[ARTHIST 1A03] - Midterm Exam Guide - Comprehensive Notes for the exam (67 pages long!)

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Art History
• Course: ARTHIST 1A03
• Professor: Sabine Noack- Haley

Document Summary

Prehistoric- time before written records (visual communication through art) Paleolithic period- fro(cid:373) greek (cid:862)old(cid:863) a(cid:374)d (cid:862)sto(cid:374)e(cid:863)- early stone age(2,000,000- Hunters and gatherers with tools of stone- lived nomadic lifestyle (moving around with climate change/food etc) Cave paintings, figurines, etc were left and visited again for thousands of years. 1st humanoids (homo erectus) had no art. Homo sapiens- neanderthals= subspecies, overlapped w modern homo sapiens sapiens (hss) 1st art came with hss- only artifacts until then. Hss evolved from africa to rest of the world in one big sweep (50,000 bce) Art of hss= visual communication (vs writing) Symbols created- this used (cid:272)og(cid:374)iti(cid:448)e a(cid:271)ilities pre(cid:448)ious hu(cid:373)a(cid:374)s did(cid:374)"t ha(cid:448)e. Ability to recognize that the images reflect something real (humans, animals, actions) Oldest object decorated with art- geometric pattern found on 2 pieces of ocher, assumed to have significance (intention to decorate) Ocher used to decorate bodies and paint/draw. Omni-tool (like swiss army knife) but also symbol of status.