Birth of primitive art 8: primitive arts other than Europe 1

＜　rock arts in Tassili-n-Ajjer 　＞

The first fine arts of the human beings were born in Europe of the glacial epoch, and eventually were lost.

However, primitive fine arts were born in different parts of the world after that.

We look at the arts in different parts simply.

人類最初の美術が氷河期のヨーロッパで誕生し、やがて廃れた。

しかしその後、世界各地で美術が誕生することになる。

各地の原初美術を簡単に見ます。

＜　a map of primitive fine arts、fine arts of glacial epoch were born in a red part, other primitive fine arts were born in No. 1～７.　＞

The primitive fine arts in Africa 1 and 2, India 3, Australia 4, and America 6 and 7 were rock arts.

They are reflecting a life of hunting and gathering life. The indigenous people are continuing drawing them in some locations until recently. For this reason, establishing inaugural year of drawing pictures is difficult.

Japan made many Venus image out of clay, but didn't make rock arts.  japan is only special.

アフリカ1,2、インド3、オーストラリア4、アメリカ6,7の原初美術は岩絵であった。

それらは狩猟採集生活を反映しており、場所によっては先住民が最近まで描き続けていた。このために年代確定が困難になっている。

日本だけは岩絵を作らず、多くのビーナス像（土偶）を作った、これは特殊である。

＜　map No.1,  Tassili n'Ajjer,  Algeria 　＞

Although there is in the middle in Sahara Desert here now, was in rich green those days.

The rock arts on cliffs began to be drawn from 8000 years ago, and stopped by advance of desertification before long.

Although at first they have lived a life of hunting and gathering, the paintings show that their lives changed from cow breeding to the trade on a horse.

The painting place is near once the water place, and will be in which religious service and ceremony were performed.

ここは現在、サハラ砂漠の真ん中であるが、当時は緑豊かであった。

８０００年前頃から壁画が描かれ始め、やがて砂漠化の進行で、それは途絶えた。

始めは狩猟採集生活であったが、牛飼養から馬による交易へと変化していったことが絵からわかる。

壁画が描かれた場所はかつての水場近くであり、祭祀や儀礼が行われていたことだろう。

 

＜　Tassili n'Ajjer,  a rock art in times of hunting and gathering 　＞

Upper two persons wear some decorations to head, neck, and arm, and the scares in sequence of white points are on the body.

   

This scar is a custom that has continued in Central Africa still.

On the lower side, there are a goat, several playing children, a visionary animal, and tent like jellyfish.

Each is no relation, the observing point is freedom, and they painted it by priority of how important.

There isn’t sacredness on it, but I feel pleasure and familiarity to it.

　

上部の二人は頭や首、腕に飾りを着け、体に白い点列の瘢痕がある。

この傷痕は現在も中央アフリカに続く風習である。

下部には山羊、遊ぶ子供達、空想上の動物、クラゲに似たテントが描かれている。

それぞれがバラバラで、描く視点が自由で、重要度によって描き分けられている。

そこに神聖さはなく楽しさと親しみを感じる。

＜　Tassili n'Ajjer,  a rock art in times of cattle breeding　＞　

Hunter that have an uplifting feeling, curved ships, and a herd of cattle that was made distinction of sex, these are painted in it.

Dancing, war, home life, carriage, religious rite, etc. were painted on rock arts of this time.

Brown is a basic tone of the painting, green and white also are added.

躍動感のある狩人、湾曲した船、雌雄の牛の群れが描かれている。

この時代の絵には、踊り、戦争、家庭生活、馬車、宗教儀式なども描かれていた。

絵は茶色を基調に、緑と白が加えられ描かれている。

＜　map No.2，Tsodilo Hills, Botswana, phot by Jaap Sikkema ＞

Bushman (Sun) is continuing a traditional life of hunting and gathering in the Kalahari Desert in Botswana.

In the north direction, there are mountains that they called Tsodilo Hills and regard as sacred.

Several thousands of the rock arts that have been painted by them from 2500 years ago remain here.

One theory is it began at 20000 years ago.

ブッシュマン（サン人）はボツワナのカラハリ砂漠で昔ながらの狩猟採集生活を続けている。

その北方にツォディロ・ヒルと呼ばれる彼らが神聖視する山があり、そこに２５００年前から描かれ続けた数千の岩壁画が残っている。一説には２００００年前からとも言われている。

 

 

＜　Tsodilo Hills,  rock arts by Bushman ＞

The image above is seen painting of ox and rhinoceros, and a Bushman. The image below is seen eland and giraffe.

The theme of the paintings is mainly wild animal, hunting, and fishing.

