Paleolithic culture covers the period. Archaeological cultures of the Paleolithic era in kostenki Artificial fire production

general characteristics The Upper Paleolithic period of its existence is much shorter and is determined by archaeologists to be between the 40th and 10th millennia BC. e. Until recently, the Upper Paleolithic was divided into more subdivided periods: Aurignac, Solutre and Madeleine, according to which further stages of the development of human society were classified. But although human culture at this time develops in similar ways, certain territorial differences are already emerging. Therefore, it is more correct to abandon the division of the Upper Paleolithic into cultures that has been in existence for a long time, which received their names from monuments found in France, and is now used in Western Europe. For all of humanity, it would be more correct to divide it into the early, middle and late periods of the Upper Paleolithic.

The time of the Upper Paleolithic was primarily marked by the appearance of the modern type of man, Homo sapiens, i.e. a reasonable person. Having replaced the Neanderthals, he completed the transition from animal to human, which lasted about two million years.

The differences between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens consisted not so much in the disappearance of many features of external structure inherited from animals, but in large changes in higher nervous activity. The man of this time thought more, and therefore acted much more successfully than his predecessors. The reason that caused the emergence of a new type of person must first of all be sought in the formation of the tribal community. The Neanderthal, who lived in his own group, not only did not seek rapprochement with his own kind from other groups, but, most likely, avoided it, and in the event of a collision with his own kind, he behaved hostilely. Exogamy arose within the clan, that is, a custom prohibiting marriage relations between members of the clan, which forced a person to build interclan connections.

The Upper Paleolithic era coincided in time with the last stage of glaciation, which pushed humanity (especially in those areas where the cooling was felt especially strongly) to the further development of labor activity. First of all, this development affected the production of tools and the method of processing them. The technique for producing blank plates remains the same. They are obtained by cleaving from a prismatic core. But due to the improvement of retouching, the tools became more advanced, and their efficiency in work increased. For retouching, they began to use bone sticks fixed in a wooden handle. Pressing the compound wringer, the master did not chip off the elastic bone tip, but rather whittled flint flakes from the tool blank one after another. This “sharpening” of the working part of the weapon was carried out not on one side, as was the case in previous eras, but on both sides, which increased the quality of the weapon.

Retouching was used not only to process the working edge of a tool; it was often used to process the entire surface of the product. The retouching technique was complex and required maximum attention from the master. It was enough not to calculate the pressure when pressing, and the flint could be split. This apparently happened often, as evidenced by numerous finds of tools damaged by the master during the manufacturing process. Retouching was also used to cover parts of tools that did not play a significant role in the labor process. Such a passion for retouching indicates the emergence of an aesthetic perception of things in a person. Man sought to make not only a convenient, but also a beautiful tool.

The time of the Upper Paleolithic was marked by the widespread use, along with stone tools, of tools made of bone: spear tips, darts and harpoons were mainly made from this material. The expansion of hunting equipment speaks quite clearly about the intensity of hunting.

To throw a spear, a person invents a spear thrower. The materials for its manufacture were wood and bone. Modern peoples who use spear throwers currently make them primarily from wood. Perhaps in those days they were more often made from wood, but since it is poorly preserved, archaeologists more often find bone spear throwers or made from reindeer antler. The latter include finds at Paleolithic sites in France: Bruniquel, Logerie Bass, Gourdan. The spear thrower allowed the hunter to increase the length of the spear's flight.

The role of hunting especially increased in areas close to the glacier, where there were fewer edible plants for human consumption. In these areas, herds of reindeer and musk ox grazed; a little to the south was the kingdom of the mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, and bison; Even further south, herds of wild horses, deer, antelope, etc. grazed. The possibility of rich prey attracted man, and he intensively moved north, exploring more and more new territories.

In areas where the influence of the next cold snap was not felt, the hunter of the Upper Paleolithic time hunted zebra, antelope, and elephant, but gathering, which in the northern regions came to almost nothing, plays a large role in human economic life.

In addition to bone tools intended for hunting and fishing, it is necessary to note the appearance of bone needles with a hole (eye) located in their thickest part, into which a tendon was pulled, acting as a thread. Bone needles were stored in special cases made from the tubular bones of birds. The appearance of needles indicates the existence of tailoring in the Upper Paleolithic era. True, a person could sew together individual parts of skins using simple punctures (bone and flint), but the presence of an eye simplified this process and undoubtedly contributed to more advanced production of various types of clothing. For a long time, scientists had no information about the presence of clothing among Paleolithic people. However, in Buryatia, at the Buret site, a bone figurine of a woman was discovered, made from mammoth ivory, wearing clothes with a hood on her head. Today, science has sufficient material to completely reconstruct the various types of clothing, hats, and shoes that make up the complete set of clothing of a person from the Upper Paleolithic era. One of the options was a warm suit made of fur, the length of which reached the ankles. On the head they wore a headdress in the form of a fur hood that folded back. The clothes were put on over the head, since there were no marks from longitudinal cuts on it, but for the harsh climate it was very comfortable. This clothing has survived almost unchanged among many peoples living in the Arctic regions to this day. Indicative in this regard are the finds of burials at the Sungir site (Vladimir region), where the deceased was covered with a huge amount of bone jewelry, the arrangement of which made it possible to reconstruct the costume of an Upper Paleolithic person.

It should be noted that figurines of a man in clothing dating back to the Upper Paleolithic are very rare. More often there are images of a naked person. Some researchers believe that people of those times obviously stayed naked or semi-naked in their homes. Clothes were used outside the home.
Archaeological cultures In the Upper Paleolithic, not only did population density increase, but also the human ecumene expanded. Based on climatic conditions, and therefore differences in the economic life of man during the Upper Paleolithic period, it is more appropriate to consider the cultural development of five territorial regions.

The first area is periglacial. This includes the middle zone of Western and Eastern Europe, northern and northeastern Europe, mountainous regions... By the time of the Upper Paleolithic, the vast territory of this region, thanks to climate warming, was quickly covered with forests. At first, spruce and pine trees grew in place of the retreating glacier, then, when the glacier retreated further, they were replaced by oak, hornbeam, linden, beech, i.e., broad-leaved trees.

In Western Europe, there are a number of cultures that either replace one another or coexist in different territories from 40 to 10 thousand years ago. The main ones are the Aurignacian, Gravettian, Solutrean and Magdalenian cultures, or industries.

Seletskaya the culture developed at the beginning of the Wurm I-II interstadial or a little earlier. Many Mousterian features are preserved in material culture. Its early stage took place in a mild climate, while its advanced stage took place in a drier climate. The beginning of the seleto dates back to about 42 thousand years ago. Characteristic are the leaf-shaped tips of spears and darts, processed on both sides and made with flat retouching. Certain types of Mousterian tools are preserved, including leaf-shaped side scrapers.

