Editing Prehistoric art (section)

==Paleolithic era==
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{{see also|List of Stone Age art}}

===Lower and Middle Paleolithic===
{{main|Art of the Middle Paleolithic}}
[[File:Homo Erectus shell with geometric incisions circa 500,000 BP, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Netherlands (with detail).jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|[[Pseudodon shell DUB1006-fL]] with the earliest known geometric engravings, supposedly, made by ''[[Homo erectus]]''; ca. 500,000 BP; from [[Trinil]] ([[Java]]); [[Naturalis Biodiversity Center]] ([[Netherlands]]).<ref name="Joordens2015">{{Cite journal|last1=Joordens|first1=Josephine C. A.|last2=d'Errico|first2=Francesco|last3=Wesselingh|first3=Frank P.|last4=Munro|first4=Stephen|last5=de Vos|first5=John|last6=Wallinga|first6=Jakob|last7=Ankjærgaard|first7=Christina|last8=Reimann|first8=Tony|last9=Wijbrans|first9=Jan R.|last10=Kuiper|first10=Klaudia F.|last11=Mücher|first11=Herman J.|date=2015|title=Homo erectus at Trinil on Java used shells for tool production and engraving|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/nature13962|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=518|issue=7538|pages=228–231|doi=10.1038/nature13962|pmid=25470048|bibcode=2015Natur.518..228J|s2cid=4461751|issn=1476-4687|url-access=subscription}}</ref>]]

The earliest undisputed art originated with the ''[[Homo sapiens]]'' [[Aurignacian]] [[archaeological culture]] in the Upper Paleolithic. However, there is some evidence that the preference for the [[aesthetic]] emerged in the [[Middle Paleolithic]], from 100,000 to 50,000 years ago. Some archaeologists have interpreted certain Middle Paleolithic artifacts as early examples of artistic expression.<ref>{{cite news |last=Wilford |first=John Noble |date=13 October 2011 |title=In African Cave, Signs of an Ancient Paint Factory |work=[[New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/14/science/14paint.html |access-date=22 August 2022 }}</ref><ref>The Metropolitan Museum of New York City [http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/preh/hd_preh.htm ''Introduction to Prehistoric Art''] Retrieved 12 May 2012</ref>
The symmetry of artifacts, evidence of attention to the detail of tool shape, has led some investigators to conceive of [[Acheulean]] [[hand axe]]s and especially laurel points as having been produced with a degree of artistic expression.

Similarly, a [[zigzag]] engraving supposedly made with a [[shark]] tooth on a freshwater [[Pseudodon shell DUB1006-fL]] around 500,000 years ago (i.e. well into the [[Lower Paleolithic]]), associated with ''[[Homo erectus]]'', could be the earliest evidence of artistic activity, but the actual intent behind this geometric ornament is not known.<ref name="Joordens2015"/>

[[File:Gravierter Knochen Bilzingsleben.tif|thumb|right|An [[elephant]] tibia, [[Bilzingsleben (Paleolithic site)|Bilzingsleben]], dated between 400.000 and 350.000 years ago, which has two groups of 7 and 14 incised parallel lines, might represent an early example of [[art]]]]
[[File:Claimed Oldest Known Drawing by Human Hands Discovered in South African Cave.jpg|thumb|left|Claimed "Oldest known drawing by human hands", discovered in [[Blombos Cave]] in [[South Africa]]. Estimated to be 73,000 years old.<ref name="NYT-20180912" />]]
There are other claims of Middle Paleolithic sculpture, dubbed the "[[Venus of Tan-Tan]]" (before 300 kya){{sfn|Chase|2005|pp=145–146}} and the "[[Venus of Berekhat Ram]]" (250 kya). In 2002 in [[Blombos cave]], situated in [[South Africa]], stones were discovered engraved with grid or cross-hatch patterns, dated to some 70,000 years ago. This suggested to some researchers that [[Human#Paleolithic|early ''Homo sapiens'']] were capable of abstraction and production of abstract art or symbolic art. Several archaeologists including [[Richard Klein (paleoanthropologist)|Richard Klein]] are hesitant to accept the Blombos caves as the first example of actual art.

