Neolithic Art

Art of the Neolithic Era
In Europe
Art History Survey I

The Neolithic era is generally understood as that time period during which people began to settle into small agricultural communities and eventually formed cities. Various artistic expressions developed as people required permanent dwellings (architecture), furniture and utensils (wood crafts and pottery), a fixed location for gods and goddesses (temple building and religious objects) and secure places for the bodies of the deceased (tombs, ossuaries and urns).

Carved limestone figure from the Natufian culture

Animal figure in carved limestone found in the Judean desert and dated at 10,500-8,300 bce. From the Natufian culture which ranged from Southern Turkey to Sinai.


Terracotta "goddess" figure from the Jordan Valley, c.6000 bce.	Mother goddess (giving birth?) and seated between two leopards. From Catal Huyuk, an Anatolian settlement; Turkey. c.7250-6700 bce.	Standing figure from the temple of Hagar Qim at Malta. Soft limestone. c.3500-2500 bce.

Small human figurines created during the Neolithic era are often understood as fertility and/or worship figures although their exact purpose remains unknown. Most of the statuettes were found in burial locations. Characteristics of late neolithic Mesopotamian art can be seen in the figures below -- the large eyes inset with other materials; the arms folded across the abdomen; the staring, supplicant appearance.


Male figurine, clay. From the Samarran site (northern Iraq), c.6000 bce.	Alabaster statuette from the Samarran site, c.6000 bce. Eyes inlaid with bitumin.	Statuette (mother goddess?) from 'Ain Ghazal (Jordan). Reeds coated with plaster and decorated with red paint and bitumin

The Bronze Age in Europe

The Bronze Age overlaps the Neolithic era in time and is generally marked by an inceased use of metals to replace stone tools and an increase in human settlements, often with locations marked by large geoglyphs and megalithic structures like Stonehenge.


Rock art panel near Kilmartin, Argyll in Scotland. Rare ringed rosette design also seen in Scotland and Ireland. c. 3000 bce - 700 bce, Bronze Age in Europe from the end of the Stone Age in Europe.	Rock art at Emilieberg, western Sweden, c. 1000 bce. Figures in horned helmets possibly symbolized ritual fighting.

White horse cut into chalk downs, England

White horse cut into chalk downs near Oxfordshire, England. Although the date is uncertain, the figure resembles Bronze Age items.


Stonehenge, Wiltshire, England. Dated at approximately 2,000 bce.	Tomb in megalithic Donegal, Ireland.


Wheeled bronze cauldron found in Romania, c. 800 bce. Adorned with stylized birds.	Bronze bull, 1st century bce, from England.

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