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Pre-historic art
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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 it makes significant contact with another culture that has.
The very earliest human artifacts showing evidence of workmanship with an artistic purpose are a subject of some debate; it is clear that such workmanship existed by 40,000 years ago in the Upper Palaeolithic era.
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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 it makes significant contact with another culture that has.
The very earliest human artifacts showing evidence of workmanship with an artistic purpose are a subject of some debate; it is clear that such workmanship existed by 40,000 years ago in the Upper Palaeolithic era. From the Upper Palaeolithic through the Mesolithic, cave paintings and portable art like 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 in the Neolithic. The advent of metalworking in the Bronze Age brought another increase in mediums used for 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 the world continued to produce artistics 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 are generally considered prehistoric, especially if their writing systems have not been deciphered.
Palaeolithic era
Earliest controversial finds
Unequivocal evidence of artistic expression is known only from the Upper Palaeolithic, created by Homo sapiens. However, Homo erectus had long before produced seemingly aimless patterns on artifacts such as is those found at Bilzingsleben in Thuringia, and these might be understood as a precursor to art, as well as to reveal some intent of the artificer to decorate, to fashion beyond practical necessity. The symmetry and attention given to the shape of a tool has led authors to see Middle Palaeolithic hand axes and especially laurel points as artistic expressions as well. A recent find, the Mask of La Roche-Cotard in France, now suggests that Neanderthal humans may have developed a sophisticated and more complicated artistic tradition.
The earliest possible artwork yet discovered, the Venus of Tan-Tan is claimed by the discoverer to have an age between 500,000 and 300,000 BCE, during the Middle Acheulean period. Discovered in Morocco, it is about 6 centimeters long and resembles a human figurine. Although this Moroccan artifact may have been created by natural geological processes, it appears to exhibit traces of human tool-work and bears evidence of having been painted; iron and manganese particles consistent with "manually applied paint residues" were found on the stone's surface, indicating that it may have been decorated by someone and used as a figurine, regardless of how it may have been formed. The identity of the artifact as evidence of human artistic expression, however, remains disputed. A more or less comparable object from Israel, the Venus of Berekhat Ram, dated to roughly 250,000 BCE, has elicited similar controversy.
It remains premature, then, to claim with any degree of confidence that art existed before the Upper Palaeolithic.
Blombos Cave
In 2002 in Blombos cave, situated in South Africa, stones were discovered engraved with grid or cross-hatch patterns, suggesting to some researchers that early Homo sapiens were capable of abstraction and production of abstract art or symbolic art. These impressive works date to 70,000 years ago, which makes them about 40,000 years older than the Lascaux-type cave paintings.
Other remarkable discoveries from the Blombos cave include shell beads 30,000 years older than previously-known beads. While the datings of the Blombos artifacts are correct, there is no indication that they are indeed actual representations of advanced cognitive behavior similar to the depictional art later in Europe. Several archaeologists including Richard Klein of Stanford are hesitant to accept the Blombos caves as the first example of actual art.
Prehistoric arts of Asia
Asia was the cradle for several significant civilizations, most notably those of China and India. The prehistory of eastern Asia 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.
Korea
The prehistory of Korean ends most definitively with the founding of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, which are documented in a 12th-century CE Chinese text, the Samguk Sagi as beginning in the first century BCE. Mention of earlier history is made in other Chinese texts, like the third-century CE Sanguo Zhi; however, this section will focus on archaeological artistic finds up to the founding of the Three Kingdoms.
The earliest humans are estimated to have arrived in Korea somewhere between 400,000 and 100,000 years ago. As with most early human sites, the finds in the very oldest sites are generally of a utilitarian nature, and do not seem to feature artistic creativity to a notable degree. 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 the Upper Paleolithic. Pot sherds 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.
Jeulmun period
Clearer evidence of culture became clearer in the late Neolithic, known in Korea as 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.