In September 2018 the discovery in South Africa of the earliest known drawing by ''[[Homo sapiens]]'' was announced, which is estimated to be 73,000 years old, much earlier than the 43,000 years old artifacts understood to be the earliest known modern human drawings found previously.<ref name="NYT-20180912" /> The drawing shows a crosshatched pattern made up of nine fine lines. The sudden termination of all of the lines on the fragment edges indicate that the pattern originally extended over a larger surface.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://theconversation.com/south-africas-blombos-cave-is-home-to-the-earliest-drawing-by-a-human-103017|title=South Africa's Blombos cave is home to the earliest drawing by a human|last1=Henshilwood|first1=Christopher|last2=Niekerk|first2=Karen Loise van|website=The Conversation|language=en|access-date=17 February 2020}}</ref> It is also estimated that the pattern was most likely more complex and structured in its entirety than shown on the discovered area. Initially, when this drawing was found, there was much debate. To prove that this drawing was created by Homo Sapiens, French team members who specialized in chemical analysis of pigments, reproduced the same lines using a variety of techniques.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/09/180912133531.htm|title=Discovery of the earliest drawing|website=ScienceDaily|language=en|access-date=17 February 2020}}</ref> They concluded that the lines making up the drawing were intentional and were most likely made with ocher. This discovery adds further dimensions to understanding the behavior and cognition of early homo sapiens.

[[Neanderthals]] [[Neanderthal behavior#Claims of art and adornment|may have made art]]. Painted designs in the caves of [[La Pasiega]] ([[Cantabria]]), a hand stencil in [[Cave of Maltravieso|Maltravieso]] ([[Extremadura]]), and red-painted [[speleothems]] in [[Ardales]] ([[Andalusia]]) are dated to 64,800 years ago, predating by at least 20,000 years the arrival of modern humans in Europe.<ref name=Hoffmann2018>{{cite journal |author1=D. L. Hoffmann |author2=C. D. Standish |author3=M. García-Diez |author4=P. B. Pettitt |author5=J. A. Milton |author6=J. Zilhão |author7=J. J. Alcolea-González |author8=P. Cantalejo-Duarte |author9=H. Collado |author10=R. de Balbín |author11=M. Lorblanchet |author12=J. Ramos-Muñoz |author13=G.-Ch. Weniger |author14=A. W. G. Pike |year=2018 |title=U-Th dating of carbonate crusts reveals Neandertal origin of Iberian cave art |journal=Science |volume=359 |issue=6378 |pages=912–915 |doi=10.1126/science.aap7778|pmid=29472483 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2018Sci...359..912H |hdl=10498/21578 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-02357-8|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|date=22 February 2018|title=Neanderthal artists made oldest-known cave paintings|author=Marris, Emma|doi=10.1038/d41586-018-02357-8|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In July 2021, scientists reported the discovery of a [[bone carving]], one of the world's [[Art of the Upper Paleolithic|oldest works of art]], made by Neanderthals about 51,000 years ago.<ref name="SA-20210706">{{cite news |last=Feehly |first=Conor |title=Beautiful Bone Carving From 51,000 Years Ago Is Changing Our View of Neanderthals |url=https://www.sciencealert.com/more-evidence-found-for-sophisticated-symbolic-behavior-in-neanderthals |date=6 July 2021 |work=[[ScienceAlert]] |access-date=6 July 2021 }}</ref><ref name="NEE-20210705">{{cite journal |author=Leder, Dirk |display-authors=et al. |title=A 51,000-year-old engraved bone reveals Neanderthals' capacity for symbolic behaviour |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-021-01487-z |date=5 July 2021 |journal=[[Nature Ecology & Evolution]] |volume=594 |issue=9 |pages=1273–1282 |doi=10.1038/s41559-021-01487-z |pmid=34226702 |s2cid=235746596 |access-date=6 July 2021 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===Upper Paleolithic===
{{Main|Art of the Upper Paleolithic}}
{{multiple image|total_width=300|align=right
| image1 = Lubang Jeriji Saléh cave painting of Bull.jpg
| image2 = Riesenhirsch Fussknochen Einhornhöhle Gravur.jpg
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Left: Probably the oldest known painting, from the cave of [[Lubang Jeriji Saléh]] on the [[Indonesia]]n island of [[Borneo]], {{Circa|40,000 BC}}<ref name="NYT-20181107-cz"/><ref name="NAT-20181107"/>
<br> Right: [[Giant deer bone of Einhornhöhle]], Germany, {{Circa|49,000 BC}}<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/deer-bone-carving-suggests-neanderthals-were-artists-180978123/|title=Is This 51,000-Year-Old Deer Bone Carving an Early Example of Neanderthal Art?|first1=Smithsonian|last1=Magazine|first2=Livia|last2=Gershon|website=Smithsonian Magazine}}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220527-the-animals-with-an-artistic-eye|title=The animals with an eye for art|first=Jasmin|last=Fox-Skelly|website=www.bbc.com}}</ref>
}}

