, ca. 16,000-10,000 BCE
Mother Earth
Woman (“Venus”) of Willendorfc. 25,000–20,000 BCE
4.25,” Danube River (Western Austria)
• Cultural Value of Paleolithic women?
• Mother/goddess statuettes
Neolithic (“New Stone”) Culture
ca. 8,000-4,000 BCE Transition: Hunters and gathers Herders
and farmers Domesticating animals, planting, plowing,
growing crops, cultivating the land enabled new sense of stability
Benefits of farming? Why was the Neolithic era so
revolutionary? Social development, communities Language, writing system, narrative quality of
cave paintings, signs of daily life, human expression
Female Cycladic idol, from Amorgos, 2700-2300 B.C.E. Marble, 4' 10 1/2" high.
Saharan Rock Painting
Saharan rock painting, Tassili, Algeria. 5th-4th millennium B.C.E.
What do the differences suggest about the transition from Paleolithic to Neolithic?
Neolithic Earthworks: Stonehenge
Stonehenge, Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England, ca 3000-1800 BCE. Stone. 97 ft. diameter, 20 ft. highest point
Neolithic Architecture: Stonehenge
Stonehenge, Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England.
Architecturef Megaliths (“large stones”)
Cromlech: circle of stones having a religious purpose
Henge: a circle of stones or posts
f Post and lintel structure (vertical posts supported by vertical lintels)
f Function/purpose? Sun clock or calendar,
summer & winter solstices Ritual space
The Birth of Civilization
The Evolution of Writing
Pictographs Ideogram Cuneiform
wedge-shaped characters incised in clay tablets
Cuneiform Tablet
Rosetta Stone
Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, “sacred signs”
Hieroglyphics = ideograms + phonograms
Thanks, Champollion, for deciphering the stone
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aes/t/the_rosetta_stone.aspx
The King of Lagash leads his phalanx into battle. Detail of Eannatum's Stele of Victory, Tello, formerly Girsu, ca. 2450 B.C.E. Limestone, 5 ft. 10-7/8 in. x 4 ft. 3-5/8 in. Louvre, Paris.
Chariot from Daimabad, Maharashtra, ca. 1500 B.C.E. Bronze, 8-5/8 x 20-1/2 x 6-7/8 in. The Prince of Wales Museum of Western India, Bombay.
Creation
Myths
Rig Veda
African
Mayan Popol Vuh
Native America
n
Discussion
Sympathetic Magic Ancient/Modern examples? Relationship between ritual and myth? How do rituals contribute to our well-being? To our
sense of “control” over time and nature? Possible roles of men and women in
prehistoric culture? What aspects of early human life left no records?
Development of community and community values?
Commonalities among 4 “creation myths” (pp. 14-15)? Other examples?
Study Questions
1. Compare/contrast: Paleolithic & Neolithic cultures
2. Purpose/function of early forms of sacrifice and ritual?
3. Distinguishing feature of Homo sapiens? 4. What is the Rosetta Stone and the
importance of its discovery ? 5. What makes the Neolithic Age
“revolutionary”?6. What is sympathetic magic?