For a detailed picture, click on the title of the artwork.
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| Stone age art includes art forms created during the first known period of human culture in Europe. Characterized by the use of stone implements, the period is divided roughly into three segments: Paleolithic (c. 35,000 - 8,000 BC); Mesolithic (c. 8,000 - 3,500 BC); Neolithic (c. 5,000 - 1,500 BC). By using radiocarbon dating, archeologists have been able to associate their findings with these distant time periods.
During the Paleolithic period, the art forms are directly associated with the stone and bone industries (such as perforated bone or tooth pendants). Cave paintings with animals and the so-called Venuses--statuettes of women, often pregnant--have been found suggesting the practice of hunting and fertility rituals. As the Ice Age of the late Paleolithic gave way to a transition period, the Mesolithic, Europe became climatically, geographically and biologically much as it is today. In the Mesolithic Period, the art-forms shift to more stylized human figures in wall paintings and on engraved bone and antler. By the Neolithic or New Stone age, the advances in technology such as farming,weaving, the advent of pottery and the construction of monumental structures such as Stonehenge, indicate that humankind--once strictly nomadic--begin to settle and develop their land.
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Stonehenge Restored Reproduction
Stonehenge Restored Reproduction after the original installation at Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England (ca. 2750-1500 BCE). Constructed during the Neolithic period of the Prehistoric era, this megalithic monument is a ceremonial center possibly for measuring the summer solstice for farming purposes. The term “henge” means a circle formed by stones or wooden posts surrounded by a ditch with an embankment. By the time of the Paleolithic period, formerly nomadic peoples in small groups had coalesced into larger, organized farming units. This monument is evidence of their unified dedication to quarry stones from up to 150 miles away and erect them (up to 24 feet tall) into this memorable formation. Made from hand painted resin, 8.75”L x 8.75”W x 2.25”H. SP-001SP, $49
Click on image to enlarge
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Venus of Lespugue
25,000 BC, compound stone, 8" on a marble base. L'Homme Museum, Paris. D-081SM, $49
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| Common to the archeological evidence from the Paleolithic era, this sculpture depicts an anatomically exaggerated female form. |
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Turriga Mother Goddess
National Archaeological Museum of Cagliary, 3200 - 2800 BC
This mother goddess was found in Senorbi, a Turriga locality in the island of Sardinia, Italy, in the ruins of a neo-lithic village. It's form clearly represents fertility and is very reminecent of the Cycladic art from Greece.
D-092SM, $45
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Harvest goddess from Mohenjo Daro
National Archaeological Museum, 2600 BC
This figurine was found in the ancient city of Mojenjo-Daro. Most human figurines found in the ruins of that culture are feminine which indicates that women had a high standing in that society. Mohenjo Daro, or "Mound of the Dead" is an ancient Indus Valley Civilization city that flourished between 2600 and 1900 BCE. It was one of the first world and ancient Indian cities. The site was discovered in the 1920s and lies in Pakistan's Sindh province. D-091SM, $45
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Venus of Willendorf Prehistoric Goddess, Small
The Venus of Willendorf was found by the researcher Szombathy on 8/7/1908. It is made out of limestone and still has some signs of red pigmentation; it fits in the palm of a hand. It is one of the most obese representations of the Paleolithic and continuation of life, the Mother Goddess, the universal female principle even if it is in its most primitive conception. Women were recognized as the life-givers and sustainers. They were revered as priestesses, Upper Paleolithic female figures, such as this one are found from the Pyrenees Mountains to Siberia, indicating that East and West were once united in honoring the Goddess. The vast majority (over 90%) of human images from 30,000 to 5,000 B.C. are female. D-093S, $18
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Venus of Willenorf
30,000 BC, compound stone, 8" on marble base. Natural History Museum, Vienna. D-080SM, $49
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| This sculpture of a so-called Venus--because of her exaggerated breasts and hips--was probably used as a fertility fetish. Fertility and hunting were essential components of survival during the nomadic, Paleolithic era. |
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Venus of Laussel, 22,000 BC, 10", wall hanging, compound stone. Dordogne, France.D-084S, $37
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| This female form may have been incised on rock with the stone tools common to the Paleolithic era. The female form is again depicted with exaggerated hips and breasts. |
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Chinese Horse Prehistoric Pictograph from Lascaux on Plaque
This ancient horse was called "Chinese" because of its resemblance to Sung dynasty horse paintings. Pictographs refer to painted (as opposed to carved) representations created by our prehistoric ancestors. The lovely painted horse, represented in our exclusive full size recreation, was found painted on the calcite covered walls deep within the subterranean tunnels at Lascaux, in France. Share the dream of an ancient artist and allow the beauty of this 17,000 year old art to brighten your cave. Made from cast stone, mounted on custom wood plaque with description plate, 10.5” x 13”. 5634, $97
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Bison Head Turned Prehistoric from La Madeleine on Plaque
Almost 20,000 years ago a Neolithic artist/hunter found a reindeer antler near La Madeleine, Dordogne, in France and fashioned it into a piece both practical and artistic. It was probably made into a spear thrower, a device that increases the distance and force of spear throwing. The end was carved to represent a great bison, lying on his side, licking the wound in his flank from the hunter’s spear. All that remains today is the carving, an early hunter's version of creative visualization. Made from hand painted stone-filled polymer, mounted on custom wood plaque, description plate, 8” x 10”. 5635, $57
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