Neolithic Art and Agriculture

Agriculture, animal domestication, a warmer climate, and permanent settlements characterize the start of the Neolithic Age, also referred to as the New Stone Age. With developments in agriculture and animal raising came a more dependable food source for communities and a more reliable trade network within villages. This time period shows that as communities developed more complex social structures and skills—such as weaving, metallurgy, and pottery—individuals increasingly specialized and trade among societies expanded.


This Egyptian mace head depicts a king bestowing water upon the subjects via irrigation (below). While it is decorative art that propagandizes the Egyptian king as the "benefactor of the people" it allows the modern viewer the chance to see some of the first signs of irrigation. By relying on the dependable Nile, the Egyptians were able to develop their agrarian economy. Eventually, the Nile supported Egyptian agriculture to the point that by the time Egypt became a province of Rome around 30 BC, it supported the Mediterranean world with its abundant grains. Art complexity seems to have coincided with the increasing complexity of agriculture and the Egyptian economy.

The following ceramic pot depicts a religious or social event of Egyptian culture around 3400 BC. Intricate decoration demonstrates advanced artisanship--only possible if there is an advanced economy where the artist can develop techniques without sacrificing daily needs.

During the Neolithic age in Europe, long-distance trade developed. From 2500 BC to 800 BC, the metal and resources trade of Europe advanced from local trade to long-distance trade. Amber, for example, was extracted primarily from northern European sites, yet excavators have found amber in art and utensils near the Alps. Europe also discovered bronze during this time by mixing copper and tin. To extract these metals required new technological skills that allowed for some large-scale mining to take place in the Alps.  For example, the Bronze Sun Chariot below represents a Danish ritual.

It is made of bronze, though no copper or tin mines were located near the Denmark at this time. Instead, tin and copper followed trade routes hundreds of miles long to get to their desired locations. Though this piece of art may reflect a Danish ritual, it also reflects the technology of the time. To import the metals required sea and land transportation technology sufficient to make the cost of the transaction reasonable for someone who was willing to commission the artist. Meanwhile, the art portrays a domesticated horse and the use of wheels in the chariot. The domestication of animals and invention of the wheel had been around Europe for some time, but the delicacy of the wheels and the use of bronze and gold in this piece of art symbolize the changes of technology in Europe since their prehistoric ancestors.


Sources:

Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, 24-25, 55-57

 Atlas of World Art, 24-25, 30-31