Unit II: Global Prehistory and the Pacific Flashcards
Female Deity from Nukuoro
The Pacific, Nukuoro Micronesia, 18th-19th century, Bread fruit tree wood
Contextual information
- Nukuoro is a Micronesian atoll
- These figures were kept in community temples
Formal qualities
- perfectly symmetrical
- made from the wood of the bread fruit tree, an extremely fine grained wood
- ovulid anonymous head with non extenuated breasts and puckered buttocks
- hands are attached to the body and there is a spinal column
Content that reveal meaning and/or elicit a response
- this could be of a mythical ancestor or a figure of the primary goddess of the island named Kawe
The Ambum Stone
MC Question:
The Ambum Stone fulfills which of the following functions?
a) A ritualistic object with relations to mortar and pestles
b) A figurine that represents a god or goddess of fertility
c) A burial object associated with funeral practices and rituals
d) A sacrificial sculpture used in honoring ancestors
Global Prehistory, Ambum Valley, Enga Province, Papua New Guinea, c. 1500 B.C.E, Greywacke stone.
Contextual Information:
- Ritual object.
- 12 recorded stone mortar and pestles from New Guinea.
- Possibly represent totemic species or ancestors
- Contemporary PNG people considered it to have supernatural origins
Formal Qualities:
- Very detailed mortar and pestle (highest level of detail than any other ancient pestle found).
- Extremely smooth -> alludes to the effort and months it would have taken to use stone tools to carve it.
- Rounded features (belly, neck, head, & feet).
- Stylized ears, eyes, and nose (in relief).
- Possibly suggests a monotreme (echidna).
- Zoomorphic form (figure in form of an animal), echidna valued among these communities for its fat deposits
Content that Reveals Meaning:
- One of the oldest Pacific sculptures.
- Greywacke, is not from the location found. Must have been transported.
- greywacke is also VERY hard- difficult to carve = labor/effort
- Papua New Guinea ancient mortar and pestles often represented the forms of birds, animals, and humans.
MC Answer: a)
Tamati Waka Nene
MC Question:
Lindauer’s design for Tamati Waka Nene draws primary on the influence of what styles?
a) Christian iconography
b) Renaissance naturalism paired with Maori cultural aspects
c) Polynesian art forms used to host spirits
d) Oceanic art form meant to be dismantled after use
Maori, New Zealand, 1890 CE, painted portrait
Contextual Information:
- Painted by Czech artist Gottfried Lindauer, who worked under Henry Partridge to paint this piece.
- Lindauer used reference photos and sketches of Tamati Waka, as he had passed away before the artist arrived in New Zealand
Formal Qualities:
- 101.9 x 84.2 cm
- Naturalist coloring and line style reminiscent of the Renaissance period in Europe
- Atmospheric perspective is utilized to highlight Tamati Waka in the foreground while keeping the surrounding area hazy in the background
- Nene is painted as wearing a “kahu kiwi” and holding a “tewhatewha”, which both signify his status in the Maori community as one with large amounts of “mana”.
Content and Potential Meaning:
- Maori portraits were used to communicate directly with their ancestors, and this culture still uses them for this purpose today.
MC answer: b)
Navigation Chart
Picture: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/pacific-apah/micronesia-apah/a/navigation-charts
Multiple Choice Question: The use of Navigation Charts made it possible for the Marshall Island people to have which of the following innovations?
A. A way to distinguish themselves from other atolls with their own specific design to convey their identity.
B. A contraption used to entrap fish for nutrition.
C. An artistic ode to the sea gods and their controlling of the waves.
D. A mechanism that allows Marshal Island seamen to accurately and efficiently navigate the sea.
The Pacific, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, 19th to early 20th century C.E., wood, fiber, and shells
Contextual Information
- Atoll: a ring shaped coral reef, island, or series of islets. They are surrounded by water called a lagoon and may protect a central island.
- Islanders used seafaring canoes to travel from island to island
- Islanders developed navigation systems
Formal Qualities
- 67.5 x 99 x 3 cm
- Geometric patterns
- Horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines
- Square shape
Content
- Sticks and shells laid out into an intentional pattern/ uneven lattice formation
- Sticks dotted with shells
Potential Meaning & Elicited Response
- Created by navigators to mark locations of islands and memorize patterns of ocean waves and swells
- The straight lines—> represented currents which were steady and predictable
- The curved/diagonal lines—> represented swells caused by wind and weather (unpredictable)
- Shells—-> represented islands
- Islanders studied and memorized the patterns
- Helped seamen navigate the waters
- The Navigation chart conveys the intelligence, impressive memory, and resourcefulness of the Marshall Island people.
Multiple Choice Answer: A mechanism that allows Marshall Island seamen to accurately and efficiently navigate the sea.
Nan Madol
Inside: https://cdn.kastatic.org/ka-perseus-images/7b3ab35e3842598de2d4122562ab6777844f1881.jpg
Map: https://cdn.kastatic.org/ka-perseus-images/44f4f1adeeb82681f11d308a5df2b759e324a154.jpg
Pohnpei, Micronesia. Saudeleur Dynasty. c. 700-1600 C.E. Basalt boulders and prismatic columns.
