The Cambridge Illustrated History of Prehistoric Art

Cambridge Illustrated Histories

by Paul G. Bahn, Desmond Morris (Foreword)

Beautifully illustrated in color with many rare and unique photographs, prints, and drawings, The Cambridge Illustrated History of Prehistoric Art presents the first balanced and truly worldwide survey of prehistoric art. The book also offers the first detailed account of how the world of scholarship became aware of the existence of prehistoric art, reproducing the very earliest drawings by explorers and surveyors from the 1600s onward to create a unique pictorial as well as discursive resource. With this powerful combination of illustration and analysis, Paul Bahn describes what prehistoric art is and the different ways in which it can shed light on the lives and preoccupations of our ancestors: sexual, humorous, social, economic, and religious. The result is a fascinating exploration: a book that Desmond Morris describes as "a model of scientific restraint and objectivity....this is ultimately an art book, and as such it is endlessly provocative and engaging." Paul Bahn is an archaeologist and the author of more than 400 publications. He has authored or coauthored eight books, including The Cambridge Illustrated History of Archaeology. Dr. Bahn is a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.

Genres: Art, History, Prehistory, Nonfiction, Anthropology

302 pages, Hardcover

First published November 20, 1997

About the author

Paul G. Bahn is a British archaeologist, translator, writer and broadcaster who has published extensively on a range of archaeological topics, with particular attention to prehistoric art. He is a contributing editor to Archaeology magazine.

Reviews

[Ann Keller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding book! From Nine Mile Canyon in Utah to ancient drawings and paintings captured in Sefar, Algeria and Arnhem Land in Australia, Paul Bahn delights us with incredible images from our prehistoric past. Petroglyphs of emus, sheep, birdmen, bison, cup marks and shamen leap off the pages of this book, surrounded by riveting historical commentary, including paint pigment details, stories and folktales that help bring the pictures to life. Excellent resource for any library and fascinating coffee table book, too. Students of art, art history and anthropology will adore it.

[Lulu]

-Blombos Cave Engravings (70,000 BCE)
-Neanderthal cave art ‘onlyone known’ (65,000-60,000 BCE)


• Paleolithic period: began c. 40,000 BCE latest
-El Castillo Cave Paintings (39,000 BCE)
-Venus [mammoth ivory] of Hohle Fels c. 40,000-38,000 BCE
-Lion-headed human [mammoth ivory] figure, Hohlenstein-stadel (38,000 BCE)
-Xianrendong Cave ceramic vessels c. 20,000 BCE
-Lascaux c. 17,000 BCE
-Earliest petroglyphs c.12000-10000 BC e.g Tadrart Acacus

• Neolithic period: began 9000 BCE
-Göbekli Tepe megaliths c. 9500-8000 BCE
-The Urfa Man, life-sized sculpture of a human c. 9000 BCE
-Painted coherent narratives at Catal Höyük [fl. 7000 BCE]
-Ayn Ghazal painted plaster statues & busts c. 7200-6250 BCE
-frescoe Tomb 100 Hierakonpolis c.3500–3200 BCE egypt
-Gebel el-Arak Knife c. 3300–3200 BCE shows the influence of Mesopotamia on egypt
- Shahr-e Sukhteh ibex goblet “earliest known animation” c. 3178 BCE
- Stonehenge several phases c. 3100-1600 BCE

• Historic art :
-Kish tablet c. 3300 BCE proto-cuneiform [pictorial] sumer
-Warka Vase 3200-3000 BCE sumer
-Uruk Trough 3200-3000 BCE sumer
-Narmer Palette. 3200-3000 BCE egypt
-Battlefield palette c. 3100 BCE egypt
-Blau Monuments c. 3100-2700 BCE*
-Stele of Ushumgal c. 2900-2700 BCE*
-Baby rattle c. 2000 BCE (oldest toy?) Kültepe, turkey
-Animal Baby Bottles c. 1200 BCE Vösendorf Austria, Wien Museum

*=Image and text; "early Kudurru"




Modern Art and Prehistoric Art
HERBERT KÜHN and Miss Liselotte Moser
https://www.jstor.org/stable/23091061

[colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite nonfiction authors.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

great pictures of rock art world-wide, looks like an interesting history of discovery, interpretation and protection of rock art. didn't have time to read before the library wanted it back