Mumun period
During the Mumun pottery period, roughly between 1500BCE and 300BCE, agriculture expanded, and evidence of larger-scale political structures became apparent, as villages became larger and some burials 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 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 700BCE. Finds include stylistically distinctive daggers, mirrors, and belt buckles, with evidence by the first century BCE of a widespread, locally distinctive, bronzeworking culture.
Protohistoric Korea
The time between 300BCE and the founding and stabilization of the Three Kingdoms around 300CE 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 the first 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 first century BCE. Stoneware and kiln-fired pottery also appears to date from this time, although there is controversy over the dates. Pottery of distinctly Japanese origin is found in Korea, and metalwork of Korean origin is found in northeastern China.
Prehistoric arts of Europe
Upper Palaeolithic period
Further depictional art is from the Upper Palaeolithic period (broadly 40,000 to 10,000 years ago) and includes both cave painting (such as the famous paintings at Chauvet, Altamira, Pech Merle, and Lascaux), portable art (such as animal carvings and so-called Venus figurines like the Venus of Willendorf), and open air art (such as the monumental Côa Valley and Mazouco in Portugal, Domingo García and Siega Verde, both in Spain, Fornols-Haut in France).
Later findings from the Mizyn archeological site in the Ukraine dated from Mousterian epoch of Palaeolithic are mammoth ivory bracelets with carved meander ornaments.
Mesolithic period
The Mesolithic period has some examples of portable art, like painted pebbles (Azilien) from Birseck, Eremitage in Switzerland, and in some areas, like the Spanish Levant, stylized rock art. Patterns on utilitarian objects, like the paddles from Tybrind Vig, Denmark, are known as well.
Neolithic period
According to archaeological evidence, the Jomon people in ancient Japan were the first to develop pottery, dating to the 11th millennium BCE. The Jomon people were making clay figures and vessels decorated with patterns made by impressing the wet clay with braided or unbraided cord and sticks with a growing sophistication.
Free standing sculpture had already begun by the Neolithic, the earliest being the anthropomorphic figurines, often embellished by animals from the very beginning of the Neolithic discovered in Nevali Cori and Göbekli Tepe near Urfa in eastern Turkey, dating to ca. 10th millennium BCE. The Mesolithic statues of Lepenski Vir at the Iron Gate, Serbia date to the 7th millennium BCE and represent either humans or mixtures of humans and fish.
In Central Europe, many Neolithic cultures, like Linearbandkeramic, Lengyel and Vinca, produced female (rarely male) and animal statues that can be called art. Whether the elaborate pottery decoration of, for example, the Želiesovce and painted Lengyel style are to be classified as art is a matter of definition.
Megalithic monuments are found in the Neolithic 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 Nabata and other sites). The best preserved of all temples and the oldest free standing structures on Earth are the Megalithic Temples of Malta. They start in the 5th millennium BC, though some authors speculate on Mesolithic roots. Because of frequent re-use, this is difficult to prove. There are many sites for rock and cave art of engraved animal and human scenes in the Saharan area. Not as popular are the temples of Malta dating back to 3600 BCE these are the oldest free standing monuments in all the world with a post to lintel simple architecture but still very imposing structures. Many artistic similarities where found in Minoa (Crete) dating to the same period of the very well known Egyptian pyramids. While the best-known of these is Stonehenge, where the main structures date from the early Bronze Age, such monuments have been found throughout most of Western and Northern Europe, notably at Carnac, France, at Skara Brae in the Orkney Islands, in Portugal, and in Wiltshire, England, the area of Stonehenge, the Avebury circle, the tombs at West Kennet, and Woodhenge. One tomb found in Newgrange, Ireland, has its entrance marked with a massive stone carved with a complex design of spirals. The tomb of Knowth has rock-cut ornaments as well; one of them may be the oldest known image of the Moon. Many of these monuments were megalithic tombs, and archaeologists speculate that most have religious significance. Knowth is reputed to have approximately one third of all megalithic art in Western Europe.