Contextual Information:
- Once the political and cultural center for the ruling chiefs of the Saudeleur dynasty.
- No one knows quite how it was made. The power required to form Nan Madol and its grandeur prove to be an impressive display of their culture of origin.
- The structures present at Nan Madol would have had many uses, including places for worship, administrative centers, a mortuary (larger than a football field), and a marketplace.
- As mentioned above, the people of Nan Madol were deeply religious and had a close connection to their surroundings. Eels and turtles would have been considered sacred.
- The Saudeleur leaders are thought to have descended from Olosohpa, and were originally benevolent. Eventually, the dynasty was overthrown.
- The formal qualities, remaining structures, and objects found at Nan Modal demonstrate the immense prestige and power of the culture.
Formal Qualities & Content:
- Nan Madol is a complex, city-like compound of huge proportions. Many of the walls, still standing, reach up to 50 feet. The entire structure would have been protected from the sea by towering break walls.
- The basalt boulders and columns create an intersecting formation and raised platforms. There is no mortar or concrete present.
- Artifacts found at Nan Madol include what appear to be tools, necklaces, arm rings, and pottery.
- The structures (made of basalt) are formed by complex stackings of stones, usually in a hexagonal or otherwise geometric shape.
Anthropomorphic stele
https://cdn.kastatic.org/ka-perseus-images/b8734808cf6f6f01bf684ac4523997fec0a64aac.jpg
The formal qualities of the Anthropomorphic Stele show it to be an early example of…
A) a stylized depiction of a human figure in the context of the beginning of domestication and settlements.
B) a chronological piece intended to mark an event.
C) a depiction of an exact and recognizable person.
D) a token or good luck charm meant to be carried with someone.
- Fourth millennium BCE, near Ha’il, modern-day Saudi Arabia
- Approx three feet tall
- Both sides are sculpted, with a heavy emphasis on the front.
- Emphasis on the eyes and facial structure (what little there is), Crescent shape that drapes around shoulder- like protrusions
- Two small sashes or cord wrap diagonally across the torso of the stele, a small blade or tool in the middle binding the two together
- Belt adorns the waist area, with raygun looking double-bladed knife in the center
- Prehistoric Saudi Arabia was much more accessible to early humans, much more fertile, more like a savannah than a desert
- Man had begun to shift from solely hunting to domesticating animals in temporary settlements
- Many other steles in this style have been found in the Arabian Peninsula, suggesting a vast network of trade
A)
The Buk Mask
Picture link: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/311950
The artist intended the Buk mask to be experienced in all of the following ways EXCEPT
as ___
A.) A part of a ceremonial costume worn by senior women in the community during rituals that honored cultural heroes.
B.) Including Turtle-shell masks during funerary ceremonies.
C.) A part of a ritual that was designed to ensure bountiful harvests and an abundance of fish and game.
D.) A passage to the afterlife/supernatural world.
The Pacific. Buk(mask). Torres Strait. Mid- to late 19th century C.E. Turtle shell, wood, fiber, feathers, and shell.
Contextual Information:
The people who lived on the islands of Torres Strait made these masks for rituals. They also divided the mask is into three registers. The first one is the human face which is depicted on the bottom of the mask. The other two are the frigate bird on the top and the hair on top of the frigate bird. These masks were a very important part of their rituals. Lastly these masks were made out of turtle shells and also wood. Sometimes they actually used real human hair.
Formal Qualities: 21 1/2 inches high turtle-shell plates patterns infilled with white ochre animal and human figures feathers and rattles dressed with human hair carapace shell is heated and molded, stitched variety of European materials
Content and Potential Meaning:
Both the masks and the ritual represented the passage to the afterlife/supernatural world while still using objects from the human world like shells and hair. Also they used the frigate birds because it represents the supernatural because birds were associated with the land of the living and also the afterlife. They wanted the sprits of the dead to come down from the heavens and still interact with the living world.
MC Answer: A
‘ahu’ula
MC question:
The ‘ahu’ula was created primarily to…
a) share with others within the community
b) be worn by male nobility for ceremonies and battle
c) share stories with others in your family/community
d) show wealth/status
Hawaiian. 1850 C.E. 68.5x45 cm. Made with feathers and olona fiber. the feathers were attached to the netting in rows.
contextual information: Male nobility wore feather cloaks and capes for ceremonies and battle. These were symbols of the highest rank to provide spiritual protection. Each cape is made for a specific person.
formal qualities: the exterior consisted of red feathers from the ‘i’iwi bird and black and yellow feathers from the ‘o’o bird and had up to 500,000 feathers. The cape has a sharp neckline so it could fit the wearer closely. featherwork was found in other parts, but the main features of the Hawaiian technique were different and unique.
the correct answer is b
Staff God
From the Cook Islands. 18th-19th Century. Made with wrapped bark, wood, and staff located in the interior of the wrap.