Aurignacian industries are widespread from the Middle East (about 40 thousand years ago) to the western regions of Europe (from 37 to 30 thousand years ago), sometimes they live up to 20 thousand years ago. In Central Europe, Aurignacian industries had no local roots. According to the prevailing point of view, they advanced from the south, from the Balkan Peninsula. It is possible that they could have entered the Balkans from the Middle East. Aurignacian industries are characterized by types of tools such as end scrapers, various types of burins and drills, bone and horn tips of spears, darts and even arrows. According to a number of scientists, bows and arrows spread in Europe at this time. The bone tips of Aurignacian spears and darts are the first bone products to obtain a stable, permanently preserved form.

The creators of Aurignacian industries lived in small, rather isolated groups. These groups had hunting territories of less than 200 square meters. km each. Aurignacian sites are often found in river valleys, where they usually form groups. These include cave settlements in southern Belgium and southwestern France, and sites in the valleys of small rivers - tributaries of the Danube and Rhine.

For Gravettian industries are characterized by more diverse types of tools than Aurignacian ones. Gravettian tools are predominantly made from well-cut, usually quite small blades with extensive use of steep blunting retouch. Gravette dates mainly to the period 30-20 thousand years ago, but in some places it survives until the 13th thousand.

Hunting for the inhabitants of the tundra - mammoth and reindeer, cave bear, wolf, wild bull - was the main occupation of the Gravettian population in Central and Western Europe, and hunting for red deer predominated in Northern Italy. The hunt was of a specifically steppe nature. It is characterized by a fairly homogeneous prey composition and early specialization on certain animal species. Steppe hunting has reached a higher level than forest hunting. In the forests, people were forced to use a diverse set of weapons and were guided by a wide range of game. Steppe hunting led to a higher level of economic development - hence the emergence of more permanent settlements among the Gravettian population and the formation of the so-called semi-sedentary hunting society.

In Southwestern France, in the southern part of Central France, as well as in the Pyrenees, Catalonia and Asturias, they were widespread Solutrean industry. They date from 21 to 16 thousand years ago. Some scientists derive them from the Seletian ones, others believe that they moved here from North Africa. Typical products of Solutre are laurel and willow spearheads, side and end scrapers, and drills. In the Basque country, harsh, quite rugged, where there are no wide river valleys and coastal plains, the main hunting objects of the Solutrean population were chamois and mountain goats. In the vast open areas, hunting for red deer, horse, and bison predominated.

Madeleine industries characterize the latest period of the Upper Paleolithic and are distributed mainly in France, northern Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, the south of Germany, but the characteristic features of the Madeleine can be found throughout the periglacial region of Europe up to the Urals. Only Magdalenian impulses from the west penetrated into Central Europe, and the development itself took place on the basis of the Gravettian. In Eastern Europe, madeleine existed in a locally modified form.

Madeleine industries belong to the final phase of the last Wurm and the beginning of the post-glacial era and date back to 16-10 thousand years ago. The flint industry of Magdalenian cultures is dominated by flint burins, scrapers, and piercings; there are many antler and bone tools, including bone spearheads and harpoons.

One of the most striking monuments is the Sungir site in the Vladimir region. Children's burials were discovered here. The bones were stretched along a line from southwest to northeast. The children are aged seven and twelve years. The position of the corpse was unusual. Both children lay on their backs with their heads facing each other. Before this, this situation was known from a number of figurines. It is possible that this is a brother and sister who died of some disease at the same time. The young Sungir people were equipped with an amazing set of weapons in the amount of 16 items, among which were a club carved from mammoth bone (this kind of weapon was discovered for the first time), two spears - 2 m 42 cm and 1 m 66 cm, made from mammoth ivory. In addition to the listed items, there were also two sharp bone stiletto daggers measuring 42 and 28 cm. Bone darts also lay next to the buried people. Among the accompanying objects was the thigh of a cave lion (bones of this animal were also found in other sites at the site; they may have been used as decoration). A lot of jewelry was also made from bone. The graves in which the buried were placed were dug using hoes, also made of bone.

The Sungir people, who lived on the plain, had already created artificial dwellings. A thorough study of a large accumulation of mammoth bones and other animals in one of the areas of the Sungir site and a fire pit located inside the observed accumulation made it possible to restore the appearance of one of the buildings. The dimensions of this building were small; its diameter was no more than 3 m. Its frame was made up of wooden poles and bones of large animals. The frame was covered on top with animal skins. A fire burned in the center of the room, warming people on long autumn and winter evenings. In addition to this kind of dwellings, the Sungir people also had other buildings that looked like a hut made of poles and branches.

Finds in the Kostenkovo-Borshevsky archaeological region on the Don (not far from Voronezh) made it possible to most fully restore the life of the people of the Upper Paleolithic. The people who lived in this area were amazing mammoth hunters and serious builders. The area of ​​one of the dwellings excavated here reached almost 600 sq.m. Its length was 35 m, and its width was 15-16 m. Along its central axis there were 9 hearths, the diameter of which reached 1 m. The hearths were located at a distance of up to 2 m from each other. This huge dwelling was the main one for the members of society who lived on the site. Analysis of the ashes and burnt bone remains suggests that the fuel was mainly animal bones.

Not all lesions performed the same functions. So, in one, pieces of brown iron ore and spherosiderite were fired and a mineral paint - ocher - was obtained. Apparently, it was widely used, since traces of it were found on the entire surface of the floor. Near other hearths, archaeologists discovered tubular bones of a mammoth stuck into the ground. The characteristic notches and serifs on them suggest that they served as a kind of workbenches for the craftsmen working on them. In addition to this simple dwelling, there were three more. Two of them were dugouts located on the left and right sides of the main room. Both had fires. The frame of their roofs was constructed from mammoth tusks. The third room - a dugout - was located at the far end of the parking lot. The absence of a fireplace and any household items in it makes one think that this is a storage facility for food supplies and the most valuable products. Sculptural images of women and animals were hidden in special storage pits. Right there were decorations made from the fangs of predators. Other pits contained finished tools, for example, well-processed spear tips. It is not without interest that the figurines of women were deliberately broken. Archaeologists, comparing the available materials, came to the following conclusion: the settlement of Kostenki was abandoned by the owners shortly before the arrival of the enemies. The invaders, having discovered the figurines, smashed them, thereby destroying, according to their belief, the possibility of procreation of their enemies.

Similar dwellings were later discovered in Dolni Vestonica (Czechoslovakia). The dwelling is also slightly recessed into the ground, oval in plan, its length is 19 m, width 9 m. There were five hearths inside. Among the finds there are many flint tools, there are also tools made of bone, but the bone here was used mainly for jewelry. In Switzerland, similar structures were discovered in Schussenried. Everywhere, bones and skulls of large animals, mainly mammoths, served as building material for dwellings. In Gontsy (Ukraine), 27 skulls and 30 mammoth scapular bones were needed to build a dwelling. The frame of this house was formed by 30 tusks. But not all houses were built only from bones. There are traces of dwellings with a supporting structure of a series of wooden posts. They had a gable roof, and its frame was made using wooden slats.

