Paintings in the rock shelters in Bhimbetka are the oldest art of South Asia.
Paleolithic
Between 6000 and 1000 B.C.E., thousands of nomadic Native Americans travelled and lived along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, making enigmatic, carefully carved stones.
Bannerstones, North America
The first clear evidence of human activity in North America are spearheads used to hunt large game.
Clovis culture, North America
The cave paintings, rock carvings, and archaeological sites record the skills and way of life of the region’s inhabitants.
Carvings and paintings, Kakadu
The late prehistoric rock-art sites of the Mediterranean seaboard of the Iberian peninsula form an exceptionally large group.
Rock art on the Iberian coast
Valcamonica, situated in the Lombardy plain, has one of the world's greatest collections of prehistoric petroglyphs
Rock drawings in Valcamonica
Seventeen decorated caves of the Paleolithic age were inscribed as an extension to the Altamira Cave
Cave of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art ...
These enigmatic artworks are among the world’s oldest examples of figurative depiction.
Figurative cave art in Borneo
A team of Griffith University archaeologists has shared in the discovery of what may be the world’s oldest known cave painting, dating back to at least 45,500 years ago.
Oldest cave art found in Sulawesi, Indonesia
One of the defining traits of humans is our drive to make art, and this desire to create is as old as our species.
Paleolithic art, an introduction
Fire, clothing, or the wheel: was this humble hand axe the earliest human technology?
Our earliest technology?
All evidence points to Africa as the origin of our species … is Africa also the birthplace of art?
Apollo 11 Cave Stones
The cave lion was the fiercest animal of the ice age, and this mammoth ivory carving combines human with lion.
Lion Man
The name of this prehistoric sculpture refers to a Roman goddess—but what did she originally represent?
Venus of Willendorf
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!