Additionally, there are Dancing, war, rain-making rituals, musical instrument performance, and religion ceremony with wearing mask and with dancing.

When it becomes hundreds of years ago, impressive paintings appear.

There are vast amounts of rock arts in Southern Africa. Bushman paints these from about 6000 years ago to until the 19th century.

People in Africa also had painted rock arts from 8000 years ago.

Next time, we look at primitive fine arts in other continents.

上の写真には牛と犀とブッシュマン、下にはエランド（ウシ科）とキリン、その横に手形が添えられている。

絵の主題は、野生動物と狩猟や漁労が主で、舞踊、戦争、雨乞い、楽器演奏、仮面を被って踊る宗教儀礼などの場面もある。

数百年前になると、見応えのある絵も出現する。

南部アフリカには膨大な岩壁画遺跡があるが、これらはブッシュマンによって約６０００年前から１９世紀まで描かれたものです。

アフリカの人々も、８０００年前から岩絵を描いていた。

次回は、他の大陸の原初美術を見ます。

Birth of primitive art 7: After glacial epoch fine arts

 

＜ a rock art in the Levant, a mother and a child、Ｍinateda, Spain、＞

Eventually, the glacial epoch fine arts that emitted luster had declined.

This decline caused stagnation and new deployment.

We look at this big change easily.

＜　Azilian culture, painted stones and bone tools ＞

At 10000 years ago, the colorful cave paintings and movable fine arts that felt vital force no longer were made.

On the other hand, new movements happened at some places a little distant from France, Germany, Czechoslovakia, and northern Spain.

One is the painted stone at 11000 years ago. Figures like characters were drawn with several red lines on the stones.

Although bone tools are also found simultaneously, the ornamented things are not found at all.

Azilian that made these on the south of the Pyrenees (Spain) disappeared within 1000 years.

＜　rock arts in the Levant　＞

                   

From 11000 years ago to 5000 years ago, many rock arts appeared in the Spain southeast part.

These are the small paintings of animal and person that are drawn on lee of rock in ravines only by red.

Although animals is drawn realistically, persons are deformed and formalized, and are also humorous.

The themes are hunting, war, a dance, Sherman, etc.  It has composition that has motion with many persons and animals.

The drawn animals are game animals and domesticated dogs, then insects such as spider and fly, etc.

The figure subjects are more male than the woman. The male take a bow and put on bracelet, a hat, etc. The woman put on a skirt and ribbon.

 

＜　Arctic art、Rock Drawings of Alta　＞

A little late, from 6000 to 2000 years ago, many petroglyphs appeared on rocks near the Northern European (especially Norway) sea and rivers.

Many of petroglyphs are carved with a line or flat surface, and they are applied with red. A large thing is a whale 8 m in length.

Many of the themes are game hunting and fishing scenes and the everyday sight are drawn in the style of a tale on it.

The drawn things are reindeer, deer, seal, whale, salmon and sled, boat.

What of the fine arts changed?

Simplify

The cave painting was lost and turned into rock-art

Human and life scene were thought as important.

＜　air temperature change during the past 160,000 years　＞

What brought about this change?

The glacial epoch finished. :  Air temperature rose abruptly from 15000-year ago, and 10,000 years ago, it became the same as the present. By this, the glacier and the reindeer went away to the north and Europe became a forest and the world of small animals from the ground of snow and ice.

Their life changed suddenly :  They repeated movement in quest of the small animals which do not make a group. It dispersed the previous big group. Preservation of meat became impossibility.  When they took all games, they moved to next place. This was the same as the hunter-gatherers of the forest before civilization.

The agricultural had diffused from the Balkan Peninsula, and spread throughout Europe at the time 5000 years ago.

At last, the brightness of fine arts in Europe had been lost until the Bronze Age comes.

Culture and art were greatly influenced by change of natural environment and a social aggregation.

Ｎext time, we look at prehistory fine arts other than Europe.

Birth of primitive art 6: perspective of glacial epoch fine arts

＜　a bison looking back：　Madeleine, 20000 years ago　＞

We have seen until now the glacial epoch fine arts that happened in Europe.

This time, we consider the meaning of the glacial arts.

＜　transition of Venus statue: left side, Czech, about30000 years ago. right side, Germany, 15000 years ago. ＞


The feature of glacial epoch fine arts

1.       What was drawn and sculpted

Although horse, bison and deer were drawn plenty, fish and reindeer that could be caught easily were not drawn little. A natural scene also was not drawn. The mammoth that could be caught rarely, the pregnant female, and the animal of one pair of male and female animals are conspicuous in there. Although the scene where peoples hunted animals were not drawn, an animal in which bow and spear were stuck, and something like trap or cage were drawn.