In Czechoslovakia, at the sites of Tibava and Barka, archaeologists discovered traces of a number of pillars and supports, with the help of which, apparently, the sloping roof was supported. The walls of some dwellings of the noted era were sometimes made of rods and had the appearance of wattle fence. It is possible that their walls were covered with animal skins. The walls were supported by stone slabs, mammoth bones, and sometimes earth rollers.

To the south of the periglacial zone of Europe there was a second zone, which included the southern regions of Europe, North Africa, i.e. Mediterranean. During the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic era, the so-called Capsian culture, named after the discovered monument of this culture near the city of Gafsa (Kapsa) in Tunisia.

Along with hunting, gathering played an important role in the life of people in this zone. The main objects for this type of activity were edible shellfish and plants. The scale of consumption of mollusks, both river and sea, is eloquently indicated by accumulations of shells, often covering an area of ​​​​several hundred square meters. The thickness of the layer of shells reaches two to three meters, and in some places reaches five. The areas filled with animal bones (the result of hunting) and mollusk shells (the result of gathering) sometimes exceed 10 thousand square meters.

Unlike the population of the periglacial regions, who lived sedentary lives and knew how to build houses, the southerners led a nomadic lifestyle. Climatic conditions did not require them to build houses, and if necessary, they quickly built light shelter huts to shelter them from the sun, wind and rain. The presence of natural shelters such as caves and grottoes made it possible to temporarily use them. Tools were made mainly of stone; bone was almost never used. Only the simplest type of awls were made from it. In stone processing, the population of this second region lagged significantly behind the inhabitants of the periglacial regions. Thus, the carriers of the Capsian culture did not know the method of pressing retouching, did not know how to make points using double-sided processing, and they did not have laurel tips. But they knew how to produce small flint plates - microliths, which served as dart tips. Some scientists believe that microliths also served as arrowheads, which means that the bow as a weapon was known to the Capsians. Other composite tools were also created using microliths. The base of such tools was wooden or bone. Small flint plates that made up the blade were inserted into a specially made slot in the base.

Pieces of ostrich egg shells were used as material for jewelry. They were given a certain shape, a hole was drilled for stringing on a core, and the surface was covered with thin carved lines. There are known examples of such plates with geometric patterns or with realistic images of gazelles, ostriches and other animals. Stringed on sinew, these pieces made necklaces and bracelets. Drilled sea shells and animal vertebrae also served as decoration.

It is difficult to talk about the clothing of the inhabitants of Africa and the Middle East of those times, and it is unlikely that there was any, except for loincloths. We know much more about the clothing of the inhabitants of the southern regions of Europe. In grottoes located in the vicinity of Menton (Italy), archaeologists discovered burials of the Upper Paleolithic era. People were buried in clothes made of leather and decorated with sea shells sewn onto it; they wore bracelets made of the same shells on their hands, and necklaces on their chests. As in the Sungir burial ground, the bodies were sprinkled with red mineral paint. The position of the deceased is not always elongated; it can also be flexed. In the Grimaldi caves (Italy) two skeletons were discovered: one of a man and the other of an old woman. Both skeletons were placed on the site of the extinguished fire in a crouched position, and with them inventory in the form of tools, weapons, and jewelry.

The main features of the Capsian culture are found in the Late Paleolithic layers of settlements in Palestine, Iraq, Asia Minor, Transcaucasia, Crimea and parts of Central Asia. Some sites in Georgia, such as Mgvimevi and Devis Khvrel, are especially close to the Capsian culture. Everywhere in these areas, the basis of the economy was hunting and gathering. The Capsians did not build permanent artificial dwellings.
The third region includes the central and southern parts of the African continent. This area has been poorly studied to this day. One of the features of the development of cultures in this area is their almost complete absence of features similar to those of the neighboring Capsian culture. This is all the more interesting because there are no significant natural barriers between both areas. It should be noted that the cultures of the first region (the periglacial region of Central Europe) and South Africa had common features. These common features were that the people who lived in the south of the African continent had flint laurel-leaf tips processed using squeezing retouching, which are completely absent from the people of the Capsian culture

The most significant and studied culture of the third area is the culture bambat. It got its name from the Bambat Cave in Southern Rhodesia. In addition to flint, the Bambat culture also used quartz crystals. When struck at a certain angle, this stone can produce flake plates that are not inferior in quality to flint ones. In economic life, hunting here played a greater role than gathering. Analysis of fire pits indicates a person’s prolonged stay in one place.

The fourth region includes the territories of Eastern Siberia, the central part of the Asian continent and China. Archaeological research in the basin of the Angara and Yenisei rivers showed that in the Upper Paleolithic era a person penetrated here who had significant cultural skills and was in many ways close to the culture of the population of the Russian Plain. This can be traced on the basis of archaeological materials obtained from the settlement of the Military Hospital, opened near the city of Irkutsk (this is the earliest period), as well as from the Buret site on the river. Hangar and the settlement of Malta on the river. Belaya (tributary of the Angara). The population living in these places hunted mammoth, reindeer, bull, and wild horse. Although gathering existed, it provided a small amount of food. Climatic conditions allowed for gathering only at certain times of the year, so it was seasonal. The inhabitants of Bureti, like the hunters of settlements in the periglacial regions of Europe, led a sedentary lifestyle and knew how to build dwellings. In plan, these dwellings looked like a rectangle with slightly rounded corners. The floor of the room is somewhat recessed into the ground. Along the edge of this depression, the femur and shoulder blade bones of the mammoth were buried in a vertical position. For better fastening, their lower part was wedged with smaller bones and limestone slabs. The supports supporting the roof were large mammoth bones and tree trunks. The roof covering was assembled from reindeer antlers. The entrance to the dwelling was a long narrow corridor, lined along the edges with symmetrically located mammoth femurs. The corridor had no ceiling. This entrance device protected the room from the cold. Inside the dwelling there were fireplaces from which accumulations of ash remained. Exactly the same dwellings were discovered at the Malta site.

The tools used by the people who lived in this area during the Upper Paleolithic era are reminiscent of Western European tools from the Mousterian era. here, a disc-shaped core and massive triangular-shaped plates, as well as pointed points of an archaic appearance, were widely used. The processing technique uses impact retouching. Along with this, the population of Central Asia knew both prismatic cores and a method for obtaining long knife-like plates with regular parallel edges from them. They also used miniature scrapers. The pointed tips of spears and darts had a shape similar to European laurel leaves.

