Men of the Old Stone Age: Their Environment, Life and Art

Name: Men of the Old Stone Age: Their Environment, Life and Art
Author: Osborn, Henry Fairfield

Osborn, Henry Fairfield

Art, Primitive; Prehistoric peoples; Stone age

We are far from 1880, observes Cartailhac,(21) when the discovery by
Sautuola of the paintings on the roof of the cavern of Altamira was met
with such scepticism and indifference. Knowing the artistic instincts of
the Upper Palæolithic people from their engraving and carving in bone and
ivory, we should have been prepared for the discovery of a parietal art.
The publication of the engravings in the grotto of La Mouthe by
Rivière(22) in April, 1895, was the first warning of our oversight, and
immediately Edouard Piette recalled Altamira to the memory of the workers
on prehistoric art. The discovery of Sautuola ceased to be isolated. Led
by the engravings found in La Mouthe, Daleau discovered the engravings
in the grotto of Pair-non-Pair, Gironde. In 1902 there was the double
discovery of the engravings in the grotto of Combarelles, and of the
paintings in the grotto of Font-de-Gaume, communicated by Capitan and
Breuil. Discoveries at Marsoulas, Mas d'Azil, La Grèze, Bernifal, and
Teyjat soon followed.[AX]

STAGES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF UPPER PALÆOLITHIC ART

  +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
  |              |    Sculpture     | Incised Figures |  Painted Figures  |
  |--------------|------------------|-----------------|-------------------|
  |AZILIAN.      |                  | VI. No animal   | VI. Conventional  |
  |              |                  |    drawings.    |Azilian decoration.|
  |              |                  |                 |Flat pebbles       |
  |              |                  |                 |(galets) colored in|
  |              |                  |                 |red and black. Mas |
  |              |                  |                 |d'Azil, Marsoulas, |
  |              |                  |                 |Pindal.            |
  |--------------|------------------|-----------------|-------------------|
  |LATE          |                  | V. Entirely     | V. No animal art. |
  |  MAGDALENIAN.|                  |    wanting.     |Various schematic  |
  |              |                  |                 |and conventional   |
  |              |                  |                 |figures and signs  |
  |              |                  |                 |(bands, branches,  |
  |              |                  |                 |lines, punctuated  |
  |              |                  |                 |surfaces suggesting|
  |              |                  |                 |the Azilian        |
  |              |                  |                 |galets).           |
  |              |                  |                 |                   |
  |MIDDLE        | Slender human    | IV. Graffites   | IV. Polychrome    |
  |  MAGDALENIAN.|figurines in ivory|feebly traced;   |animal figures with|
  |              |and bone.         |fine lines       |the contour in     |
  |              | Animal forms in  |indicating hair  |black and interior |

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Men of the Old Stone Age: Their Environment, Life and ArtOsborn, Henry Fairfield

History

Men of the Old Stone Age: Their Environment, Life and Art

Osborn, Henry Fairfield

Art, Primitive; Prehistoric peoples; Stone age

We are far from 1880, observes Cartailhac,(21) when the discovery by
Sautuola of the paintings on the roof of the cavern of Altamira was met
with such scepticism and indifference. Knowing the artistic instincts of
the Upper Palæolithic people from their engraving and carving in bone and
ivory, we should have been prepared for the discovery of a parietal art.
The publication of the engravings in the grotto of La Mouthe by
Rivière(22) in April, 1895, was the first warning of our oversight, and
immediately Edouard Piette recalled Altamira to the memory of the workers
on prehistoric art. The discovery of Sautuola ceased to be isolated. Led
by the engravings found in La Mouthe, Daleau discovered the engravings
in the grotto of Pair-non-Pair, Gironde. In 1902 there was the double
discovery of the engravings in the grotto of Combarelles, and of the
paintings in the grotto of Font-de-Gaume, communicated by Capitan and
Breuil. Discoveries at Marsoulas, Mas d'Azil, La Grèze, Bernifal, and
Teyjat soon followed.[AX]

STAGES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF UPPER PALÆOLITHIC ART

  +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
  |              |    Sculpture     | Incised Figures |  Painted Figures  |
  |--------------|------------------|-----------------|-------------------|
  |AZILIAN.      |                  | VI. No animal   | VI. Conventional  |
  |              |                  |    drawings.    |Azilian decoration.|
  |              |                  |                 |Flat pebbles       |
  |              |                  |                 |(galets) colored in|
  |              |                  |                 |red and black. Mas |
  |              |                  |                 |d'Azil, Marsoulas, |
  |              |                  |                 |Pindal.            |
  |--------------|------------------|-----------------|-------------------|
  |LATE          |                  | V. Entirely     | V. No animal art. |
  |  MAGDALENIAN.|                  |    wanting.     |Various schematic  |
  |              |                  |                 |and conventional   |
  |              |                  |                 |figures and signs  |
  |              |                  |                 |(bands, branches,  |
  |              |                  |                 |lines, punctuated  |
  |              |                  |                 |surfaces suggesting|
  |              |                  |                 |the Azilian        |
  |              |                  |                 |galets).           |
  |              |                  |                 |                   |
  |MIDDLE        | Slender human    | IV. Graffites   | IV. Polychrome    |
  |  MAGDALENIAN.|figurines in ivory|feebly traced;   |animal figures with|
  |              |and bone.         |fine lines       |the contour in     |
  |              | Animal forms in  |indicating hair  |black and interior |

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Men of the Old Stone Age: Their Environment, Life and Art

Men of the Old Stone Age: Their Environment, Life and Art

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