Prehistoric Art Timeline
Prehistoric Art Timeline (2.5 Million - 500 BCE)
The first of three time periods of the Paleolithic - an era which witnessed several Ice Ages and glaciations, and during which early hominids like Australopithecus afarensis, Australopithecus africanus, and Paranthropus robustus, developed first into Homo habilis and Homo rudolfensis, then into Homo erectus, Homo ergaster, Homo erectus, and Homo heidelbergensis, before metamorphosing into Homo sapiens, Homo neanderthalensis and ultimately anatomically modern man (Homo sapiens sapiens. eg. Cro-Magnon man). Human evolution is defined via the development of stone tools, a process which impacts on the development of ancient art.
Olduwan tool Culture begins. Its key feature was the method of chipping stones to create a chopping or cutting edge. The first stone tools of the Lower Paleolithic. (Earliest types unearthed at Hadar, Ethiopia).
Oldest utilitarian (non-artistic) cupule discovered at the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania.
End of Pliocene, start of Pleistocene geologic period. Coincides with the replacement of Olduwan cultures with more advanced Acheulean tool culture. the dominant tool-making tradition of the Lower Paleolithic era throughout Africa and much of Asia and Europe.
By this point, the human species has become a major predator.
Emergence of Clactonian culture of European flint tool manufacture.
Beginning of Mousterian tool culture in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, associated with the production of serrated edge blades.
The earliest art is the Petroglyphs of Bhimbetka - consisting of cupules and other rock art found at Auditorium Cave, Bhimbetka and at Daraki-Chattan Cave, both in Madhya Pradesh, Central India, and both dated c.290,000 - 700,000 BCE or later. These are the oldest known prehistoric works of art, and the first examples of art from India.
Venus of Berekhat Ram, rock figurine, (dated c.230,000 - 700,000 BCE). This is the oldest known example of prehistoric mobiliary art.
MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC ERA BEGINS
This is associated with a wide variety of races, including the Azilian Ofnet Man (Bavaria); several types of Cro-Magnon Man, brachycephalic humans (short-skulled), dolichocephalic humans (long-skulled). The Mesolithic is a transitional era between the chipped-tool, hunter-gatherer culture of the Upper Paleolithic, and the polished-tool, farming culture of the Neolithic. In areas with no ice (eg. the Middle East), people transitioned quite rapidly from hunting/gathering to agriculture. Their Mesolithic period was therefore short, and often referred to as the Epi-Paleolithic or Epipaleolithic. 10,000 BCE marks the end of the Pleistocene geological epoch and the start of the Holocene. Start of Chinese Pottery.
Cueva de las Manos (Cave of the Hands), stencils, paintings, Argentina, the most famous example of Mesolithic art in the Americas. Large finds of Stone Age artifacts at Fell's Cave in Patagonia and Blackwater Draw in eastern New Mexico (Clovis culture).
Bhimbetka Rock Art, paintings, stencils, abstract symbols, India.
Pachmari Hills: sandstone rock drawings, paintings, India.
Wonderwerk Cave engravings of geometric designs, ideograms, animals, South Africa.
NEOLITHIC ERA BEGINS IN MIDDLE EAST AND SOUTHEAST EUROPE
Tassili-n-Ajjer rock art, Algerian paintings and petroglyphs.
Ancient Persian pottery from Ganj Dareh (Valley of Treasure). Jiahu turquoise carvings, bone flutes, Henan Province China.
Shigir Idol, the world's oldest surviving wood carving of a human figure.
Beginning of Neolithic Art in China (7000-2000 BCE). The major form of Neolithic art was ceramic pottery. Oven-fired pottery appears in Mesopotamia where farming begins.
People settle on the banks of the River Nile.
Coldstream Burial Stone, Western Cape Province, South Africa.
Goddess terracotta figurine, Catal Huyuk, Anatolia, an early example of religious art.
Egyptian bone, ivory, stone figurines from Naquada I Period.
Persian Chalcolithic pottery.
Linear Ceramic culture emerges in France, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Czech Republic.
Thinker of Cernavoda, the Romanian terracotta sculpture of the Hamangia culture.
Fish God of Lepenski Vir, sandstone carving of therianthropic figure, Serbia.
Samarra and Halaf ceramic plates: see: Sumerian Art and Mesopotamian art (c.4500-539).
NEOLITHIC ERA BEGINS IN NORTHERN & WESTERN EUROPE
Mesolithic Era ends in Europe, superceded by the Neolithic (New Stone Age), a much more settled form of existence, based on farming and rearing of domesticated animals, as well as the use of polished tools.
Jade carving begins in China, as does Chinese lacquerware and silk production.
