Paleolithic people were hunter-gatherers. They were nomads who lived in tribes and relied on hunting, fishing, and gathering wild fruits. They hunted animals like bison, mammoths, bears, and deer. The meat was a source of food and animal hide was used to make clothes. They lived in clans of 20-30 people in caves, outdoors, or in cabins made of tree branches and animal skin.

The Neolithic era began when humans discovered agriculture and raising cattle, which allowed them to no longer have a nomadic lifestyle. They could settle in fertile areas with predictable climates, usually near river basins. Rice and wheat were the first plants they cultivated, and the first animals to be domesticated were dogs, goats, sheep, oxen, and horses.

Perhaps the most important invention of the paleolithic man was language. A close second was their discovery of how to control fire. Neolithic humans discovered how to cultivate plants and domesticate animals. They also invented writing, pottery, and weaving. The agricultural revolution in the early Neolithic era profoundly impacted the human species. The wheel is also believed to have been invented in the Neolithic period. Calendars and timekeeping were also invented in this era.

Paleolithic people are believed to have animistic religious beliefs. They decorated the walls of their cave dwellings with pictures of animals, including deer, bison, and mammoths. They also made small sculptures; notably Venus. The most famous prehistorical paintings are in the caves of Altamira, in Spain, and Lascaux, in France. This kind of art, distinct from natural formations in caves, is called cave art. Cave art has been found all over Europe, Asia, and Africa. People in paintings were depicted as stick figures. The human figure became more important in Neolithic art, which often paints scenes with groups of people hunting, farming, or dancing. Figures in these paintings were very schematic.

The oldest known representational imagery comes from the Aurignacian culture of the Upper Paleolithic period (Paleolithic means old stone age). Archaeological discoveries across a broad swath of Europe (especially Southern France, Northern Spain, and Swabia, in Germany) include over two hundred caves with spectacular Aurignacian paintings, drawings, and sculptures that are among the earliest undisputed examples of representational image-making. The oldest of these is a 2.4-inch tall female figure carved out of mammoth ivory that was found in six fragments in the Hohle Fels cave near Schelklingen in southern Germany. It dates to 35,000 BCE. The oldest examples of Paleolithic dwellings are shelters in caves, followed by houses of wood, straw, and rock. Early humans chose locations that could be defended against predators and rivals and that were shielded from inclement weather. Many such locations could be found near rivers, lakes, and streams, perhaps with low hilltops nearby that could serve as refuges. Since water can erode and change landscapes quite drastically, many of these campsites have been destroyed. Our understanding of Paleolithic dwellings is therefore limited.

The Neolithic period marked the beginnings of changes in civilization, this has been referred to as the Neolithic Revolution. This term was introduced by the Australian archaeologist, Vere Gordon Childe in the early 1900s. Childe's usage of the term "revolution" could have come from Marxism's tenets, which influenced him. As we discussed above, the Neolithic period fell somewhere between 10 000 BCE to 3000 BCE. It marked the beginning of numerous new developments in social and cultural life. In clarifying the Neolithic art definition, we will discuss various related characteristics below. Neolithic artwork consists mostly of pottery, terracotta sculptures, statuettes, various smaller pieces that were utilized as adornments, Neolithic drawings like engravings and wall paintings, pictograms, and most notably megalithic structures - think Stonehenge (we will get to that). Neolithic sculpture was also made through new techniques like sculpting it from clay and baking it instead of just strictly carving.

This lecture took my thinking about art to another level. I learned that art has so much importance with meanings and beliefs. Now I'm more interested in art and I would love to know more in detail.

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