In November 2018, scientists reported the discovery of the oldest known [[Figurative art|figurative art painting]], over 40,000 (perhaps as old as 52,000) years old, of an unknown animal, in the cave of [[Lubang Jeriji Saléh]] on the [[Indonesia]]n island of [[Borneo]], while in 2020 a Megaloceros bone was found in the [[Harz]] mountains in Germany, on which specimens of ''[[Neanderthal|Homo neanderthalensis]]'' carved ornaments 51,000 years ago.<ref name="NYT-20181107-cz">{{cite news |last=Zimmer |first=Carl |author-link=Carl Zimmer |title=In Cave in Borneo Jungle, Scientists Find Oldest Figurative Painting in the World – A cave drawing in Borneo is at least 40,000 years old, raising intriguing questions about creativity in ancient societies. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/07/science/oldest-cave-art-borneo.html |date=7 November 2018 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=8 November 2018 }}</ref><ref name="NAT-20181107">{{cite journal |author=Aubert, M.|display-authors=etal|title=Palaeolithic cave art in Borneo |date=7 November 2018 |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=564|issue=7735|pages=254–257|doi=10.1038/s41586-018-0679-9|pmid=30405242|bibcode=2018Natur.564..254A|s2cid=53208538}}</ref><ref name="auto"/><ref name="auto1"/>

The oldest undisputed works of figurative art were found in the [[Schwäbische Alb]], [[Baden-Württemberg]], Germany. The earliest of these, the [[Venus figurine]] known as the [[Venus of Hohle Fels]] and the [[Lion-man|Lion-man figurine]], date to some 40,000 years ago.
{{multiple image
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|caption1=[[Venus of Hohle Fels]], 41.000 BP
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|image2=Venus of Willendorf frontview retouched 2.jpg
|caption2=The [[Venus of Willendorf]], 25.000 BP
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Further depictional art from the Upper Palaeolithic period (broadly 40,000 to 10,000 years ago) includes [[cave painting]] (e.g., those at [[Chauvet Cave|Chauvet]], [[Altamira (cave)|Altamira]], [[Pech Merle]], [[Caves of Arcy-sur-Cure|Arcy-sur-Cure]] and [[Lascaux]]) and [[portable art]]: Venus figurines like the [[Venus of Willendorf]], as well as animal carvings like the [[Swimming Reindeer]], [[Wolverine pendant of Les Eyzies]], and several of the objects known as [[bâtons de commandement]].

Paintings in [[Pettakere cave]] on the Indonesian island of [[Sulawesi]] are up to 40,000 years old, a similar date to the oldest European cave art, which may suggest an older common origin for this type of art, perhaps in Africa.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2014/10/08/354166930/indonesian-cave-paintings-as-old-as-europes-ancient-art|title=Indonesian Cave Paintings As Old As Europe's Ancient Art|date=8 October 2014|work=NPR.org}}</ref>

Monumental open-air art in Europe from this period includes the rock-art at [[Côa Valley Paleolithic Art|Côa Valley]] and [[Mazouco]] in Portugal, [[Domingo García, Segovia|Domingo García]] and [[Siega Verde]] in Spain, and {{interlanguage link|Rocher gravé de Fornols|fr}} in France.

A cave at [[Turobong cave|Turobong]] in South Korea containing human remains has been found to contain carved deer bones and depictions of deer that may be as much as 40,000 years old.{{sfn|Portal|2000|p=25}} Petroglyphs of deer or reindeer found at Sokchang-ri may also date to the Upper Paleolithic. [[Sherd|Potsherds]] in a style reminiscent of early Japanese work have been found at Kosan-ri on [[Jeju island]], which, due to lower sea levels at the time, would have been accessible from Japan.{{sfn|Portal|2000|p=26}}

The oldest [[petroglyph]]s are dated to approximately the Mesolithic and late [[Upper Paleolithic]] boundary, about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago.
The earliest undisputed [[Rock art#Africa|African rock art]] dates back about 10,000 years. The first naturalistic paintings of humans found in Africa date back about 8,000 years apparently originating in the [[Nile River]] valley, spread as far west as Mali about 10,000 years ago.
Noted sites containing early art include [[Tassili n'Ajjer]] in southern Algeria, [[Tadrart Acacus]] in Libya (A Unesco World Heritage site), and the [[Tibesti Mountains]] in northern Chad.{{sfn|Coulson|Campbell|2001|pp=150–155}} Rock carvings at the [[Wonderwerk Cave]] in South Africa have been dated to this age.{{sfn|Thackeray|Thackeray|Beaumont|Vogel|1981}} Contentious dates as far back as 29,000 years have been obtained at a site in Tanzania. A site at the [[Apollo 11 Cave]] complex in Namibia has been dated to 27,000 years.

[[Göbekli Tepe]] in Turkey has circles of massive T-shaped stone pillars dating back to the 10th–8th millennium BCE; the world's oldest known megaliths. Many of the pillars are decorated with abstract, enigmatic pictograms and carved animal reliefs.