Humanities Assignment 3
Civilizations began when people settled in areas where land and water were available for farming. After planting crops, they remained in their settlements long enough to reap the benefi ts of their planting and harvest. Until human beings developed these agricultural abilities, they were unable to coexist in settlements long enough to reap the benefi ts of crops and communities. Remaining in a settle- ment long enough to develop a community became a characteristic of civilization. Living together brought about the establishment of systems of rules and regulations that enabled people to get along and to know what was expected of them in various social and political situations. Over time, these systems of laws or policies became the basis for new forms of government for groups of people in the regions where early civilizations developed. Each civilization developed systems unique to its own needs and values.
Another characteristic of early civilizations was the establishment of a belief system, or a cultural method for the celebration of traditions. People began to create pottery and weavings to be used in these events. No longer nomadic, they created objects and containers that they used to store grain and other foods. Many of these containers were decorated, and any of these utilitarian objects that remain today are considered some of the earliest existing artwork, useful in deciphering what early cultures believed and valued.
Some such objects are sculptures and paintings, said to be from prehistory (before written history). The Paleolithic Age, when people began to gather food while moving from place to place as nomads, is a prehistoric time period (Sporre).
Even the earliest artifacts refl ect the culture and beliefs of human beings, giving us a glimpse into what their lives may have been like over 20,000 years ago. Imagine what it was like for Paleolithic peoples to travel from place to place gathering food. Gradually, over many years of nomadic living, people fi nally became perma- nent settlers, able to produce food, and thus civilizations were created. People were food producers, planters, and harvesters; lived in communities; and spoke a common language. They also held traditional celebrations and held to religions, and from their utilitarian art and architecture culture emerged.
Prehistoric Period
• Paintings from the prehistoric time period are considered to be great works of art. Artwork found in a cave in Lascaux is considered among the best representations of Paleolithic art. One example of early artwork is the Venus of Willendorf, considered to represent a fertility goddess. The sculpture was found in a location called Willendorf, in lower Austria.
CHRONOLOGY 3
84 Timelines and Chronology
• It is not certain exactly when the Venus of Willendorf was sculpted, but it is believed to have been between 30,000 and 25,000 B.C. The name “Venus” is from the Roman time period, and is given by art scholars to any depiction of a woman who represents feminine beauty and fertility. The Greek name for a sculpture of a woman was Aphrodite; the name Venus is a simply a more modern name given to this work of art. (Works of art, such as sculptures, are often named after locations.)
• Lascaux is on the Vezere River in France. • According to several scholars, including author Dennis Sporre in Reality through
the Arts, a group of children discovered the cave where the paintings were found while investigating a tree uprooted by a storm.
PREHISTORY Terms to Consider (see website for defi nitions of terms and more detailed information):
Aphrodite: goddess of love (the word used by the Greeks); Venus was the word used for this god by the Romans
Civilization: a group of people living together with common interests such as a system of laws, language, religion and ceremonies, architecture, and art forms
Culture: the artifacts and the structures left behind after people are no longer living
Gilgamesh: a mesopotamian king in the oldest known epic which covers topics about death and a friendship between Enkidu who dies
Hammurabi: ruler in ancient Mesopotamia who developed the fi rst written code of law known as the Hammurabi Code
Neolithic: New Stone Age
Paleolithic: Old Stone Age
Pyramid: large architectural structure from the ancient Egyptian Period
Society: group of people who live together agreeing upon similar ideas
Venus: the Roman goddess of love; copied from the Greeks (see website for more information)
Ziggurat: large architectural structure built by the ancient Mesopotamians which had a temple on top
Old Stone Age (Paleolithic) New Stone Age (Neolithic)
1. Food gatherers 1. Food producers 2. Nomadic tribes (moved from place to place) 2. Community living 3. Art styles: magic religion, spiritualism,
fertility sculptures, cave paintings 3. Art styles:
celebrations, ceremonies rituals burials of the dead, artwork on pottery, ceramics, weaving, jewelry, gold and silver pieces
Chronology 85
Prehistoric Period Accomplishments During the Prehistoric Period, there were the earliest people from the Paleolithic Pe- riod who roamed from place to place gathering food. Over a long period of time, people began to stay in one place and the time period referred to as the New Stone Age (called the Neolithic Period) was when people started to settle. This period, the Neolithic Period, was the period when people started to live permanently near rivers so they would have water nearby and they gradually developed methods of planting and har- vesting crops. This way they were able to use their agricultural skills to produce food and develop a lifestyle of community living. With community living, after some time, people were able to advance and live together. They developed ways of living together by developing laws, ceremonial practices, architecture, language, and art forms such as making containers and creating designs on containers to store grain and other items.
Research Define each term in depth, and research the dates when the earliest known civilizations began. Also research inventions such as the wheel, the first written code of law, and the first monument built in stone for an Egyptian pharaoh.
• Locate interesting objects with which you are unfamiliar and find out how many centuries they have been in existence.
During the Neolithic period, communities grew and people developed lifestyles that fit their religious, social, and political needs. Communities began to specialize in the production of certain goods and products, which could then be traded with neighbor- ing communities in exchange for their goods and products. Thus trade and commerce came into existence. For example, if one group of people had an excess of barley, and another group had an excess of wheat, the two could trade with one another. Both transportation as well as communication were necessary, however, in order for groups to be able to carry out transactions. In the process of barter and trade, large pots and containers with unique designs and shapes were made by each group, and eventually those containers became identifying objects unique to specific communities. Thus, each of the communities developed its own unique types of utilitarian objects. This exchange among groups of people also resulted in other art forms, such as weaving. Although the craftsmen who used lines, colors, and shapes to create identifying designs may not all have been artists in their own times, their work is considered invaluable today. As we study these early artifacts, we learn how ancient people lived many hundreds of years ago in the earliest known civilizations.
86 Timelines and Chronology
Characteristics of Early Civilizations
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language and writing • religion • architecture • decoration • weaving • government • trade and commerce
Can you think of any additions to this list?