Humans make art. We do this for many reasons and with whatever technologies are available to us. But what can we really know about their creators and what the images originally meant?
- c. 10,000 B.C.E.
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Paleolithic art, an introduction
One of the defining traits of humans is our drive to make art, and this desire to create is as old as our species.
Our earliest technology?
Fire, clothing, or the wheel: was this humble hand axe the earliest human technology?
Apollo 11 Cave Stones
All evidence points to Africa as the origin of our species … is Africa also the birthplace of art?
Lion Man
The cave lion was the fiercest animal of the ice age, and this mammoth ivory carving combines human with lion.
Venus of Willendorf
The name of this prehistoric sculpture refers to a Roman goddess—but what did she originally represent?
Hall of Bulls, Lascaux
Mysteries surround the cave paintings at Lascaux, but it’s clear our use of images has a long history.
Browse Smarthistory images for teaching & learning!