On the central Alps the civilization of the Camunni did 350.000 petroglyphs: see rock Drawings in Valcamonica.
Bronze Age
During the 3rd millennium BCE, however, the Bronze Age began in Europe, bringing with it a new medium for art. The increased efficiency of bronze tools also meant an increase in productivity, which led to a surplus — the first step in the creation of a class of artisans. Because of the increased wealth of society, luxury goods began to be created, especially decorated weapons. Examples include ceremonial bronze helmets, ornamental ax-heads and swords, elaborate instruments such as lurer, and other ceremonial objects without a practical purpose. Rock art, showing scenes from the daily life and religious rituals have been found in many areas, for example in Bohuslän Sweden and the Val Camonica in northern Italy.
Iron Age
The Iron Age saw the development of anthropomorphic sculptures, such as the warrior of Hirschlanden, and the statue from the Glauberg, Germany. Hallstatt artists in the early Iron Age favored geometric, abstract designs perhaps influenced by trade links with the Classical world.
The more elaborate and curvilinear La Tène artistic style developed in Europe in the later Iron Age from a centre in the Rhine valley but it soon spread across the continent. The rich chieftain classes appear to have encouraged ostentation and Classical influences such as bronze drinking vessels attest to a new fashion for wine drinking. Communal eating and drinking were an important part of Celtic society and culture and much of their art was often expressed through plates, knives, cauldrons and cups. Horse tack and weaponry were also subjects deemed fit for elaboration. Mythical animals were a common motif along with religious and natural subjects and their depiction is a mix between the naturalistic and the stylized. Megalithic art was still practiced, examples include the carved limestone pillars of the sanctuary at Entremont in modern day France. Personal adornment included torc necklaces whilst the introduction of coinage provided a further opportunity for artistic expression. Although the coins of this period are poorly made derivatives of Greek and Roman types, the more exuberant Celtic artistic style is still visible.
The famous late fourth century BCE chariot burial at Waldalgesheim in the Rhineland produced many fine examples of La Tène art including a bronze flagon and bronze plaques with repoussé human figures. Many pieces had curvy, organic styles though to be derived from Classical tendril patterns.
In much of western Europe elements of this artistic style can be discerned surviving in the art and architecture of the Roman colonies. In areas where Roman influence was missing altogether, the later Iron Age artistic tradition continued well into the historic period, perhaps most famously in Ireland and Northumbria.
Prehistoric arts of Africa
The earliest alleged art object found in Africa is the Venus of Tan-Tan at 500,000-300,000BCE; however, this claim is controversial (see above).
Early African rock art
The earliest undisputed African rock art dates back about 10,000 years. 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 a site in Tanzania. A site at the Apollo 11 Cave complex in Namibia has been dated to 27,000 years. This site contains figures of animals painted on stone plaquettes that were carried to the site; the dating is of the sedimentary layers the plaquettes were found in, so the age of the artifacts themselves is somewhat uncertain.
Southern Africa
Artifacts related to the use of pigments have been dated to 125,000 years in Zimbabwe. Stone palettes stained with pigments have been found that date to 40,000 years, and discarded pigments aged 125,000 have been found in waste piles. Zimbabwe's oldest art finds date to at least 10,000 years (again dated to sediment layers containing painted rock fragments). There is a significant body of rock painting in the region around Matobo National Park of Zimbabwe dating from as early as 6,000BCE to 500CE.
Significant bushman rock paintings exist in the Waterberg area above the Palala River and around Drakensberg in South Africa, some of which are considered to derive from the period 8000 BCE. These images are very clear and depict a variety of human and wildlife motifs, especially antelope. There appears to be a fairly continuous history of rock painting in this area; some of the art clearly dates into the 19th century. They include depictions of horses with riders, which were not introduced to the area until 1820s.
