Prehistoric Trade

“Although we may speculate about their purposes, these early images reveal something as old as humanity itself—the magical urge to create.”

- Art Fundamentals, 4.

A primitive and local nature characterizes Prehistoric art, according to the evidence and pieces available to scholars today. The term Prehistoric generally refers to the Paleolithic Age, beginning around 30,000 BCE and lasting many millennia. Evidence of trade prior to ~10,000 BC exists in excavation sites and remaining pieces of primitive art and tools from ancient tribes but shows minimal long-distance trade. However, remnants of art and tools of ancient tribes help scholars today piece together an understanding of the state of the economy and trade during the Paleolithic age.

Artistic items found from excavation sites today that discoverers credit to the Paleolithic Age include cave paintings, necklaces, carvings in ivory and in stone. However, without any written sources, one can only conjecture as to the purposes of the artistic endeavors of the early human societies. (Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, 15-16)

The image below is from the Chauvet Cave, discovered in 1994 in southern France. It may appear primitive and simple, yet the accomplishment of such art in a cave over 32,000 years ago suggests that humans have an innate sense of drive and innovation to creatively overcome the challenges of painting in a cave.

These paintings are found in areas of the Cave where there is little or no natural light, and are often difficult to access. In order to overcome the darkness of caves and paint high on the walls, recent excavations show that the people of the Chauvet Cave created grease lamps, scaffolding, paint, brushes, and other tools for the art. It is hard to know the purpose of the art since it could be part of a ritual, a personal expression of life in nature, or to record their history. What archeologists know are that cave paintings, found in most regions around the world during this time, required the discovery of particular tools to make the paintings possible, and indicate a desire in the early human societies to find a way to express, record, or enrich their lives through decoration and art.

Evidence of prehistoric trade is found in the Americas, Eurasia, Africa, and most other areas of the world, though still many millennia after the Chauvet Cave.*

It's likely increases in trade among villages or tribes allowed for more exchanges as people could barter for what they needed and could thus continue specializing. Artwork that appears to be created centuries after the Chauvet Cave drawing indicate that trade among unrelated cultures commenced long before cities and ports became hubs for trade.

One way to understand the trade routes of our ancestors is to look at the trade of artifacts and crafts. The stone carving below is one example.

This bone engraving is from the floor of the La Garma cave in northern Spain around 12,000 BC. The image on the dagger in Spain is extremely similar to the images found on spear tips in the French Pyrenees during the same period. This suggests there were interactions between the two regions that resulted in the sharing of design ideas or the trading of art and tools, or both.

The Prehistoric Period may not have achieved great works of art as defined by modern art standards, but this time period represents the beginning of permanent art and the building of a foundation for a larger human economy. The ingenuity and learning of ancient humans allowed for the development of tools to create art and overcome the challenges of painting in a cave or carving in stone. The ability to think creatively to overcome obstacles and fulfill needs is fundamental to a growing economy. As the economy progressed, so did trade between tribes.

Sources:

Thurman, Judith. "Letter from Southern France: First Impressions." The New Yorker. 23 June 2008. Web. 7 Apr. 2010. .

Onians, John. Atlas of World Art. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2004. 16-19

*Trade and Exchange in Prehistoric Mississippi; Linguistic Evidence for Cultural Exchange in Prehistoric Western Central Asia; Prehistoric and historic traces in the mtDNA of Mozambique: insights into the Bantu expansions and the slave trade (Moodle)

Gardner, Helen, Fred S. Kleiner, and Christin J. Mamiya. Gardner's Art through the Ages. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2005.