In Europe during this period, composite tools had not yet been used, but archaeologists discovered them at the Siberian sites of Afontova Gora and Oshchurkovskaya. Unlike the tribes living in Europe, the tribes of the Asian continent, along with flint, gray and black stone, used quartzite, jasper slate, deposits of which are found on the banks of the Lena, Angara, and Yenisei rivers; in addition, bone was widely used to make tools. Harpoons, piercing awls, and needles for sewing clothes were made from it, and the shape and size of the needles remained almost unchanged. The bone was also used to make jewelry - necklaces, plates with ornaments made of solid holes, figurines of humans, animals, and birds. Examples of the jewelry art of the population of Siberia from the Upper Paleolithic era can be found in objects discovered in the complex of a child’s burial discovered in Malta. This burial testifies to the complexity of the worldview of man of that time, which was expressed in the emergence of a funeral cult. The child's body was buried in a slot-shaped hole dug in the floor of the dwelling. The skeleton was sprinkled with red ocher. Around the neck of the deceased was worn a necklace of approximately 120 large flat beads and seven pendants. All pendants - six middle ones and one central one - are decorated with drills. Pendants in the form of birds, shaped like a flying swan or goose, and one square with rounded corners were also placed in the grave. All jewelry is made from mammoth ivory. In the grave pit there were weapons made of bone and stone. A small tombstone made of stone slabs was built over the grave.

At the end of the Upper Paleolithic era, another warming occurred, which in turn led to changes in flora and fauna. The mammoth and woolly rhinoceros disappear, the deer becomes the main object of hunting, and since it is a nomadic animal, the nature of human settlements also changes. From a sedentary resident, he again becomes a nomad. Permanent housing was replaced by a lightweight, quickly assembled and disassembled round tent. Its frame is made of light wooden poles, covered on the outside with animal skins; in the center there is a fireplace. This type of housing has existed to this day among peoples living in the north and engaged in reindeer herding.

The above examples indicate the uniqueness of the cultural development of people who lived in North and Central Asia during the Upper Paleolithic. To the mentioned settlements you can add settlements on the river. Chusovoy (Ural), in Altai, in Northern Kazakhstan, in the area of ​​the upper reaches of the river. Irtysh, in the basins of the Toly and Orkhon rivers (Mongolia), Zhoutunku sites, located in a large bend of the river. Yellow River (China), etc. In terms of their material, they are close to those listed above.
The fifth area of ​​cultural development in the Upper Paleolithic era is the region of Southeast Asia. The inhabitants of this part of the Asian continent, like their northern counterparts, were familiar with chopping tools. The technique for making them is exactly the same as that used by the population of Malta, Bureti, etc. Many stone tools of this era are made of broken pebbles and roughly sharpened. These tools are original prototypes of axes and adzes of later times. Bone artifacts are found, but in small quantities.

The source of life was hunting and gathering. The latter could be even more important, since the tropical forest could supply humans with plant food all year round. This is what forced a person to lead a wandering lifestyle. On the other hand, an impenetrable tropical forest with a mass of strong predators and poisonous snakes limited the area of ​​nomads, which were located mainly on the edges, banks of rivers, lakes and in the coastal zone, which also had an impact on human economic activity. Although there is evidence of human hunting for elephants, rhinoceros and other smaller animals, his main food was edible plants, shellfish, turtles, and fish.

For housing, in addition to huts - temporary shelters - people also used numerous caves, which they often left, but invariably returned to. It is possible that he used the caves during the tropical rainy season. Such cave settlements include the sites of Bak Son and Hoa Bin. The first is located in the north, and the second in the south of Vietnam.

The inhabitants of the Zhoukoudian Grotto (a region of Beijing, China) are close in lifestyle to the people of Southeast Asia. Natural conditions allowed the people of this area to engage in gathering, for which all they needed was a stick sharpened by fire, a stone chopper, and rough stone chips. The lack of development of hunting is evidenced by the minimal number of bones of small animals such as gophers found in settlements. The favorable climatic conditions of this area did not contribute to the development of people's skills in the construction of artificial dwellings, and the availability of food products obtained through gathering delayed the development of hunting.
The Upper Paleolithic era was marked by the penetration of man into the American continent. The issues surrounding the initial settlement of a new continent have long been controversial. Of these, the most controversial questions were when and how this happened. Most likely, man entered America through a passage located at the narrowest point of the Bering Strait, following nomadic animals. The width of the latter in the narrowest test is now just over 80 km. It should be noted that almost in the middle between the Chukotka Peninsula and Alaska there is a chain of islands of the Big and Little Diomedes, St. Lawrence and Ratmanov. It is also important that the depth of the ocean does not exceed 58 m (this is the deepest place, and on average it is 45 m), so scientists believe that when, due to the onset of glaciations on the globe, the level of the World Ocean dropped, between Asia and America formed an isthmus of considerable size, the so-called Beringia.

The oldest finds in the United States date back to about 13.5 thousand years ago. These are arrowheads that have one common characteristic feature: along both sides of their blades there is a deep longitudinal groove running from the base almost to the tip of the point. One of the first tips of this type was found in 1926 near Folsom in New Mexico.

In 1937, in one of the mountain caves Sandia archaeologist Frank Hibben found spearheads that were more crudely made, with a notch made on only one side - this tool was more ancient than the Folsom tips. In the cave, as well as at other sites belonging to this culture, fragments of flint, burnt bones and roughly sharpened pieces of animal bones are found near hearths lined with stone.

Based on geological and stratigraphic data and radiocarbon analysis, it can be assumed that the tribes that created this culture lived about 22-25 thousand years ago. The basis of the economy was hunting, and these tribes led a wandering lifestyle. Mostly, the bearers of the Sandia culture lived in the western part of the United States (individual finds of stone tools are also found in more northern areas). The descendants of hunters gradually developed the entire territory of North America and created a number of new cultures: Clovis, Folsom, etc. Hunting continued to be the basis of the economy of the bearers of these cultures, although in more southern regions gathering was already a significant help in people’s lives. In terms of changes in the shape of hunting tools, it should perhaps only be noted that the tips of the type Folsom the petiole base had two protrusions and a notch shaped like a fish tail.

Following the herds of animals, man gradually begins to explore new territories: first in North America, and then in South America. If the most ancient human sites in North America date back to 23 thousand years BC. e., then in Patagonia, located almost 13 thousand km to the south, the most ancient monuments of human presence there date back to 13 thousand years BC. e. Finds of spearheads and darts in the lower layers of the Paglia Atke and Fell caves in Patagonia, made according to the Clovis and Folsom type, indicate that these areas were developed by people from North America, and not by peoples who arrived there from other areas, for example, from islands of the Indian Ocean, as some ethnographers claim (it is possible that some representatives of the Pacific islands moved to America).

Moving along this path, a person crossed areas with different geographical and climatic conditions and, settling in place, adapted to them, in some places engaging in hunting and fishing, in others using the abundance of wild cereals, fruits, vegetables, root crops, moving on to gathering, and later - to agriculture.