Namibia, in addition to the Apollo 11 complex, has an significant array of Bushmen rock art near Twyfelfontein. This work is several thousand years old, and appears to end with the arrival of pastoral tribes in the area.
East Africa
Most of East African rock art is found on a plateau between the Zambezi River and the Great Rift Valley. Running from southern Kenya and Uganda in the north, through Tanzania to Zambia and Malawi in the south, the rock art in this area is mostly paintings, although some engravings are found. It may never be known how early painting took place in this area, as the environment may well have destroyed the evidence. Most of the painting is of figures of animals and people, with some geometric shapes. Red paintings in Tanzania have been extensively studied, by the Leakeys (Mary and Louis) among others. White paintings in Zambia appear to date from about 2,000 years ago, with the arrival of Bantu speakers in the area, an observation confirmed by oral history of modern tribes in the area.
In the Horn of Africa there are stone megaliths and engravings, some of which are 3,500 years old. Dillo in Ethiopia has a hilltop covered with stone stelae, one of several such sites in southern Ethiopia dating from the 10th to the 14th century.
Saharan Africa
About 12,000 years ago, following the last Ice Age, the Sahara region, which had been green prior to the Ice Age and desertified during it, again began to green, bringing large animals, as well as hunters. These hunters left stone tools (grinding stones, axes, and the like), and also left stone carvings of animals. The first naturalistic paintings of humans, dating back about 8,000 years, depict people with Negroid features. Pottery, apparently originating in 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.
The early art of this region has been divided into five periods:
- Bubalus Period, roughly 12-8 kya
- Round Head Period, roughly 10-8 kya
- Pastoral Period, roughly 7.5-4 kya
- Horse Period, roughly 3-2 kya
- Camel Period, 2,000 years ago to the present
Works of the Bubalus period span the Sahara, with the finest work, carvings of naturalistically depicted megafauna, concentrated in the central highlands. The Round Head Period is dominated by paintings of strangely-shaped human forms, and few animals, suggesting the artists were foragers. These works are largely limited to Tassili n'Ajjer and the Akakus Mountains. Toward the end of the period, images of domesticated animals, as well as decorative clothing and headdresses appear. Pastoral Period art was more focused on domestic scenes, including herding and dancing. The quality of artwork declined, as figures became more simplified.
The Horse Period began in the eastern Sahara and spread west. Depictions from this period include carvings and paintings of horses, chariots, and warriors with metal weapons, although there are also frequent depictions of wildlife such as giraffes. Humans are generally depicted in a stylized way. Some of the chariot art bears resemblance to temple carvings from ancient Egypt. Occasionally, art panels are accompanied by Tifinagh script, still in use by the Berber people and the Tuareg today; however, modern Tuareg are generally unable to read these inscriptions. The final Camel period features carvings and paintings in which camels predominate, but also include humans with swords, and later, guns; the art of this time is relatively crude.
Prehistoric arts of North America
Prehistoric arts of Central America
Prehistoric arts of South America
Humans have been documented to be living in South America for roughly 15,000 years; evidence of human habitation at Monte Verde in southern Chile, while still somewhat controversial, is difficult to dispute. Most early human sites in South America show evidence of stone tools, hearths, and other practical artifacts; clear evidence of artistic intents is not usually evident. The very earliest evidence of artistic endeavour does not appear for some time.
Peru and the central Andes
The prehistory of Peru and the central Andes is characterized by civilizations that very approximately alternate between the domination of highland cultures and that of coastal cultures. These periods of domination appear to correspond to significant changes in weather patterns (possibly influenced by El Niño events), principally the arrival or departure of drought conditions across some portion of the area. The timeline has been grouped into a system of periods and horizons. Horizons were originally thought to be time periods in which single cultures tend to predominate in this area; periods were considered times when a diversity of more geographically dispersed cultures dominated. After this system was set up in the mid-20th century, later research has revealed that these divisions are not entirely straightforward.
