3rd Neolithic Art

Neolithic
 The Neolithic period is significant for its megalithic architecture, the spread of
agricultural practices, and the use of polished stone tools.
 The term Neolithic or New Stone Age is most frequently used in connection
with agriculture, which is the time when cultivation and animal domestication was
introduced.
 The New Stone Age was a time when the Earth's climate was warmer. The Earth ended
its last ice age. Around 9000BCE, the ice that covered northern Europe during Paleolithic period
melted as the climate warmed. The sea level rose 300ft, separating England from continental
Europe and Spain from Africa.
 As the Earth warmed, the population of people and animals

increased. A temperate climate meant that animals and people could stay in one place. Some
people decided to give up their nomadic lifestyle and settle down. Homes became permanent.
People learned to grow their own crops, rather than search for wild berries and grains.
 In some regions, the appearance of pottery is considered a symbol of the Neolithic.

 The development of new technologies for farming and herding such as irrigation
systems, etc.
 More intensive agriculture implies more food available for more people. As the
population mass of villages increase, they gradually evolve into towns and finally into cities.
What is Neolithic Art?
In Prehistoric art, the term "Neolithic art" describes all arts and crafts created by
societies who had abandoned the semi-nomadic lifestyle of hunting and gathering food in
favor of farming and animal care. Not surprisingly therefore, ancient pottery including terracotta
sculpture was the major artform of the Neolithic, although human creativity of the age expressed
itself in a good many different types of art, including prehistoric engravings and hand stencils, as
well as a variety of mobiliary art (sculpted statuettes, personal adornments). In addition, the
construction of religious temples, shrines and tombs to serve the new sedentary culture led
to the development of megalithic art and a form of monumental stone architecture
using megaliths.
Megalithic Architecture
As Neolithic settlements grew in size so did the need for rules and social norms. This led to, or
coincided with, the development of religious belief systems and the worship of deities. This in
turn led to the gradual emergence of monumental religious architecture for shrines and
tombs, which evolved alongside the religious beliefs that it celebrated.
Other important Neolithic sites include
• Gobekli Tepe (9,500-7,500 BCE)

The most important post-Paleolithic structure of the Stone Age. Begun during the Mesolithic era,
completed in the Neolithic.
• Nevali Cori (9,000-7,000 BCE)
Sister site to Gobekli Tepe.
• Catal Huyuk, Anatolia (7,500-5,700 BCE)

Large Neolithic and Chalcolithic proto-city in southern Turkey.
• Mehrgarh, Pakistan (7,000-2,500 BCE)
One of the most important archeological sites of the Neolithic period in Southern Asia.
• Ggantija Temple complex, Gozo (3,600 BCE)

Believed to be a fertility cult centre.
• Gavrinis Passage Grave, Brittany (3500 BCE)
Decorated with spirals, mazes, anthropomorphic "shield" motifs.
• Newgrange Megalithic Passage Tomb (3300 BCE)

• Zuschen Tomb Gallery Grave, Germany (3300 BCE)
Featuring dots symbolizing cattle, carts and ploughs.
• Knowth Megalithic Tomb Complex (2500 BCE)

Estimated to contain one quarter of all the megalithic art produced in Europe.
• Stonehenge Stone Circle (2600 BCE)
The world's most famous assemblage of large upright stones (menhirs).
Rock Art
In Africa, Oceania and Australia, the Neolithic era is characterized by outdoor rock art,
including petroglyphs (A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by
incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art.) and a diminishing amount of cave
painting, notably hand stencils and other pictographs and petrograms.
Neolithic in South Asia, Pakistan (Mehrgarh) (7,000-2,500 BCE)
Situated on the Kacchi Plain of Balochistan, Pakistan, this 495-acre site is one of the oldest
known centers of Neolithic farming and animal husbandry in South Asia, from which some
32,000 artifacts have been excavated to date.
It is also a significant producer of Neolithic pottery. Mehrgarh Period I (7000-5500 BCE) was
devoid of pottery.
Ornaments made from limestone, lapis lazuli, sandstone, turquoise and sea shells have been
discovered, along with statuettes of women and animals. The discovery of these statuettes is
highly significant: it means that Mehrgarh was responsible for the oldest known ceramic cult
figurines in South Asia, made even before the site's first pottery.
Mehrgarh craftsmen also made glazed ceramic ware beads and terracotta figurines decorated
with paint and ornaments, as well as button seals in bone and terracotta, embellished with
geometric designs.
The End of the Neolithic
Towards the end of the Neolithic era, copper metallurgy is introduced, which marks a
transition period to the Bronze Age. In time, bronze became the primary material for tools
and weapons.

3rd Neolithic Art

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3rd Neolithic Art

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Neolithic

 As the Earth warmed, the population of people and animals

 In some regions, the appearance of pottery is considered a symbol of the Neolithic.

What is Neolithic Art?

Other important Neolithic sites include

• Gobekli Tepe (9,500-7,500 BCE)

• Catal Huyuk, Anatolia (7,500-5,700 BCE)

• Ggantija Temple complex, Gozo (3,600 BCE)

• Newgrange Megalithic Passage Tomb (3300 BCE)

• Knowth Megalithic Tomb Complex (2500 BCE)

Neolithic in South Asia, Pakistan (Mehrgarh) (7,000-2,500 BCE)

The End of the Neolithic

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