Man found the most favorable conditions for existence in the regions of Central America, and especially in the central part of Mexico, where a mild climate, vast spaces occupied by grasses, comfortable pastures in mountain valleys, many lakes and rivers - all contributed to the development of hunting and fishing. The largest representatives of the fauna here were mammoths. The abundance of plants contributed first to the development of gathering, and subsequently to the emergence of agriculture. Man mastered the regions of Central America around the 15th-12th millennium BC. e. In the town of Santa Isabel Iztapan, a complete skeleton of a mammoth and a set of hunting weapons in the form of flint spearheads and darts, similar in type to the tools of the Clovis and Folsom cultures, were discovered.

Approximately until the 8th millennium BC. e. On the territory of the American continent, people were engaged in hunting and gathering. At the end of the VII millennium BC. e. Quite dramatic changes in climate are occurring around the globe. In Africa, in the Sahara region, at this time the rivers dry up and vegetation disappears; the same thing happens in the regions of Central America. The climate is becoming drier and warmer. Lush vegetation and lush meadows disappear, and savannas turn into arid steppes and semi-deserts. The lack of moisture-loving vegetation leads to the death of mammoth, mastodon, bison, and wild horse. Some animals go north. Hunting is losing its exceptional importance. Gatherers also experience no less difficulty, but the skills and knowledge acquired during gathering made it possible to begin primitive agriculture on the ocean coast and on the banks of preserved rivers and lakes, and, as an aid to agriculture, to maintain hunting for small animals (since there were no longer large ones) ) and poultry, fishing and collecting river and sea shellfish. It was in the regions of Central America, based on agriculture, that the greatest cultures of the peoples of the American continent later arose.

The tribes that inhabited North America, with the exception of the southern states, were engaged in hunting before the arrival of Europeans there. In the Arctic regions, it was carried out mainly on sea animals: seal, walrus, whale, as well as bear and arctic fox. The main type of hunting weapon was a dart thrown with a spear thrower and a harpoon with a movable tip. Fish were caught using bone hooks. For hunting sea animals and fishing, a boat has long been used, the wooden frame of which was covered with walrus or seal skin. Stone and bone served as materials for the production of tools and weapons. Animals, both sea and land, provided the people of this region with everything necessary for life: fat, meat, bones for the frame of dwellings and skins for covering it and for clothing. The meat was consumed raw, which was probably caused by purely practical considerations - to prevent vitamin deficiency - scurvy.

Tribes lived on the northwestern coast of North America, mainly engaged in fishing, as well as collecting wild berries and fruits. In the forest zone of Canada lived tribes of hunters armed with bows and arrows and spears (all types of weapons and tools - axes, knives, etc. were made of stone and bone). They hunted mainly deer, elk, bear, and wild boar. In addition to hunting, the population collected wild seeds, fruits, nuts, etc. and led a nomadic lifestyle.

It should be noted that North and South America, from the point of view of archaeology, are still far from being studied, but based on the archaeological data available today, it can be judged that the basis of the economy was hunting and fishing, only in some places gathering flourished .

Questions for self-control:

1. 
   What human species appears in the Upper Paleolithic era?
2. 
   What are the main zones of Upper Paleolithic cultures?
3. 
   What type of economy and related activities predominated in the Upper Paleolithic?
4. 
   What are the reasons for the differences in the economic and tool complex in various Upper Paleolithic cultures?
5. 
   Why did clothing begin to be used everywhere in the Upper Paleolithic era?

In the Upper Paleolithic, the pace of development of human society increased, new discoveries and improvements spread faster and faster, and, at the same time, local differences in the development of material culture became more noticeable.

Archaeological material does not provide grounds for identifying a single or only center in which the Upper Paleolithic industry arose. Most researchers suggest that many Upper Paleolithic archaeological cultures developed in a number of areas on the basis of local Mousterian traditions. This process occurred in different areas, probably about 40-36 thousand years ago.

Archaeological cultures (see Introduction) in the Stone Age are distinguished on the basis of a typological analysis of flint and bone implements and the technology of their manufacture. Archaeological culture for this era is characterized by a certain set of specific types of tools made in the same technological tradition, as well as similar forms (types) of dwellings and features in the fine arts (if the latter is available) /

It is assumed that the differences between archaeological cultures reflect certain differences in the socio-cultural traditions characteristic of various human groups.

For a long time, most researchers recognized the stages of development of the Upper Paleolithic for the entire ecumene, with three general stages (epochs) identified: Aurignac, Solutre and Madeleine. Subsequently, another very long stage was added to them - perigordien. Currently, thanks to the materials of many years of research, it is generally accepted that these are not general stages of the development of material culture, but rather large cultural areas, which in some cases and in some territories of Western and Central Europe replace each other, and in other cases coexist. Within these areas, as well as throughout the Upper Paleolithic ecumene, distinctive cultures developed. It turned out that in a fairly limited area, different archaeological cultures can coexist and develop at the same time.

The relationship between the main cultural areas of the Upper Paleolithic in Western and Central Europe

Western and Central Europe. It is generally accepted that in the initial stages of the Upper Paleolithic, two main cultural areas coexisted - Perigordienian and Aurignacian, the absolute age of which is determined to be 34-22 thousand years.

The origin of the material culture of the Perigordien is traditionally associated with the further development of the Mousterian variant with the Acheulean tradition, since the role of Mousterian elements in the stone industry at its initial stage was great, although over time it significantly decreased. The main area of ​​distribution is Southwestern France.

Aurignacian culture is known in Spain, France, Belgium, and England. The most characteristic feature of the Aurignacian stone industry can be considered a special “Aurignacian” retouch, with the help of which various types of tools were designed. Flat or spindle-shaped bone points are widespread - this is the first stable type of bone tools. The monuments of Central Europe are somewhat different from Western European ones; these differences are mainly manifested in art: Western European drawings of animals are usually done in profile, and female figurines are more realistic and plastic.

Within the framework of the Early Upper Paleolithic of Central Europe, the Seletian culture is distinguished, which is characterized by a combination of Upper Paleolithic and Mousterian types of products. On some Seletian monuments there are even points, plates and cores made in a very archaic Levallois technique. The most recognizable shape can be considered a large triangular tip.

Somewhat later than the Aurignacian culture, the Gravettian culture arose and continued to coexist simultaneously with it, possibly inheriting the Perigordienian tradition. Gravettian sites in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Austria and France date back to 26-20 millennia BC. Gravettian is characterized by a rich set of tools; various points can be considered specific types, among which asymmetrical points with a side notch and knives with a back stand out. Microliths and composite tools appear. There are a variety of bone products: points, awls, spatulas, decorations. Gravettian monuments are characterized by the presence of numerous examples of small plastic art - figurines of women and animals made of tusk and bone, stone or clay.

The Gravettian culture is represented by a large number of monuments, which are divided into two groups, eastern and western, the question of their relationship is debatable. The Solutrean culture is widespread in Central and Southern France; in addition, an independent center for the spread of a similar culture existed in Eastern and Northern Spain and Portugal. In the north of Western Europe, Solutrean monuments, especially late ones, are extremely rare.

