Aegean and Prehistoric Art
Prehistoric and Aegean art ranges from Paleolithic cave painting and Neolithic figurines to the vivid frescoes and goldwork of Minoan Crete and Mycenaean Greece.
Definition
The art of prehistoric societies and of the Bronze Age Aegean, covering periods that precede or stand apart from the literate classical traditions of Greece and Rome.
Scope
This topic studies the earliest visual culture, including Upper Paleolithic cave art and portable figures, Neolithic monuments and ceramics, and the Bronze Age civilizations of the Cyclades, Minoan Crete, and Mycenaean mainland Greece, with attention to interpretation in the absence of written explanation.
Core questions
- How do we interpret prehistoric art without written sources?
- What functions did Paleolithic cave painting and figurines serve?
- What distinguishes Minoan from Mycenaean art and culture?
- How did early excavators shape, and sometimes distort, our picture of the Aegean?
Key theories
- Meaning of Paleolithic cave art
- Competing interpretations of cave painting as hunting magic, shamanic vision, or social and cosmological symbolism, reflecting the difficulty of reading imagery without textual context.
- Reconstruction and the 'Minoan' image
- The recognition that Arthur Evans's restorations at Knossos heavily shaped the modern picture of Minoan art, raising questions about how much is ancient and how much modern reconstruction.
History
The study of prehistoric art began with the 19th-century discovery of decorated caves such as Altamira, initially doubted as too sophisticated to be ancient. Aegean art entered scholarship through the excavations of Heinrich Schliemann at Mycenae and Arthur Evans at Knossos around 1900, whose interpretations and restorations remain influential and debated.
Debates
- Authenticity of Aegean restorations
- The extensive reconstructions at sites like Knossos blur the line between ancient evidence and modern interpretation, complicating study of Minoan painting and architecture.
Key figures
- Donald Preziosi
- Paul G. Bahn
- Arthur Evans
Related topics
Seminal works
- preziosihitchcock1999
- bahn1998
Frequently asked questions
- What is the oldest known art?
- Some of the earliest securely dated art includes Upper Paleolithic cave paintings and small figurines tens of thousands of years old, though new finds continually push dates back.
- Who were the Minoans?
- The Minoans were a Bronze Age civilization centered on Crete, known for palaces such as Knossos and for vivid frescoes and pottery.