Male design was simple thing of two points by the circle and another was symbolization of genitals. As for female design, shape of a body was emphasized, and relief in cave and sculpture was only female images. Other sculptures of whole body were half beast and half man or personalized thing.

Else, There are hand paintings that lacked any fingers and simple and various figures. It seems that the numbers were recorded by the condition of lacked finger in hand paintings, and engraved lines recorded the calendar too. Some simple figures were broadly common.

＜　 transition of cave pictures: lift side, hyena, France,32000 years ago. right side, bison, Spain,14500 years ago ＞

2.        Technique of drawing and sculpting

The pictorial expression began from the monochromatic outline of a line, and progressed to the line drawing with inflection.

Subsequently, the details like hair were drawn additionally, the contrasting density was expressed in connection with widely painting, and then it progressed to polychromatic drawing from 2-color drawing.

Although most animal images were drawn by the side view, only the hoof was drawn by the front view. This will be because the hoof that shows health condition was thought as important. This brings my mind back to the mural painting of ancient Egypt.

Paints were devised very much and obtained the multiple colors that mixes various minerals with oil and fats, and is liquid. In Altamira, the charcoal that obtains black was selected carefully by the wooden kind. In Lascaux, the bone of the animal was burned at 400 degrees, and calcite was mixed with it, and also it became hot at 1000 times, and used it.

3．　others

There is many cave painting in the inner part of the caves that not get any sunlight. There is it in the entrance used as the place of the life. Moreover, the mural painting is drawn also on the cave in which it does not live. The animal of the cave paintings was almost painted-over picture, and probably, the peoples in those days didn’t put importance on good-looking picture.

In 20,000 years, although cave painting came to have a rich expression, Venus statue of end-stage half became a simple design. Although this Venus statue image had a commonality by the side view, it reflected the diversity of the region.

＜　hand painting in cave: France ,32000 years ago. Flute: made of bone, German, about 35000 years ago.　＞

What changed?

1.        have magical thinking　：　They expressed things that they wished and accept a value through paintings and statue, and people present their wishes to it.

2.        manipulated number and technology :  They began to record a notation or a calendar by combining. Technology was developed similarly.

3.       created and place importance on formality : Although fine arts change with the times and  reflect the diversity of the region, have a commonality.

4.      cherished these with groups : They taught pictures technique, left cave painting to the specific person, and occasionally performed the festival.

5.       moved broadly and trafficked with the long distance　：　We can guess from a stone tool, the similarity of design with fine arts, and stone tool material.

 ＜　People lived by rock shadow at 30,000 years ago　＞

What happened to human beings?

Cro-Magnon man began half-settled life with the group more than a family in arctic cold, in and around cave.

Two reasons made it possible was that they had to hunt much reindeer that do seasonal migration by group, and coldness enabled preservation of a lot of meat.

If it is hot, meat will rot. If it is cold, a reindeer will disappear and their heavy winter clothing becomes useless.

They were able to make the dress that matches their body by the needle made from a bone.

The intercommunion with a family, a group, and other groups influenced each other, and greatly developed language, child-rearing, and technology. Furthermore, culture and a sense of values (religion, art) were produced.

Next time, we will look at decline period of glacial epoch fine arts.

Birth of primitive art 5 ： the last Brightness of cave art

 

＜　fig.１、Trios Freres cave、shaman　＞

This time, we look at the wonderful arts in the last of glacial epoch Europe.

These were in the fate that disappears suddenly soon.

At first, it is the Altamira cave (about 14500 years ago) in Spain.

It is close to a sea and is on a gently sloping karsts hill (altitude 160 m.).

今回は、氷河期ヨーロッパの最後を飾る素晴らしい美術品を見ます。

これらはやがて忽然と姿を消す運命にありました。

  

最初は、スペインのアルタミラ洞窟（約１４５００年前）です。

北側に海があり、標高１６０ｍのなだらかなカルスト丘陵にある。

 

＜　fig.２, the big roof　＞

 

＜　fig.3, a bison　＞

The mural paintings were concentrated in the big roof fig.2 (entering the entrance of fig.4, immediately left-hand side).There were pictures of 25 animals drew with red, black and brown.

The pictures were many bisons, deer, wild boar, horse and a person like shaman.

The stereoscopic effect and reality of bison fig.3 are increasing by many colors, gradation and shadow processing.

This is the highest level of Old-Stone-Age pictures.

It is presumed that one author drew the all pictures of the big roof, and the cave had been managed together.

Probably, the bison that emerge in abysmal darkness by a swinging torch may seem to be alive completely.