The Solutrean culture refers to the period between the existence of the Gravettian and Magdalenian cultures, but is not genetically related to them. Radiocarbon dates indicate a relatively short period of its existence (21-19/18 thousand years ago). A feature of this culture is the wide distribution of spear tips and knife blades. The predominant forms are laurel or willow arrowheads, arrowheads with a handle and with a side notch, made with great perfection by processing the flint on both sides with press retouch. This method of processing flint consisted of removing thin flakes from the surface of the product using a bone squeezer; This type of retouching is called streaky or “solutrean”.

The Magdalenian culture dates back to the period 18-12/11 thousand years ago. The Magdalenian culture itself is typical only for France, Belgium, Northern Spain, Switzerland and southern Germany, but its characteristic features - widespread bone processing and specific types of bone tools, peculiar features in small plastics - are represented to varying degrees in the Late Paleolithic cultures of the entire European periglacial regions from France to the Urals. In Central Europe, the development of industries occurs mainly on a Gravetian basis, but Magdalenian impulses (influences) also penetrate here from the west.

The relatively favorable climatic conditions that developed in Europe at the end of the Upper Paleolithic as a result of glacier retreat and warming (13-11/9 thousand years ago) made it possible for new groups of hunters of tundra and steppe animals to move north. In Northwestern Europe they are represented by the Hamburg and Ahrensburg cultures, and in Eastern Europe by the Swider culture.

The Hamburg culture is characterized by a variety of flint tools, including arrowheads with notches and peculiar piercings. Tools made of deer antler with flint inserts were common. Fish and birds were killed with single-ended harpoons made from reindeer antler. The dwellings were round and oval tents covered with deer skins.

Major Upper Paleolithic cultures of Eastern Europe

Numerous flint products were found at the monuments of the Arensburg culture - arrowheads, scrapers, drills, etc. The most characteristic are fairly wide and short asymmetrical arrowheads and darts with a stalk for securing the product in the shaft, as well as special hoe-shaped tools made from reindeer antler.

The Swider culture is synchronous with the Arensburg culture. The settlements were temporary camps on the banks of rivers and lakes, often on dunes. Organic materials are not preserved in sand, so the Svider inventory is represented only by flint products: willow and petiole points, scrapers on blades and flakes, burins of various shapes, etc.

Monuments similar to those of Svider and Arensburg are known in the northwestern territories adjacent to Russia; later, throughout the Mesolithic, these traditions can be traced throughout the entire forest zone of Eastern Europe.

For Eastern Europe, Siberia and many areas of Asia, and especially America, the development scheme of Western European cultural areas is not being implemented, however, due to the active movement of various population groups caused by climate change, we can observe the influence of one or another cultural tradition in very remote areas.

Eastern Europe demonstrates the diversity of Upper Paleolithic cultures, modifying various Aurignacoid, Seletoid, Gravettian, Magdalenian traditions and exhibiting great originality. The most ancient are the Spitsyno, Streletskaya, Gorodtsovskaya cultures, studied in the Kostenkovsko-Borshevsky district in the Middle Don. The Spitsyno and Streltsy cultures belong to the same chronological group, but their inventories are strikingly different from each other. The Spitsyn culture (36-32 thousand years ago) is characterized by a prismatic splitting technique; most of the tools are made of plates of regular shape. There is no two-sided processing. The most numerous group of tools are various burins, but there are also many scrapers with parallel edges. Mousterian forms of tools are completely absent. Products made of bone were found - polishes and awls, jewelry made of belemnites and corals.

In the inventory of the Streltsy culture (35-25 thousand years ago), on the contrary, there are a lot of Mousterian types of products, which are represented by scrapers, scraper-knives and pointed points with double-sided processing. The main workpiece is a flake. There are numerous scrapers, tending to a triangular shape, almost as numerous are triangular points with a concave base, carefully processed on both sides - this is the most expressive form among the tools of the Streltsy culture. There are very few other types of weapons.

The Gorodtsovskaya culture belongs to the second chronological group of the Kostenki monuments (28-25 thousand years ago) and, although for some time it coexisted with the Streltsy culture, it is very different from the latter in the features of stone implements. Both plates and flakes serve as blanks for products. Early sites contain Mousterian forms, but over time their proportion noticeably decreases.

A brief overview of just three of these cultures shows the cultural uniqueness of each. It should be repeated once again that in the Kostenkovsko-Borshevsky archaeological region (the village of Kostenki, Voronezh region) no less than eight independent cultural formations are distinguished in a very small area.

The Molodovo culture is a good example of the long-term autochthonous development of the Upper Paleolithic industry associated with the Mousterian culture of the same name. Monuments of the Molodovo culture (30-20 thousand years ago) are located in the middle reaches of the Prut and Dniester rivers. During the long existence of this industry, the manufacture of products on elongated plate blanks and plates that became smaller and smaller was improved. The cultural inventory widely includes specific types of scrapers, various incisors and points. From the earliest stages of its existence, tools on microplates appeared, the number of which constantly increases over time.

One of the striking cultural formations of Eastern Europe is the Kostenki-Avdeevsk culture (25-20/18? thousand years ago), the monuments of which are located in the central part of the Russian Plain and are located at considerable distances from each other - Kostenki and Gagarino on the Middle Don, Avdeevo on the Seimas, Zaraiskaya site near Moscow. The stone implements are rich and varied; large points with a side notch, leaf-shaped points, and backed knives are very characteristic. There are numerous tools made of bone - points and polishes, needles and needle cases, small crafts. At the sites, many examples of small plastic and applied art made from tusk, bone and marl were found. Residential sites with complex layouts are described in the “Dwellings” section.

The monuments of this culture have the greatest similarity with materials from the Pavlovian culture in Moravia and a number of monuments in Poland, Germany, and Austria. This culture is part of the Kostenki-Willzdorf unity, Gravetgian in nature, showing a complex picture of the interconnection of cultures and monuments of Western, Central and Eastern Europe, confirmed by the similarity of implements, residential complexes and art.

The Middle Dnieper cultural community occupies a vast territory in the middle part of the Dnieper basin and its tributary - the river. Desna and is represented by a number of monuments (Mezin, Pushkari, Eliseevichi, Yudinovo, Khotylevo II, Timonovka, Dobranichevka, Mezhirichi, Gontsy), on which the remains of massive dwellings have been preserved (see section “Dwellings”). These are typical settlements of sedentary hunters; the number of game animals here undoubtedly included the mammoth. These monuments share common features in house construction, examples of small forms of art and ornament, stone and bone implements.

