ARTH 1380 1ST Edition Lecture 2Outline of Last Lecture - Study of human culture- Important points from the syllabus- Important points to know about a work of art for the examOutline of Current Lecture - Art history as history.- Differences between Art History and History- Reliability of past records.- Lower Paleolithic Period.- Middle Paleolithic Period.- Upper Paleolithic Period.- Evolution in lifestyle.- Shelters and huts used by homo sapiens sapiens.- Discovered artworks Current Lecture- History is the study of the past, specifically the written past; it basis its evidence on written documents.- Art history studies the past, but mostly uses visual culture as a main source of evidence.- Art is useful and reliable because there weren’t always written sources and certain places had limited writing or none so art could help fill in those gaps in time.- Art also gives a glimpse of the beliefs, ideals, and values of the people that is not always available through writing.- Art is not necessarily subjective the interpretation is based on evidence and theory.- Written sources are not always objective and can be subjective because they are based on the writer’s point of view.- Art and written sources complement each other and enhance our view of the past.- With both written and visual sources, you are always getting a single, particular perspective, as well as someone’s interpretation of the perspective. No history is absolutely truth. Some interpretations are better than others.- Lower Paleolithic was the oldest period about 2.5 million years ago.These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.- This period marked an evolution with the new use of stone tools and it showed the manual dexterity.- The new manual dexterity was important to art because the people used their hands more to create art.- Lower Paleolithic figurine of 250,000 years shows that the people were trying to make something of their surroundings and create.- Although the figurine appears as a simple rock it has been studied and it shows marks of tools have been used to shape it.- This figurine was found towards the end of the period and for a large portion of time there was really no evidence of artwork found.- There is no real evidence of why this piece was created just speculation- The middle Paleolithic period was from 200,000 – 40,000 BCE- This period was when the Neanderthals came into existence they evolved first in African and then dispersed.- At this point the human brain had reached modern size.- Beads and shells began to be used as a form of decoration.- Red ocher was found in caves and it is believed that its pigment was used for decoration,two ocher stones were found that were decorated with symbols.- The upper Paleolithic period was from 40,000 – 8,000 BCE- Homo sapiens sapiens came into existence in the Middle East and eventually replaced the Neanderthals.- Symbol use takes off in this period and the people begin to do cave paintings and new sculptures.- The fact that art takes off so suddenly in this period is under speculation one possibility is that it might have not started at this point but simply that prior art was lost, diminished, or still not found.- Another possibility is that the Neanderthals and homo sapiens sapiens co-existed for sometime so art might have been there way of expressing what group they came from and their culture.- The Paleolithic site lies between France and Spain this is where many caves and evidencewere found.- The homo sapiens sapiens began to construct huts out mammoth bones and wood these were new forms of structure.- They did move often because food was scarce so they were nomads.- Cave mouths were also used as shelters, but not as often because they were dangerous as other animals could dwell in there and they were very dark.- The homo sapiens sapiens were skilled hunters and they created spear throwers that basically was an added joint to enable the spear to go further, they also used nets for hunting.- There is very little evidence of malnutrition or conflicts between the people.- Sculptures were created at this period and they mostly resembled animals sometimes people and occasionally abstract work. - Lion-human a figurine, about a foot in length, was discovered in this period and was unusual since it had a feline head and was standing up straight and the body seemed human.- The interpretation of this figure cannot be literal but it can be tied to shamanistic beliefs of how shaman would take on animalistic abilities.- Woman from Willendorf is a more usual artwork it is about 4 inches in length- It is a sculpture with feminine features that are exaggerated- One theory is that it was made to represent a pregnant woman another theory is that it represented fertility.- The prior name was Venus of Willendorf and this name was changed because it implied that it was goddess like, but there is no evidence of this.Key TermsPaleo – OldLithic – StonePaleolithic – Old Stone AgeNaturalistic Art – realistic, looks like what you see in natureAbstract – distortion, diminish certain aspects while emphasizing others in the art