The Origins of Art

Catalog description

Humans make art, and art is all around us. The magnificent prehistoric paintings of multicolored horses, bison, and humans at the Lascaux and Altamira caves were created by artists living 30,000 years ago - but what came before it, and why did humans or their ancestors start being artistic? We will explore this chronologically, examining cave art and other early creative works, including bird-bone musical instruments, carved ivory figurines, shell ornaments, and older more disputed symbolic artifacts. Placed in a broader archaeological context, we will learn about prehistoric cultures and debate the shamanistic, ecological, and hunting theories advanced to account for early art.