In the Northern Black Sea region, a number of cultures are distinguished for the late Upper Paleolithic - Kamennobalkovskaya, Akkarzhanskaya, Anetovskaya, whose bearers lived in different conditions than the inhabitants of the periglacial regions. The climate here was much warmer, the vegetation was richer, and the largest animals were the wild horse and bison. They were the main commercial species, although the overall composition of hunting prey was much wider. Other natural conditions also determined the ways in which the ancient population adapted to them - at the sites there are no traces of massive building structures or pits for storing food supplies in permafrost. The stone inventory contains a wide variety of tools made of microblades and inserts; in the Kamenno-Balkovo culture their number reaches 30%. The main set of tools is typical for the Upper Paleolithic, but is unique for each culture. For example, the inventory of the Kamennobalkovskaya culture has many similarities with the inventory of the Imeretian culture of the Caucasus, which indicates the possibility of population migration from there to the south of the Russian Plain. In Siberia, the Kokorevo, Afontovo, Malta-Buret and Dyuktai cultures have been studied; more details about them can be read in additional literature.

Currently, many Upper Paleolithic cultures have been identified in Eurasia and America. The differences between them are significant, which indicates the independent development of cultures and their different origins. In some areas, autochthonous development is observed from the beginning of the era almost to its end. In other areas, we can trace the arrival of genetically alien cultures into the territory of distribution of one culture, interrupting the development of local traditions, and, finally, sometimes we can observe the coexistence of several different cultures - as, for example, in the Kostenkovsko-Borshevsky district (where more than 60 monuments belonging to to at least eight crops).

In those cases where it is possible to trace the continuous development of an archaeological culture, it turns out that it can exist for a very long time. For example, the Aurignacian culture in France and the Imeretian culture of Georgia developed at least 10 thousand years. Kamennobalkovskaya in southern Russia existed for at least 5 thousand years. This indicates the successful adaptation of the Upper Paleolithic population to environmental conditions.

Studying the diversity of Upper Paleolithic cultures makes it possible to solve questions about the relationships and migrations of ancient populations and possible ways of settling certain territories.

The Late Magdalenian cultures of Northwestern Europe, transitional from the Magdalenian to the Mesolithic, include the Creswell culture in England and the Remouchamps culture in Belgium. The Creswell culture is named for a series of caves (Creswell Crags) on the border of Derbshire and Nottinghamshire. The layers of the Late Paleolithic time are close to the Late Magdalenian monuments of Germany and the Netherlands (Arensburg and Federmesser cultures). Bone figurines and an image of a horse's head engraved on bone were found. In the Mesolithic layers of the Krezvel localities, microlithic tools were already found.

The Remouchamp culture (named after the Remouchamp grotto near Liege) contains points with an obliquely truncated blade in the form of knives, incisors with a handle and some bone products. All the inventory is close to that of the Arensburg culture. The main occupation of the population was hunting deer and other animals. There are bones decorated with geometric patterns, sometimes in the form of a star with a rectangle or triangle in the center. The ornament is made by drilling dots. Hunting was the main source of food resources for Magdalenian man, since in the harsh climate it was impossible to count on collecting any fruits other than berries. It has been suggested that the Magdalenian people may have domesticated and kept deer and horses as pets, but there is no evidence of this yet.

Major shifts in the development of productive forces during the Upper Paleolithic era should have entailed changes in the organization of society. The primitive human herd was replaced by a maternal clan community. The assumption of the existence of such a form of social organization is based on indirect archaeological evidence, such as the existence of large communal dwellings (similar to the long houses of the Iroquois), numerous finds of female figurines, and on the following logical reasoning: given the low level of human development at that time, the only real basis for strengthening social ties could be ties of consanguinity.

Given the disorder of sexual intercourse, kinship relationships could only be established between the descendants of the same mother. Women were responsible for caring for children, maintaining the fire, and running the household. Therefore, they constituted the most stable part of the teams of that time. The defining feature of a related group was the custom of exogamy, that is, the prohibition of sexual intercourse within the clan. Probably at the same time a dual organization arose - a combination of two exogamous groups into one intermarital association, the embryo of an endogamous tribe.

The basis of this concept is the assertion that differences in tool making techniques and shapes reflect tribal divisions.

This statement in itself is controversial, but even if we accepted it, many unresolved questions would remain that would prevent us from recognizing the existence of tribes in such a distant past. As for the Upper Paleolithic cultures, they hardly correspond to tribes. Rather, these are some groups of related tribes, the cultural elements of which became similar as a result of diffusion. The tribes, as far as we know them from ethnographic data, could not occupy such significant territories as those in which monuments of even the smallest of the Upper Paleolithic cultures are distributed. Concluding the review of the archeology of Europe in the Paleolithic era, it is necessary to make the following remarks.

At the beginning of the development of Stone Age archeology, when Mortilier’s scheme was created (later somewhat supplemented and corrected), scientists considered the archaeological cultures - Chelle, Acheul, Mousterian, Aurignacian, Solutre and Madeleine - as certain stages in the development of technology, directly resulting from one another and marking technical and cultural evolution of humanity. True, even then the idea arose of some kind of contradiction between the logic of the historical process and archaeological facts. In the most ancient period of human history, when one can only assume the existence of separate, scattered, unconnected human groups, they turn out to have similar, almost identical technology. As humanity spreads and contacts develop, more and more local variants of the same culture appear. Most often, this contradiction was explained by the fact that in the initial stages the culture is so primitive that it is impossible to detect any significant differences. However, as archeology developed, more and more new discoveries showed that the Mortilier “cultures” were not universal even for the periglacial zone of Europe. In Western European archeology, more and more different archaeological cultures were introduced into the scientific literature and it became difficult to connect them with each other and consider them in the process of evolution of autochthonous cultures. Then they began to look for a way out in the assumption that these cultures appeared as a result of migrations of population groups from non-European territories. The assumption of migrations could explain, from the point of view of its supporters, the extraordinary leap in cultural development between the Middle and Upper Paleolithic. However, it is not always possible to find a place from which such a group could migrate. It is argued, for example, that Upper Paleolithic technology came to Europe from the east, from areas lying east of the Urals and the Caspian Sea. When asked why we do not know the corresponding source cultures from these areas, supporters of migrations answer: because they have not yet been discovered due to poor knowledge of these areas. This answer is hardly entirely convincing.

Many migration theories, including such a widespread one at one time as the theory about the arrival of carriers of the Aurignacian culture from Western Asia, turned out to be destroyed by new discoveries. But even if the migration of a certain population group is scientifically confirmed, this cannot in any way explain the multiplicity of Upper Paleolithic cultures. Yes, we don’t even know what these cultures ultimately represent. Differences in the shape of tools, observed simultaneously in different territories, may be associated with the traditions of the population groups (tribes?) living there, but may be caused by some local economic, environmental and other conditions. The shape of the tool was determined by its function and the achieved level of stone processing, but also by the material found in the area, the conditions of hunting and production (at the place of long-term or temporary residence), etc. Therefore, to attribute differences in the form of functionally unambiguous tools only to the traditions of this group population is incorrect. Archaeological cultures of the Upper Paleolithic may reflect tribal divisions, but this is not the only possible way to interpret them. Traditionality was characteristic of primitive production, but the absolutization of the idea of ​​traditionality, as well as the idea of ​​​​the sharp isolation of the tribe, contradicts data on the wide spread of similar cultural phenomena, which could only occur as a result of the adoption of alien traditions by certain groups of the population.