Lithic and preceramic periods
Peru, including an area of the central Andes stretching from Ecuador to northern Chile, has a rich cultural history, with evidence of human habitation dating to roughly 10,000BCE. Prior to the emergence of ceramics in this region around 1850BCE, cave paintings and beads have been found. These finds include rock paintings that controversially date as far back as 9,500BCE in the Toquepala Caves. Burial sites in Peru like one at Telarmachay as old as 8600-7200BCE contained evidence of ritual burial, with red ocher and bead necklaces.
The earliest ceramics that appear in Peru may have been imported from the Validivia region; indigenous pottery production almost certainly arrived in the highlands around 1800BCE at Kotosh, and on the coast at La Florida circa 1700BCE. Older calabash gourd vessels with human faces burned into them were found at Huaca Prieta, a site dating to 2500-2000BCE. Huaca Prieta also contained some early patterned and dyed textiles made from twisted plant fibers.
Initial Period and First Horizon
The Initial Period in Central Andean cultures lasted roughly from 1800BCE to 900BCE. Textiles from this time found at Huaca Prieta are of astonishing complexity, including images such as crabs whose claws transform into snakes, and double-headed birds. Many of these images are similar to optical illusions, where which image dominates depends in part on which the viewer chooses to see. Other portable artwork from this time includes decorated mirrors, bone and shell jewelry, and unfired clay female effigies. Public architecture, including works estimated to require the movement of more than 100,000 tons of stone, are to be found at sites like Kotosh, El Paraíso, and La Galgada. Kotosh, a site in the Andean highlands, is especially noted as the site of the Temple of the Crossed Hands, in which there are two reliefs of crossed forearms, one pair male, one pair female. Also of note is one of South America's largest ceremonial sites, Sechín Alto. This site's crowning work is a twelve-story platform, with stones incised with military themes. The architecture and art of the highlands, in particular, laid down the groundwork for the rise of the Chavín culture.
The Chavín culture dominated the central Andes during the First Horizon, beginning around 900BCE, and is generally divided into two stages. The first, running until about 500BCE, represented a significant cultural unification of the highland and coastal cultures of the time. Imagery in all manner of art (textiles, ceramics, jewelry, and architectural) included sometimes fantastic imagery such as jaguars, snakes, and human–animal composites, much of it seemingly inspired by the jungles to the east.
The later stage of the Chavín culture is primarily represented by a significant architectural expansion of the Chavín de Huantar site around 500BCE, accompanied by a set of stylistic changes. This expansion included, among other changes, over forty large stone heads, whose reconstructed positions represent a transformation from human to supernatural animal visages. Much of the other art at the complex from this time contains such supernatural imagery. The portable art associated with this time included sophisticated metalworking, including alloying of metals and soldering. Textiles found at sites like Karwa clearly depict Chavín cultural influences, and the Cupisnique style of pottery disseminated by the Chavín would set standards all across the region for later cultures. (The vessel pictured at the top of this article, while from the later Moche culture, is representative of the stirrup-spouted vessels of the Chavín.)
Early Intermediate Period
The Early Intermediate Period lasted from about 200BCE to 600CE. Late in the First Horizon, the Chavín culture began to decline, and other cultures, predominantly in the coastal areas, began to develop. The earliest of these was the Paracas culture, centered on the Paracas peninsula of central Peru. Active from 600BCE to 175BCE, their early work clearly shows Chavín influence, but a locally distinctive style and technique developed. It was characterized by technical and time-consuming detail work, visually colorful, and a profusion visual elements. Distinctive technical differences include painting on clay after firing, and embroidery on textiles. One notable find is a mantle that was clearly used for training purposes; it shows obvious indications of experts doing some of the weaving, interspersed with less technically proficient trainee work.