壁画が集中しているのは大天井図２（図４の入口入って直ぐ左手）で、２５頭の動物絵が赤･黒･褐色で描かれている。

とくにバイソンが多く、鹿、猪、馬などのほか、呪術師らしい人物もある。

バイソン図３は、多色彩、ぼかしと陰影処理により、立体感と写実性が増している。これは旧石器時代絵画の最高水準です。

この大天井は一人の作者がすべて描いたと推定され、洞窟が共同で管理されていたことを伺わせる。

真っ暗闇の中、揺らぐ一つの灯明で浮かび上がるバイソンは、まるで生きているように見えただろう。

 

＜　fig.4，Altamira Cave、The lower left is an entrance. full length 270 m, Spain　＞

The first Peoples came to the cave about 19000 years ago.

The People did not live inside the cave (fig.4), but dug the hole in the cave entrance, and were making it the dumping ground.

Because of the thrown-away bone, it turned out that rich woods and many hunting animals were in the circumference of the cave.

The drawing animals accord with the hunting animals.

It seems that the peoples repeatedly used the cave as a meeting place during the long period.

Various small groups came and went the vast domain between France and Spain.

約１９０００年前に人々が洞窟に最初にやって来た。

人々は洞窟内部（図４）には住まず、洞窟入口内に穴を掘りゴミ捨て場にしていた。

捨てられていた骨から、洞窟周辺は豊かな森、多くの狩猟動物がいたことがわかる。

描かれている動物は、狩猟対象と一致する。

人々は長い期間を通じて何度も繰り返しそれぞれの洞窟を集合場所として使ったようである。

色々な小集団がフランスとスペインの間の広大な領域を行き来していた。

 

＜　fig.5、reindeer and fish ＞

＜　fig.6、Two bisons、full length 61cm in right-hand side＞

We look at other distinctive arts from an old thing.

Fig. 5 is a developed figure of commanding sticks was made of hartshorn. This was found in Lortet cave of 17000 years ago in France.

There are a reindeer of right edge looks back, and the legs of two reindeers before it.

And the four salmons seem to poke the deer from the bottom under the legs.

Probably, this drew the spectacle in which a group of reindeer just has been going across a river to which the salmons have been ascending.

They caught the moment that they excited most. The vigorous figure was expressed by simple line engraving.

Fig. 6 shows the relief that was made of clay on the floor in Tuc d'audoubert cave of 15000 years ago in France.

One pair of bison at last minute copulation was expressed.

Fig.1 was a　copｙ of mural painting in Trois Freres cave of 15000 years ago in France. This cave connected with the above-mentioned cave.

It is visible to shaman who imitated the figure of a deer, or the personified person.

他の特徴ある美術を古いものから見てみる。

図５は、フランス、ロルテ洞窟出土、１７０００年前の鹿角製指揮棒の展開図である。

右端に後ろを振り返るトナカイ、その前に２頭の脚が見える。

しかも、その足の下で、４尾の鮭が下から鹿を突いているように見える。

これは鮭が遡上している河をトナカイの群れが渡る光景を描いているのだろう。

彼らは最も興奮する瞬間を捉えた。その躍動感ある図をシンプルな線刻で表現している。

図６は、フランス、チュック・ドードゥベール洞窟、１５０００年前の床面の粘土製浮き彫りである。

今まさに交尾寸前の雌雄一対のバイソンを表現している。

図１は、上記洞窟と連なっているトロワ・フレール洞窟にある同時代の絵画の一部を模写したものです。それは鹿の姿を真似たシャーマか擬人化された人物に見える。

 

 ＜　fig.7、　line drawing carved into the rock in Addaura cave　＞

Fig. 7 shows the line drawing carved into the rock of about 10000 years ago in Addaura cave　of Italy.

Eight persons become a round ring and dance around two lying persons in the picture.

Strangely、the dancers are wearing the mask to which a beak attached. Two persons of middle are bind a head and a leg with a rope, and their penis is rising up.

This is associated with the scene of a sacrifice.

In those days, did the ceremony that wore mask already start?

I will tell the perspective of cave arts next time.

図７は、イタリア、シチリア島のアッダウラ洞窟の線刻画（約１００００年前）です。

中央に横たわる二人の周囲を８人が丸い輪になって踊る様子が描かれている。

異様なのは、踊り手は嘴のついた仮面をかぶっている。真ん中の二人は首と足を綱で縛られ、男根が勃起していることです。

これは生け贄のシーンを連想させます.

この頃、既に仮面を被った儀式が始まっていたのだろうか。

次回は、洞窟美術の全体像を語ります。