Earliest megalithic architecture, like: the megaliths at Evora, in Portugal (from 5,000); Breton Cairn of Barnenez (from 4,450); the tombs and monuments of Carrowmore, Cuil Irra Peninsula, Ireland (from 4,300). Building of Stonehenge stone circle begins (c.2,600 BCE). See also: megalithic art.
Mesopotamian civilization begins (Iraq). Emergence of Uruk, first city-state. First wheeled vehicles appear in Europe. Ancient Persian art includes the intricate ceramics from Susa and Persepolis. Oldest known prehistoric bronze sculptures produced in the Maikop culture of the Russian North Caucasus around 3,500, using simple arsenic bronze process.
Sumerian civilization (S. Iraq). First writing system (hieroglyphs). Cuneiform script 3200.
Egyptian art and civilization begins. Building of Newgrange Megalithic Tomb begins.
Sumerian civilization develops its own monumental architecture - a type of stepped pyramid called a ziggurat, built from clay-fired bricks. See History of Architecture.
BRONZE AGE BEGINS IN EUROPE
Metallurgy develops, as does Bronze Age art. The more complex copper-and-tin bronze casting techniques appear in the Indus Valley Civilization of India during the period.
First use of horses for drawing wagons and carts. See: Egyptian Architecture (3000 on).
First wheeled transport (Sumeria).
Egyptians create first wall paintings in tombs.
Copper-working begins in southern France.
Emergence of Beaker culture in Europe (named after their distinctive drinking vessels).
Egyptians develop first painted relief sculptures.
Egyptians develop the first seated and free-standing statues.
Start of Egyptian Pyramids. Djoser's 'Step Pyramid' at Saqqara (2630); the Architect Hemon designs the Great Pyramid at Giza (2550), one of the Seven Wonders of the World; Khufu builds the Sphinx (2550). See also Early Egyptian Architecture (3100-2181).
Dabous Giraffe Engravings, Taureg Saharan culture. Knowth Megalithic Tomb built.
Valdivia Figurines, First 3-D images of the Americas (Real Alto Ecuador). Mesopotamian sculpture known as Ram in a Thicket, made from gold-leaf, copper, lapis lazuli. Sculptors make Maikop Gold Bull. Start of Aegean Art in eastern Mediterranean.
Bronze Dancing Girl of Mohenjo-Daro, Harappan Culture, Indus Valley Civilization.
Famous Ziggurat constructed in Uruk. Egyptian Middle Kingdom Architecture (2055-1650).
"X-ray" style of Aboriginal rock art developed in Arnhem Land. Xia Dynasty culture, China.
Minoan Palaces built & rebuilt on Crete. Outstanding Minoan artworks: pottery/ceramics.
The written Code of Hammurabi (laws) displayed throughout Babylonian empire.
First outstanding Chinese art appears, bronzes of Shang Dynasty art, as well as the earliest Calligraphy. See: Traditional Chinese Art: Characteristics.
Linear A script introduced by Minoans. Start of Hittite art and Assyrian art of Iraq.
Mycenaean civilisation flourishes in Greece. Glass making perfected in Mesopotamia.
Construction of massive temple complex of Karnak to the god Amon at Thebes. See also: Egyptian New Kingdom Architecture (1550-1069).
IRON AGE BEGINS IN EUROPE
Iron Age Art begins in Europe. Meanwhile, the first bronze sculptures appear in China.
Myceneans invent form of writing based on Minoan Linear B script. See Irish Iron Age Art.
Myceneans (Greek mainland) absorb Minoans.
Amenhotep III builds the palace at Malkata (near Thebes) and temple of Amon at Luxor.
Rameses II builds the Colossus at Memphis, the Hypostyle Hall of the Karnak temple Luxor. Decline of Mycenean civilization. (Architectural Dark Ages begins. Ends 600.)
Approximate beginning of Pre-Columbian art in mesoamerica and South America.
Fall of Troy in Asia Minor. In China, Sanxingdui Bronzes appeared in Sichuan province.
Foundation of the Kingdom of Israel. See also Late Egyptian Architecture (1069 - 200 CE).
First appearance of Geometric style of Greek Pottery.
Zhou Dynasty art, the last period of Bronze Age culture in ancient China.
Earliest settlements appear on Palatine Hill, Rome
Homer writes the Iliad and Odyssey. First Celtic culture discovered.
Hallstatt style of art/design begins characterized by geometric designs. After this comes the elaborate and curvilinear La Tene style of Celtic art (450 BCE), with its spirals, zoomorphs and other Celtic designs.
Hereafter, Greek art and architecture is divided into three basic eras: the Archaic Period (c.600-500 BCE), the Classical Period (c.500-323 BCE) and the Hellenistic Period (c.323-27 BCE). Egyptian, Greek and Etruscan artists greatly influence later Roman art, as well as Byzantine art.
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ART