The Nazca culture of southern Peru, which is widely known for the enormous figures traced on the ground by the Nazca lines in southern Peru, shared some similarities with the Paracas culture, but techniques (and scale) differed. The Nazca painted their ceramics with slip, and also painted their textiles. Nazca ceramics featured a wide variety of subjects, from the mundane to the fantastic, including utilitarian vessels and effigy figures. The Nazca also excelled at goldsmithing, and made pan pipes from clay in a style not unlike the pipes heard in music of the Andes today.
The famous Nazca lines are accompanied by temple-like constructions (showing no sign of permanent habitation) and open plazas that presumably had ritual purposes related to the lines. The lines themselves are laid out on a sort of natural blackboard, where a thin layer of dark stone covers lighter stone; the lines were thus created by simply removing the top layer where desired, after using surveying techniques to lay out the design.
In the north of Peru, the Moche culture dominated during this time. Also known as Mochica or Early Chimú, this warlike culture dominated the area until about 500CE, apparently using conquest to gain access to critical resources along the desert coast: arable land and water. Moche art is again notably distinctive, expressive and dynamic in a way that many other Andean cultures were not. Knowledge of the period has been notably expanded by finds like the pristine royal tombs at Sipán.
The Moche very obviously absorbed some elements of the Chavín culture, but also absorbed ideas from smaller nearby cultures that they assimilated, such as the Recuay and the Vicús. They made fully-sculpted ceramic animal figures, worked gold, and wove textiles. The art often featured everyday images, but seemingly always with a ritual intent.
In its later years, the Moche came under the influence of the expanding Wari empire. The Cerro Blanco site of Huaca del Sol appears to have been the Moche capital. Largely destroyed by natural events around 600CE, it was further damaged by Spanish conquistadors searching for gold, and continues with modern looters.
Middle Horizon
The Middle Horizon lasted from 600CE to 1000CE, and was dominated by two cultures: the Wari and the Tiwanaku. The Tiwanaku (also spelled Tiahuanaco) culture arose near Lake Titicaca (on the modern border between Peru and Bolivia), while the Wari culture arose in the southern highlands of Peru. Both cultures appear to have been influenced by the Pukará culture, which was active during the Early Intermediate in between the primary centers of the Wari and Tiwanaku. These cultures both had wide-ranging influence, and shared some common features in their portable art, but their monumental arts were somewhat distinctive.
The monumental art of the Tiwanaku demonstrated technical prowess in stonework, including fine detailed reliefs, and monoliths such as the Ponce monolith (photo to the left), and the Sun Gate, both in the main Tiwanaku site. The portable art featured "portrait vessels", with figured heads on ceramic vessels, as well as natural imagery like jaguars and raptors. A full range of materials, from ceramics to textiles to wood, bone, and shell, were used in creative endeavours. Textiles with a weave of 300 threads per inch (80 threads per cm) have been found at Tiwanaku sites.
The Wari, dominated an area from central Peru to Ecuador, with their main center near Ayacucho, Peru. Their art is distinguished from the Tiwanaku style by the use of bolder colors and patterns. Notable among Wari finds are tapestry garments, presumed to be made for priests or rulers to wear, often bearing abstract geometric designs of significant complexity, but also bearing images of animals and figures. Wari ceramics, also of high technical quality, are similar in many ways to those of the preceding cultures, where local influences from fallen cultures, like the Moche, are still somewhat evident. Metalwork, while rarely found due to its desirability by looters, shows elegant simplicity and, once more, a high level of workmanship.
Late Intermediate Period
Following the decline of the Wari and Tiwanaku, the northern and central coastal areas were somewhat dominated by the Chimú culture, which included notable subcultures like the Lambayeque (or Sicán) and Chancay cultures. To the south, coastal cultures dominated in the Ica region, and there was a significant cultural crossroads at Pachacamac, near Lima. These cultures would dominate from about 1000CE until the 1460s and 1470s, as the Inca Empire began to take shape and eventually absorbed the geographically smaller nearby cultures.
