Global Prehistory and the Ancient Near East

Global Prehistory
30,000-500 BCE
Textbook: Chapter 1 and other selections
Khan Academy APAH Test Prep: Global Prehistory

Concurrent Dates

2.5 million BCE	Homo Habilis, first “tool” using primates/humans with limited speech
40,000 BCE	Cro-Magnons (a branch of Homo Sapiens) first appears
6000 BCE	Çatal Hüyük site begins
5000 BCE	Egyptians created standardized calendar
2500 BCE	First iron tools and weapons appear

Cro-Magnons
Representation

Venus of Willendorf
Austria. 28,000 BCE limestone 4” high
Paleolithic Hierarchy of Depiction, Red Ochre, Venus Figure

Apollo 11 stones
Nambia, Africa. c. 25,500–25,300 BCE charcoal on stone
Provenance

Hall of the Bulls
Lascaux, France. 15,000 BCE largest bull 12’ long
Hunter magic, twisted perspective

Camelid sacrum in the shape of a canine
Mexico. 14,000–7000 BCE Bone
Subtractive sculpture

The Mesolithic and Neolithic Revolutions

Running horned woman
Algeria. 6000–4000 B.C.E. pigment on rock

Bushel with ibex motifs
Iran (Susa). 4200–3500 BCE painted terra cotta

Anthropomorphic stele
Arabian Peninsula. Fourth millennium BCE sandstone
Relief carving, high relief, low relief, bas relief, stele

Jade cong
Liangzhu, China. 3300–2200 BCE carved jade

Stonehenge
Salisbury, England. 2550 BCE circle is 97’ diameter, individual stones are 24’ high
Megaliths, henge, post and lintel system

The Ambum Stone
Papua New Guinea. c. 1500 BCE greywacke
form vs. function

Tlatilco female figurine
Mexico. 1200–900 BCE ceramic
Additive sculpture

Terra cotta fragment
Lapita, Solomon Islands, Reef Islands. 1000 BCE Terra cotta
Horror vaccui

The Ancient Near East
3500-500 BCE
Textbook: Chapter 2
Khan Academy APAH Test Prep: Ancient Mediterranean: Ancient Near East

White Temple and its ziggurat
Iraq (Sumeria). 3000 BCE mud brick and bitumen

Statuettes of Worshipers
Iraq (Sumeria). 2700 BCE Gypsum inlaid with shell and black limestone tallest figure is 3’ high
votive

Standard of Ur (War and Peace)
Iraq (Ur). 2600 BCE wood inlaid with shell, lapis lazuli, and red limestone
Mosaic, hierarchy of scale, register (frieze band, frieze)

Stele with the Law Code of Hammurabi
Iran (Babylon). 1780 BCE basalt 8’ high
patron, audience, cuneiform

Lamassu
Iraq (Citadel of Sargon II). 8th century BCE limestone 13’ high
Guardian figure

Audience Hall (Apadana) of Darius and Xerxes
Persepolis, Iran (Persia). 6th century BCE limestone
narrative