Megalithic Art
Rock Carvings, Spiral Engravings, Megaliths,
Neolithic Stone Architecture.
MAIN A-Z INDEX - A-Z of PREHISTORIC ART
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Megalithic Art
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Megalithic Art (c.9000-2000 BCE)Contents • What is Megalithic
Art? |
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ROCK CARVING IN
PREHISTORY
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Megalithic art is the fourth main type of prehistoric art, after (1) petroglyphs, (2) cave painting and (3) ivory carving and other primitive sculpture. Megaliths (large stones - also known as petroforms) were used to create cyclopean Stone Age monuments, predominantly during the Neolithic era. These monuments were mostly burial chambers, portal tombs (dolmens), passage tombs (Newgrange) and gallery graves (Zuschen stone cist, Hesse), although other megalithic structures included "alignments" (arrangements) of single upright stones, called menhirs (Carnac, Brittany) and stone circles (Stonehenge, UK) and sanctuaries (Gobekli Tepe, Turkey). Megalithic art embraces any artistic activity involving the use of large stones, notably carving, relief sculpture and of course megalithic architecture. It does not include portable artworks found in the vicinity of megaliths, such as pottery, types of ivory carving or wood carving, and so on. Megalithic designwork appeared throughout Western Europe during the age of Neolithic art, although, curiously, it is concentrated on the fringes of the Continent, in Ireland (Boyne Valley), Brittany (Gavrinis, Carnac, Barnenez), Iberia, the Balearic Islands, Sardinia, Corsica and Malta. Aside from some exceptional discoveries during the Mesolithic age, megalithic art began in the Neolithic and continued into the Bronze and Chalcolithic periods. In this article (with the exception of Gobekli Tepe in Turkey) we focus on megalithic art in Europe. |
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When it comes to assessing the artistic and cultural role of megalithic architecture in the development of prehistoric man, several points should be made. First, none of the complex tomb structures (eg. Newgrange) could have been constructed without significant resources and organization, as well as a strong system of religious beliefs. Second, the solar and/or lunar alignment of many megalithic monuments suggests a considerable awareness of the natural world, at least among the megalithic architects. Thirdly, the complex layout of some megalithic monuments, featuring an intricate plan of chambers for ceremonies, meetings and other social and cultural activities, suggests that they were far from being mere burial sites. Westminster Cathedral in London, for instance, houses a large number of tombs, but it could not really be described as a burial monument. From a technical viewpoint, megalithic architecture represents man's first attempts to construct relatively complex structures since the end of the Paleolithic hunter-gatherer culture and the beginning of the Neolithic settlement culture. Hewing, splitting, shaping, transporting and then fitting together a series of large stones, weighing up to 30 tons or more, without any mortar or cement, is no mean achievement. Neither is the design of specific shaped stones; the employment of intricate combinations of upright supports (orthostats) and capstones; or the use of architectural features like the Taula - a 'T' shape created by topping a straight standing stone, crossways with another - and the Trilithon, that is two parallel upright stones topped with a horizontal lintel, as at Stonehenge. All these were common features of megalithic architecture. Although megalithic building designs varied considerably in their technical advancement between northern and southern Europe, as well as between southern mainland Europe, the islands of Crete and the Peloponnese, and the Middle East, the period 3500-1000 BCE was a particularly active time for megalithic architects, who were responsible for designing a host of stone monuments at Gavrinis (c.3500 BCE), Zuschen (c.3300 BCE), Newgrange (c.3100 BCE), Stonehenge (c.2600 BCE) and Knowth (c.2500 BCE), to name just five. Meantime, in the Nile valley there appeared a brand new approach to megalithic design, in the form of Egyptian pyramids architecture. For more about megalithic art in Ancient Egypt, see: Egyptian Architecture (c.3000 BCE - 160 CE). |
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Megalithic Carving and Engraving The main type of megalithic rock art was stone carving or engraving, which mostly consisted of prehistoric abstract signs and geometric motifs - not unlike later Celtic designs, although Celtic culture would not flourish until the Iron Age. There were comparatively few examples of representational art. One might say that this tradition of rock carving originated with the Middle Paleolithic engravings in the Blombos Cave, South Africa (70,000 BCE), or the Australian Aboriginal art at Ubirr (c.30,000 BCE) and the Burrup Peninsula, except that megalithic carving tends to represent a more focused and sophisticated type of symbolism, quite different from the rock engravings found in the caves of southern France. Archeological excavation clearly shows that numerous megalithic tombs in Europe had enormous ceremonial and ritualistic importance - an importance that Neolithic artists sought to reflect in the quality and complexity of their art. Spiral designs were an important feature of Neolithic megaliths. Indeed, from 5,000 BCE onwards, petroglyphs comprising spiral patterns have been found by archeologists on every continent except Antarctica. Early examples include the spirals found at Gavrinis, an island of the Brittany coast, which date from about 3,500 BCE. Varying in complexity, these motifs were later absorbed by artists and craftsmen among the pagan Keltoi or Celts who moved into eastern and central Europe from the Caucasus, around 800 BCE. Other fine examples include the spiral engravings (including the Triple-Spiral known as the "Spiral of Life") discovered at the entrance