Chimú and Sicán Cultures
The Chimú culture in particular was responsible for an extremely large number of artworks. Its capital city, Chan Chan, appears to have contained building that appeared to function as museums—they seem to have been used for displaying and preserving artwork. Much of the artwork from Chan Chan in particular has been looted, some by the Spanish after the Spanish conquest. The art from this time at times displays amazing complexity, with "multimedia" works that require artists working together in a diversity of media, including materials believed to have come from as far away as Central America. Items of increasing splendor or value were produced, apparently as the society became increasing stratified. At the same, the quality of some of the work declined, as demand for pieces pushed production rates up and values down.
The Sicán culture flourished from 700 to about 1400CE, although it came under political domination of the Chimú around 1100CE, at which time many of its artists may have moved to Chan Chan. There was significant copperworking by the Sicán, including what seems to be a sort of currency based on copper objects that look like axes.
Artwork includes burial masks, beakers and metal vessels that previous cultures traditionally made of clay. The metalwork of the Sicán was particularly sophisticated, with innovations including repoussé and shell inlay. Sheet metal was also often used to cover other works.
Prominent in Sicán iconography is the Sicán deity, which appears on all manner of work, from the portable to the monumental. Other imagery includes geometric and wave patterns, as well as scenes of fishing and shell diving.
Chancay culture
Chancay culture, before it was subsumed by the Chimú, did not feature notable monumental art. Ceramics and textiles were made, but the quality and skill level was uneven. Ceramics are generally black on white, and often suffer from flaws like poor firing, and drips of the slip used for color; however, fine examples exist. Textiles are overall of a higher quality, including the use of painted weaves and tapestry techniques, and were produced in large quantities. The color palette of the Chancay was not overly bold: golds, browns, white, and scarlet predominate.
Pachacamac
Pachacamac is a temple site south of Lima, Peru that was an important pilgrimage center into Spanish colonial times. The site boasts temple constructions from several periods, culminating in Inca constructions that are still in relatively good condition. The temples were painted with murals depicting plants and animals. The main temple contained a carved wooden sculpture akin to a totem pole.
Ica culture
The Ica region, which had been dominated by the Nazca, was fragmented into several smaller political and culture groups. The pottery produced in this regions was of the highest quality at the time, and its aesthetics would be adopted by the Inca when they conquered the area.
Late Horizon and Inca culture
This time period represents the era in which the culture of the central Andes is almost completely dominated by the Inca Empire, which began its expansion in 1438. It lasted until the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire in 1533. The Inca absorbed much technical skill from the cultures they conquered, and disseminated it, along with standard shapes and patterns, throughout their area of influence, which extended from Quito, Ecuador to Santiago, Chile. Inca stonework is notably proficient; giant stones are set so tightly without mortar that a knife blade will not fit in the gap. Many of the Inca's monumental structures deliberately echoed the natural environment around them; this is particularly evident in some of the structures at Machu Picchu. The Inca laid the city of Cusco in the shape of a puma, with the head of the puma at Sacsayhuaman, a shape that is still discernible in aerial photographs of the city today.
The iconography of Inca art, while clearly drawing from its many predecessors, is still recognizably Inca. Bronzework owes a clear debt to the Chimú, as do a number of cultural traditions: the finest goods were reserved to the rulers, who wore the finest textiles, and ate and drank from gold and silver vessels. As a result, Inca metalwork was relatively rare, and an obvious source of plunder for the conquering Spanish. Textiles were widely prized within the empire, in part as they were somewhat more portable in the far-flung empire.
Ceramics were made in large quantities, and, as with other media, in standardized shapes and patterns. One common shape is the urpu, a distinctive urn shape that come in a wide variety of standard capacities, much as modern storage containers do. In spite of this standardization, many local areas retained some distinctive aspects of their culture in the works they produced; ceramics produced in areas under significant Chimú control prior to the Inca rule still retain characteristics indicative of that style.
