Art [antikvár]

Pre- and Early History Art first manifested itself in Europe with the appearance of humans during the Upper Paleolithic Age (40,000-10,000 bce). Motifs found in cave paintings and small sculptures from this time used the animal world for inspiration and are often interpreted as charms used to assist the hunt. Numerous female fertility objects that have been retrieved suggest that reproduction was accompanied by metaphysical ideas. The end of the Ice Age, with the rapid change in climate and culture, also brought an end to the hunter-gatherer society in Europe. The Middle East came into focus with the onset of the Neolithic period (ca. 9000 bce). Peoples living in the Euphrates and Tigris river basins found wild cereals and grasses as well as undomesticated sheep and goats—a discovery that facilitated a transformation in lifestyle as they settled down and became farmers. The first Pre- and Early History 40,000-500 bce B Cave Painting, ca. 18-16th century BCE, Chauvet Cave, nearVallon-Pont-d'Arc