Paleolithic and Neolithic Art Timeline

By Leslie1227
  • Venus of Hohle Fels, Upper Paleolithic, 28,000-25,000 BCE, Limestone with traces of red ochre pigment, 11cm & 4.4in high, Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria
    42,000 BCE

    Venus of Hohle Fels, Upper Paleolithic, 28,000-25,000 BCE, Limestone with traces of red ochre pigment, 11cm & 4.4in high, Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria

    This mammoth ivory figurine is one of the earliest undisrupted depictions of a human figure. The exaggerated sexual features highlight prehistoric emphasis on fertility and survival in Paleolithic culture.
  • Lion Man (Hohlenstein-Stadel), Upper Paleolithic, 35,000-30,000 BCE, Carved from mammoth ivory, 31cm & 12.2 high, Museum Ulm, Ulm, Germany
    35,000 BCE

    Lion Man (Hohlenstein-Stadel), Upper Paleolithic, 35,000-30,000 BCE, Carved from mammoth ivory, 31cm & 12.2 high, Museum Ulm, Ulm, Germany

    A hybrid figure carved in ivory combining human and lion features, believed to reflect early spiritual or shamanic beliefs of upper Paleolithic society. This ork shows advanced artistic imagination beyond mere representational form
  • Period: 25,000 BCE to 40,000 BCE

    Paleolithic Art

  • Plastered Skulls of Jericho, Neolithic, c. 7,200 BCE, Human skulls covered with plaster and inlaid with shells for eyes, life-size & 20cm high, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
    7200 BCE

    Plastered Skulls of Jericho, Neolithic, c. 7,200 BCE, Human skulls covered with plaster and inlaid with shells for eyes, life-size & 20cm high, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem

    Human skulls covered with plaster and decorated (with shells for eyes etc...) to memorialize ancestors-early evidence of ritual and ancestor worship. Connects art with death, memory, and identity in Neolithic Villages
  • Running Horned Woman, Neolithic Saharan culture, c. 6,000-4,000 BCE, pigment on rock, 2m & 6.5ft, Tassili n'Ajjer National Park, Algeria
    6000 BCE

    Running Horned Woman, Neolithic Saharan culture, c. 6,000-4,000 BCE, pigment on rock, 2m & 6.5ft, Tassili n'Ajjer National Park, Algeria

    Rock painting of a dancing or ritual female figure with horns, blending human, symbolic clothing, and nature. Illustrates how Neolithic societies across the world used art to represent divine, ritual, or mythic elements.
  • Period: 4000 BCE to 7200 BCE

    Neolithic Art