Following the Spanish conquest, the art of the central Andes was significantly affected by the conflict and diseases brought by the Spanish. Early colonial period art, began to show influences of both Christianity and Inca religious and artistic ideas, and eventually also began to encompass new techniques brought by the conquerors, including oil painting on canvas.
Early ceramics in northern South America
The earliest evidence of decorated pottery in South America is to be found in two places. A variety of sites in the Santarém region of Brazil contain ceramic sherds dating to a period between 5000 and 3000BCE. Sites in Colombia, at Monsú and San Jacinto contained pottery finds in different styles, and date as far back as 3500BCE. This is an area of active research and subject to change. The ceramics were decorated with curvilinear incisions. Another ancient site at Puerto Hormiga in the Bolívar Department of Colombia dating to 3100BCE contained pottery fragments that included figured animals in a style related to later Barrancoid cultural finds Colombia and Venezuela. Valdivia, Ecuador also has a site dated to roughly 3100BCE containing decorated fragments, as well as figurines, many represent nude females. The Valdivian style stretched as far south as northern Peru, and may, according to Lavallée, yet yield older artifacts.
By 2000BCE, pottery was evident in eastern Venezuela. The La Gruta style, often painted in red or white, included incised animal figures in the ceramic, as well as ceramic vessels shaped as animal effigies. The Rancho Peludo style of western Venezuela featured relativel simple textile-type decorations and incisions. Finds in the central Andes dating to 1800BCE and later appear to be derived from the Valdivian tradition of Ecuador.
Early art in eastern South America
Relatively little is known about the early settlement of much of South America east of the Andes. This is due to the lack of stone (generally required for leaving durable artifacts), and a jungle environment that rapidly recycles organic materials. Beyond the Andean regions, where the inhabitants were more clearly related to the early cultures of Peru, early finds are generally limited to coastal areas and those areas where there are stone outcrops. While there is evidence of human habitation in northern Brazil as early as 8000BCE, and rock art of unknown (or at best uncertain) age, ceramics appear to be the earliest artistic artifacts. The Mina civilization of Brazil (3000–1600BCE) had simple round vessels with a red wash, that were stylistic predecessors to later Bahia and Guyanan cultures.
Argentina, Chile, and Patagonia
The southern reaches of South America show evidence of human habitation as far back as 10,000BCE. A site at Arroio do Fosseis on the pampa in southern Brazil has shown reliable evidence to that time, and the Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of the continent has been occupied since 7000BCE. Artistic finds are scarce; in some parts of Patagonia ceramics were never made, only being introduced by contact with Europeans.
Native arts of Oceania
Australia
See also Australian Aboriginal art
From earliest times, the natives of Australia, often known as Aborigines, have been creating distinctive patterns of art. Much of Aboriginal art is transitory, drawn in sand or on the human body to illustrate a place, an animal totem, or a tribal story. Early surviving artworks of the Aborigines are mostly rock paintings. Many are called X-ray paintings because they show the bones and organs of the animals they depict. Some Aboriginal art seems abstract to modern viewers; Aboriginal art often employs geometrical figures and lines to represent landscape, which is often shown from a birds-eye view. For instance, in Aboriginal symbolism, a swirl stands for a watering hole.
The Bradshaws are a unique form of rock art found in Western Australia. They are predominantly human figures drawn in fine detail with accurate anatomical proportioning. They have been dated at over 17,000 years old and debate rages as to who actually created them.
Polynesia
The natives of Polynesia have a distinct artistic heritage. While many of their artifacts were made with organic materials and thus lost to history, some of their most striking achievements survive in clay and stone. Among these are numerous pottery fragments from western Oceania, from the late 2nd millennium BCE. Also, the natives of Polynesia left scattered around their islands Petroglyphs, stone platforms or Marae, and sculptures of ancestor figures, the most famous of which are the Moai of Easter Island.
See also
External links
- database of European Prehistoric Art
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