ARTTalk Part 2: Prehistoric Art—The Middle Stone Age Art History

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Art History

Part 2: Prehistoric Art—The Middle Stone Age

Positioned historically between the Paleolithic Period and the Neolithic Period is the Mesolithic Period, the Middle Stone Age or ancient cultural stage of human development. This period is defined as that time between the birth of crude chipped stone tools and more refined, smooth, polished tools. Mesolithic tools are based on chipped stone and often include microliths, very small stone tools intended for mounting together on a shaft. Polished stone occurs in some of these Mesolithic assemblages, as do a variety of bone, antler, and wooden tools.

Mesolithic usually refers specifically to a development in northwestern Europe that began about 8000 B.C. and lasted until 2700 B.C. Although this period was culturally and technologically continuous with the Paleolithic, Mesolithic cultures were forced to adjust to diverse adaptations of environment. The hunting methods, the tools, and the art of this period can be directly associated with Mesolithic hunters and fishers.

At the end of the Ice Age, the great herds that had provided food for the Paleolithic hunters disappeared from France and Spain. Man came out of his cave and began a more migratory lifestyle, utilizing natural stone shelves and overhangs as shelters. Forests covered the landscape and offered smaller groups of deer and other grazing animals that were smaller and moved faster. As a consequence, they were much more difficult to hunt and kill. So, although the climate was warmer than before, it was much harder to live by hunting alone. Mesolithic man had to modify his hunting techniques and forage for the seeds and fruits that the forests provided or the fish and shellfish that he could find in rivers or on the coasts. Cooperation was essential, and the new situation was clearly evident in the art of the period.

In the southern and eastern parts of what is now Spain, small bands of such hunter-gatherers left a record of their activities in the rock shelters where they camped. In some ways the new paintings resemble the old, although a simple silhouette technique for the most part replaced the outline and shading techniques of the Paleolithic style. More acute observation and stronger brushwork continued in these new creations, and they exuded a sense of movement and clarity. However, there is one obvious conceptual difference between the two artistic groups.

The new paintings represent the first compositions that depict a clear story, and they also show man finally emerging as the chief actor in the scenes on these rock walls. Clearly illustrated are large coherent groups of men, hunters stalking their prey and dominating the animals. Arrows are flung into herds of panicked deer, presumably driven into a trap set by the hunters. Scenes of battle or groups of dancers also occur, even implying social status in some of the work. There is painstaking detail of archers portrayed in the finest clothing, with the best weapons to indicate their high status within the tribe. This emphasis on man is new, but even more significant is the element of cooperation as part of a group whose survival is directly tied to hunting or ritual where it is probably necessary for a group to survive and prosper.

So in the Mesolithic Period, we have evidence of what must be called a well organized collective of hunting and survival activities. The art of the period clearly supports this finding and shows man grouping together. These communal populations were successful but did not, however, differ greatly from the previous period in abstract ways. There seemed to be no significant indication of cultural development other than environmental adaptations, and it is said that the level "changed just enough so that they would not have to change."

One glaring difference in the drawings of previous cave dwellers and these less permanent shelters is the size of the works completed. Many of the drawings are mere inches in height, and there is a true feeling of movement and energy. The sense of group is exaggerated with the use of repetitious basic shapes. Even so, details are distinguishable—bows, arrows, feathered headdresses—and a wide stance of legs is used in some scenes to indicate leaping strides or perhaps marching or wild dancing.

Again, in this period we start to see the general abstraction that is beginning to transform them into more symbol than picture. Although in the Middle East at this time, this step in the evolution of symbolic form established the formation of a writing, it is still thought by many authorities that the significance of the rock paintings was magical-religious, like the paintings in the caves. Others feel they represent nothing more than pictorial records of memorable events. Since the paintings are concentrated in areas that were used for long periods of time, rather than areas better suited for painting, it is suggested that the sights were sacred. This is further supported by the fact that long after the Mesolithic Period, future dwellers of the sights also added their drawings. Even Romans were drawn to these areas and used them as holy places.

The best examples of Mesolithic Period paintings are found in rock shelters among the barren hills of the eastern coast of Spain, near Castellon.