of the Newgrange Passage Tomb (c.3100 BCE), in County Meath, Ireland. These spiral pictures represent the first significant step in the history of Irish art. In addition, the tomb at Knowth, Newgrange's sister site within the Bru na Boinne complex, also features a huge array of rock engravings, being home to about one third of all megalithic art in Western Europe. It was here that archeologists stumbled across what is believed to be the first recorded map of the moon. This lunar plan was carved into the rock. Ireland is believed to have the largest concentration of megalithic art, followed by Brittany in France. But while Irish examples consist almost entirely of non-objective art, those from France include numerous anthropomorphic images on menhirs and in passage tombs. The tombs of the Seine-Oise-Marne culture, for instance, such as those at Courjeonnet, contain wall-carvings of axes, breasts and personal jewellery, while those in the valley of the Petit Morin contain engravings of hair, noses, and breasts. Representationalism is even more widespread on the Iberian peninsula, one of the few places where one finds megalithic carvings decorated with colour pigments (usually red and black). Gobekli Tepe is a megalithic complex built on a hilltop in southeastern Turkey. Carbon-dated to as far back as 9000 BCE, the site boasts a wide variety of pillar and wall carvings, which are undoubtedly the most ancient art of the period. Most of it consists of carved reliefs of animals and of abstract pictographs and pictograms. The relief carvings show bulls, lions, wild boars, foxes, gazelles, snakes, insects and birds, especially vultures. Vultures also appear regularly in the iconography of the Neolithic excavations at Catalhoyuk and Jericho. Of the few human figures to have been found at Gobekli Tepe, there is an engraving of a crouching naked woman, and a bas-relief carving of a headless corpse surrounded by vultures. The pillars themselves may have an anthropomorphic identity. For example, the horizontal stone on top of the T-shaped pillars is believed to symbolize the head of either a human or a God-like figure. Gavrinis (Breton: Gavriniz) is a small uninhabited island in the Gulf of Morbihan off the coast of Brittany. Its principal structure is the Gavrinis passage grave, a megalithic monument famous for its array of megalithic art. The burial chamber is accessible via a 46-feet long corridor, flanked by thirty orthostat supports, of which 23 are embellished with carved designs and symbols, including pictures of axes and staffs. Among the abstract motifs are various types of zigzag and curvilinear lines. The Hessian-Westphalian stone cist (gallery grave) known as the Zuschen Tomb is considered by experts to be one of the most significant megaliths in Central Europe. Among its most interesting features are the carved symbols which decorate the slabs inside the burial chamber. Examples include lines of punched dots, symbolizing cattle, ploughs and carts. Similar pictograms of teams of cattle appear later in carvings from the second millennium BCE, at Mont Bego in the French Ligurian Alps and at Valcamonica, Northern Italy. Over five centuries older than the Great Pyramid of Giza and Stonehenge, and some 1500 years before the fabulous Minoan architecture on Crete, the Newgrange Megalithic Tomb contains a mass of abstract megalithic rock art divided roughly into ten types, five of which are curvilinear (spirals, circles, arcs and the like) and five of which are rectilinear (lozenges, chevrons, radials and so on). As mentioned above, the most famous images found at Newgrange are the triskele-like spirals found on the entrance stone to the tomb. Archeologists are divided as to the significance of these designs. While some consider them to be merely decorative, others think that they are highly symbolic. The Stonehenge stone circle - arguably the world's most famous and iconic megalithic monument - is located in Wiltshire, England, some 8 miles north of Salisbury. A wonderful example of megalithic architecture, it consists of a circular arrangement of large upright stones - featuring a number of massive Oligocene-Miocene sarsens. At the centre are several 25-feet tall trilithons supporting lintels held in place with mortise and tenon joints. The entire structure is ringed by ancient earthworks and surrounded by a dense local pattern of tombs and other Neolithic monuments. On one of the sarsens (stone 53), there are carvings of a dagger and numerous axeheads; while other axeheads are engraved on stones 3, 4, and 5. This rock art dates to the mid/late Bronze Age (c.2400-1200 BCE). See also: Architecture Glossary. The Knowth megalithic tomb is the largest of all neolithic passage graves in the valley of the River Boyne. It is made up of one large mound (40 feet high, 220 feet in diameter) - encircled by over 100 kerbstones - and some seventeen smaller satellite tombs. Most of the art on the kerbstones surrounding the mound consists of spirals, lozenges, cresents and various wavy lines. Also, a good deal of it appears on the back of the stones and is therefore hidden from view, a curiosity that has triggered conflicting theories as to its artistic importance and symbolism. As mentioned above, other types of Stone Age art include: (1) petroglyphs - that is, marks made in the surface of the rock, by carving, scratching or drilling - such as cupules and reliefs like the Venus of Laussel; (2) cave painting, exemplified by the cave art at Chauvet, Lascaux and Altamira cave drawings; and (3) prehistoric sculpture, ranging from the Lower Paleolithic effigies like the Venus of Tan-Tan, to the ubiquitous "venus figurines", such as the ivory Venus of Hohle Fels, the ceramic Venus of Dolni Vestonice, and the limestone Venus of Willendorf. Artwork created on an immoveable rock wall, floor or ceiling is traditionally classified as "parietal art", while portable artwork is classified as "mobiliary art". |
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• For more about the earliest artifacts,
see: Oldest Art.
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF STONE AGE ART |
