THE ROCK

ART
•
ROCK ART
is human-made markings placed on natural stone;
it is largely synonymous with parietal art.
• is found in many culturally diverse regions of the
world.
• It has been produced in many contexts
throughout human history, although the majority
of rock art that has been ethnographically
recorded has been produced as a part of ritual.
THREE FORMS OF ROCK ART
Petroglyphs
• are carved into the
rock surface.
• The word comes from
the Greek prefix
petro-, from πέτρα
petra meaning
"stone", and γλύφω
glýphō meaning "to
carve", and was
originally coined in
French as
pétroglyphe.
 Cupule
• most important, but mysterious, type of
petroglyph
• a non-functional cup-shaped hole created by
percussion in the horizontal or vertical surface of
a rock.
• the oldest art, cupules have been discovered on
every continent except Antarctica, and continued
to be created throughout all three eras of the
Stone Age. Cupules have also been referred to as
"pits", "hollows", "cups", "cup marks" - even
"pot-holes".
Pictographs
• are painted onto
the surface,
• are often used in
writing and
graphic systems
in which the
characters are to
a considerable
extent pictorial in
appearance.
Earth figures
• formed on
the ground.
Three periods of the Stone Age
(1) PALEOLITHIC ERA (2,500,000 - 3,000 BCE)
- Lower Paleolithic (2,500,000 - 200,000 BCE)
- Middle Paleolithic (200,000 - 40,000 BCE)
- Upper Paleolithic (40,000-10,000 BCE)
--- Aurignacian Art (40,000-25,000 BCE).
--- Gravettian Art (25,000-20,000 BCE).
--- Solutrean Art (20,000-15,000 BCE).
--- Magdalenian Art (15,000-10,000 BCE).
Lower Paleolithic Rock Art
This period is associated with very primitive
petroglyphs, like cupules and crude engravings. Major
works include:

• Auditorium Cave Petroglyphs, Bhimbetka (290,000-

700,000 BCE)
Auditorium Rock Shelter, Madhya Pradesh, Central
India

• Daraki-Chattan Cave Petroglyphs (290,000-700,000

BCE)
Indragarh Hill, Madhya Pradesh, Central India
• Middle Paleolithic Rock Art
• During this period, more complex forms of rock
carvings appear. Major works include:

• • Blombos Cave Abstract Engravings on Ochre

(c.70,000 BCE)
• Blombos Cave, 200 miles east of Capetown, South
Africa

• • La Ferrassie Cave Cupules (c.70,000-40,000 BCE)

• Les Eyzies, Dordogne, France
Upper Paleolithic Rock Art
The most productive era of prehistoric rock painting, drawing
and carving, exemplified by the magnificent polychrome cave
paintings of Altamira. Major works include:

• El Castillo Cave Paintings (39,000 BCE)

Abstract symbols, hand prints and animal paintings, in
Cantabria, Spain

• Fumane Cave Paintings (c.35,000 BCE)

Primitive figurative paintings found in a rock shelter near
Verona, Italy

• Abri Castanet Engravings (c.35,000 BCE)

Rock engravings and abstract signs found in the Dordogne,
France
(2) MESOLITHIC ERA
--- c.10,000 - 4,000 BCE: Northern and Western
Europe
--- c.10,000 - 7,000 BCE: Southeast Europe
--- c.10,000 - 8,000 BCE: Middle East & Rest of World

(3) NEOLITHIC ERA

--- c.4,000 - 2,000 BCE: Northern and Western Europe
--- c.7,000 - 2,000 BCE: Southeast Europe
--- c.8,000 - 2,000 BCE: Middle East & Rest of World
• Mesolithic Rock Art
• As the Ice Age drew to a close, petroglyphs and pictographs
appeared around the world. For more, see: Mesolithic Art.

• • Cueva de las Manos (Cave of the Hands) (c.9,500 BCE)

• Rio de las Pinturas, Argentina

• • Cave of Bees (Figurative Paintings) (c.9,000 BCE)

• Matopos, Zimbabwe

• • Bhimbetka Rock Paintings and Stencilled Images (c.9,000-

7,000 BCE)
• Madhya Pradesh, India
• Neolithic Rock Art
• Neolithic art is noted for its open air rock painting
and a variety of megalithic tomb-building, as well as
engravings and other works.

• Newgrange Passage Tomb with Engraved Spirals

(c.3,300-2,800 BCE)
• Co Meath, Ireland

• Gavrinis Stone No 10 with Engravings (c.3,000 BCE)

• Gavrinis Neolithic Passage Grave, Brittany, France

• Egyptian Pyramids (26801786 BCE)

• World's largest tombs filled with various forms of
megalithic rock art.