Primitive art, despite its outward simplicity and unpretentiousness, is of great importance in the history of mankind as a whole. The development of its various species continued for thousands of years, and in some regions of the planet - for example, in Australia, Oceania, some states of Africa and America - it also existed in the 20th century, changing its name to “traditional art”.
art
The most ancient monuments of the art of the primitive world date back to the Old Stone Age - the Paleolithic (approximately 40 thousand years BC). Basically, these were rock paintings on the ceilings and walls of caves, in underground grottoes and galleries in Europe, North Africa and South Asia. The early drawings were extremely primitive and reflected only what a person saw in his daily life: animals, prints of human hands smeared with paint, etc. For painting, earth colors, ocher, black manganese, and white lime were used. As the art of the primitive period developed, the drawings became multicolored, and the plots became more complicated.
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In addition, stone, wood and bone carvings developed intensively, people learned to make full-fledged figurines. Most often, animals were depicted again: bears, lions, mammoths, snakes and birds. By making such figures, people tried to recreate the silhouette, texture of wool as precisely as possible. It is believed that the figurines served our ancestors as amulets, protected them from evil spirits.
Architecture
After the ice age, the so-called Neolithic revolution took place. An increasing number of tribes chose a sedentary lifestyle and needed a permanent reliable home. Depending on the habitat of this or that people, many new types of houses appeared - on stilts, from dried bricks, etc.
Ceramics
The most important place in the history of the art of the primitive world is occupied by ceramic products. They were also first made in the Neolithic era. People learned to use accessible and easy-to-process material - clay - long before that, in the Paleolithic, however, they began to really make dishes and other products from it a little later. Gradually, more and more new forms appeared (jugs, bowls, bowls and others), almost every object was decorated with painted or carved ornaments. A striking example of the art of primitive society can be considered Tripoli ceramics. The painting on various products of this people reflected reality in all its diversity.
Bronze Age
Considering the forms of primitive art, one should pay attention to bronze casting, which marked the beginning of a completely new era in the history of the development of mankind. It was during this period that megalithic structures appeared (menhirs, dolmens, cromlechs), which, according to historians, carried a religious connotation. As a rule, megaliths were located close to burial sites.
Jewelry
Throughout all stages, primitive people sought to decorate themselves and their clothes. The jewelry was made from all materials at hand: shells, bones of prey, stone, clay. Over time, having learned how to process bronze, iron and other metals, including precious ones, people acquired skillfully made jewelry, which to this day shock us with its beauty and elegance.
The art of the primitive era is of great importance, because it is with its appearance that they often associate the strongest leap in evolution, which forever separated man from the beast.