Context: This artifact is the final remaining wrapped staff god that is known to exist. This is due to many of the other staffs being subjected to burning or destruction, when the Natives of Cook Island converted to christianity. The god represented is most likely the god of fertility, in their respective culture.
Form: The form consists of a plentiful of raw materials such as the inclusion of a bark wrap, and this wrap was used to hold onto and maintain the spirit of the staff god inside.
Stonehenge
https://images.app.goo.gl/uieGSgzi95BtPjqX8
In terms of form and content Stonehenge is most similar to..
a) Easter Island
b) Terra cotta structures
c) The pacific. Malagan display and mask
d) Staff God
Stonehenge, Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England, c. 2550-1600 B.C.E.
Contextual information:
- 3 phases of construction
- Phase 1 they dug out the henges and the location of where they would be. It occurred around 3100 B.C.E. -Phase 2 happened 200 years later. They buried bodies in many of the holes dug centuries before. They also set up wood poles and possibly a roof structure in the middle.
- Phase 3 happened 400-500 years after phase 2 and took the longest because they actually needed to transport the 25 ton rocks.
Formal Qualities and Context:
- Standing stones create a ring of stones around the rest of Stonehenge. Each standing stone made of sarsen is about 7 feet by 13 feet. They weigh up to 25 tons
-The ring of stones circle around a horseshoe of 5 sarsen trilithons
-Trilithons are pairs of upright stones with a lintel stone connecting the two on top. Each can weigh up to 50 tons.
-The stones in the horseshoe go in height order shortest being 20 feet, tallest being 24 feet.
The inside horseshoe on the rock is smoother then the outside.
-Stones called bluestones were placed half between the outer circle, and half inside the horseshoe.
-There is also a pathway of bluestones that has parallel banks at 34 meters across, that leads from the northeast entrance of Stonehenge to the Avon river.
a
Tlatilco Female Figurine
Central Mexico, Tlatilco People, 1200-900 BCE, handmade Ceramic (no molds utilized)
Tlatilco people developed a sophisticated ceramic tradition that hadn’t been very widespread at the time,
Many of these figures found in and near present-day Mexico City, buried under development
Femininity and Fertility: Emphasis on wide hips, hourglass figure, spherical thighs, complex hairstyle, men rarely ever depicted
Two heads used to express duality, foresight, and hindsight
Would have originally been painted as seen faded in the hair
Buried with the dead in graves and used to interact with the spiritual world
Very small and detailed - stands only 9.5cm tall
Tlatilco Female Figurine
Central Mexico, Tlatilco People, 1200-900 BCE, handmade Ceramic (no molds utilized)
Sophisticated ceramic tradition that hadn’t been very widespread at the time,
Femininity and Fertility: Emphasis on wide hips, hourglass figure, spherical thighs, complex hairstyle, men rarely ever depicted
Two heads used to express duality, foresight, and hindsight
Would have originally been painted as seen faded in the hair
Buried with the dead in graves and used to interact with the spiritual world
Very small and detailed - stands only 9.5cm tall
JADE CONG AND BI
China, 2,500 BCE, Jade.
Jade Cong and Bi were excavated from the graves of elite. Buried as a status symbol Jade was expensive and hard to craft with such detail as this piece. The purpose of these artifacts is unknown expect for they were labor intensive to create, as it was usually done through abrasion with sand, and were buried with Elite people in large amounts.
Carved into a Cong (long tube) or bi (donut shaped) these artifacts have a face design portraying spirits and deities within the culture. On these pieces it is on the corners. Bi were disc shaped with a hole and featured some design but are categorized by the magnificent store they are made out of.
Bushel with Ibex Motifs
4,200-3,500 BCE 28.90 x 16.40 cm Unknown Artist Global Pre History Painted Terra Cotta Susa, Iran
Originally intended as a burial offering but also serves as a status symbol
As a nomadic society, these people didn’t carry much to put in these, so only people who were wealthy or powerful enough to have excess treasures would use these and could afford to bury their things
Lots of animals but with geometric depiction = not naturalistic
Mountain goats inside of large rectangles
Rounded horns parallel the cylindrical shape of the bushel
Band of greyhound-like dogs
Band of wading birds
Their long necks parallel the elongated shape of the bushel
Balance of circular and linear forms
- *The theme of the Bushel with Ibex Motifs is most strongly related to the…
a) Malagan Mask
b) Great Hall of Bulls Lascaux
c) Niobides Krater Vase
d) Running Horned Woman
Apollo 11 Stones
MC Question:
Apollo 11 stones 25,000 BCE, Namibia
Charcoal on stone
Depiction of some animal (mammal)
First African representation of animals
Species is unknown but is thought to be a real animal that the artist could have saw as he was looking out of the cave. Basic calf muscles with a naturalistic curve in the back between the back legs, and the front is bigger than the back. Not naturalistic in the head and the nose and head look like a single unit.
It was found along with seven other tablets that contained animal figures on them. Found in the Apollo 11 caves in the desert mountains of Namibia.
Found during the Apollo 11 moon landings and there was given the same Apollo 11.