The problems of the origin of cultures are very complex and at the current stage of development of archeology are still often insoluble. Therefore, in characterizing individual European Paleolithic cultures, I tried to speak very carefully about their origin and mutual connections.

It is very difficult to get an idea of ​​the size of the population of Western Europe in the Lower and Middle Paleolithic. It is clear that it was very small. Mousterian sites are rare and indicate that the composition of individual population groups did not exceed 30-40 people. In the Upper Paleolithic there is a gradual increase in population with a large jump at the end of the Magdalenian. The sites of the end of the Madeleine are numerous, and, apparently, the increase in population was associated with new means of obtaining food - fishing, perhaps the invention of onions or methods of storing food - preserving meat by smoking. In one of the few demographic works, the author of which tries to calculate the size of the Paleolithic population in the entire ecumene, he honestly has to admit that there is almost no basis for a scientific discussion of such an issue.

Based on the characteristics of material culture monuments, the Upper Paleolithic is usually divided into the following time periods, named after the sites of classic finds for this period:

65--35 thousand years BC. Late Moustier;

35--25 thousand years BC. Aurignac;

25--20 thousand years BC. Solutre;

20--10 thousand years BC. Madeleine.

There are quite a lot of finds from the Upper Paleolithic - Neolithic era to see their significance in the spiritual quest of ancient man.

The Aurignac burials of the Cro-Magnon man have a new interesting detail for us. The bottom of the graves was sprinkled with ocher in advance. The body of the deceased was again sprinkled with ocher, covered with mammoth shoulder blades, and only then covered with earth. Ocher is very often, almost universally used by Cro-Magnon people both in funeral rituals and in other religious rites. It symbolizes blood, life and, in the words of religious scholar E.O. James, “expresses the intention to revive the dead through connection with a substance having the color of blood” Quoted. by: Zubov A.B. History of religions. Book one: Prehistoric and ahistorical religions. Lecture course. - M.: Planet of Children, 1997, P. 65. It is possible that it was this custom that laid the foundation for the stable association of the “other world” with the color of blood in many religious traditions.

The discovery of ungulate horns and mammoth tusks in Late Neolithic graves becomes more common than in Neanderthal burials. This symbolism, widely known in human culture, must have meant the presence of a divine cover over a person. To testify not just to the hope of the resurrection, but to the hope of the resurrection in a better divine world than this.

The dead were believed to be wearing clothes embroidered with shellfish, which were not very comfortable to wear. Apparently, we are dealing with a specially made funeral vestment. Women, children, and even newborns were buried this way.

But not all burials have such a solemnly calm character. In complete contrast to them are the finds of bodies bound after death, sometimes devoid of any funeral gifts; people buried face down under a pile of heavy stones; dismembered corpses.

According to the method of the historical-phenomenological school, it can be assumed that they were thrown into a pit without vestments, without proper burial, with their hands and feet tied, not out of fear that the deceased would get up, but wanting to depict how the criminal would be dealt with in the afterlife trial. The body of the sinner became a kind of icon of the torment and death of his soul in another existence, and, at the same time, since the image and the prototype, the body and the personality, most likely, were not completely separated according to the ideas of the ancients, it was supposed to intensify the suffering of the soul, deprived of divine bliss and resurrection.

Did the Aurignacian mammoth hunters think so, or were they guided by other motives, solemnly burying some of the dead and “executing” the bodies of others, but one thing is clear - “The people of the last Ice Age buried their dead in the unconditional confidence of their future bodily life. They also seemed to believe that some kind of life continued to last in the bodies of the dead.” Zubov A.B. History of religions. Book one: Prehistoric and ahistorical religions. Lecture course. - M.: Planet of Children, 1997. P. 68., writes J. Maringer.

If Cro-Magnon hunters were not convinced of the resurrection of their dead, they would certainly not have attached such importance to the funeral ritual and the preservation of their physical remains. Simple experience certainly showed them that such a resurrection would not come soon. The bones of our ancestors continued to decay in the ground, despite the ocher, mammoth tusks and cowrie shells. And the fact that this did not discourage the ancient hunters, did not cultivate disbelief in them, makes us assume that the Cro-Magnons are the ancient people who created this archaeological culture. They expected victory over death not soon, but in the distant future, when all their ritual efforts would bring the priceless fruit of a full bodily resurrection.

Communication with the deceased. But the expectation of the resurrection of the dead did not mean for the Cro-Magnon man their complete disappearance from the lives of the living before the arrival of this hoped-for moment. Although the bones of the dead lay in their graves, their souls and powers remained part of the tribe and took some part in life. We can guess that Upper Paleolithic hunters thought this way from some strange, at first glance, finds. These are the so-called howler monkeys, horn products with a dominant three-part symbolism. Applying the method of comparison with the practice of modern ahistorical peoples, it can be argued that they were used to communicate with their ancestors. When a howler monkey is touched with special objects (a comb, the skin of a totem animal), it makes sounds in which the natives hear the voices of their ancestors. Traces of ocher have been preserved on the howler monkey from La Roche, which certainly indicates the connection of the object with the funeral ritual and the other world.

For the most part, Upper Paleolithic people buried their dead, but sometimes they kept skulls in the dwellings of the living or in special sanctuaries. A drinking cup was made from the skull. Followers of the Chicago school tend to interpret these facts as follows: “... the skull, which was the seat of the brain, retains some kind of spiritual, invisible content, some piece of the personality of the deceased, which the living can share. For the Cro-Magnons, the material remains of the deceased were not insensitive dust, but one of the elements, one of the constituent parts of their deceased relative, remaining in their world, so that with its help they could enter into communication with the departed into another existence. This part kept something of the personality of the deceased; it was a symbol of the deceased person. But, as in the case of other symbolic images, here he retained the qualities and powers of the prototype, the deceased ancestor himself. The funeral ritual of the Cro-Magnons, in which, judging by the ocher remains in them, bowls made from skulls were used, further strengthened this connection and made the deceased ancestors part of the world of the living.” Zubov A.B. History of religions. Book one: Prehistoric and ahistorical religions. Lecture course. - M.: Planet of Children, 1997. P. 71..

Religious meaning of Upper Paleolithic painting. Upper Paleolithic painting was discovered in 1879 by the Spanish nobleman Marcellino de Satuolo. At first it seemed self-evident that a sense of beauty simply awoke in a person, and he began to create with inspiration. “Art for art’s sake” was the motto of that time in culture, and this view was decisively transferred 20-30 thousand years into the past, attributing it to Cro-Magnon. In the 20th century, these finds began to be interpreted differently. At the beginning, it was noted that both in the paintings of caves and in the sculptures of animals found later, sculpted at the same time, a considerable number of subjects consist of hunting scenes, or rather, images of animals struck by arrows, spears and stones, sometimes bleeding. And although they were numerous, such subjects were far from dominant in cave art. By the end of the 1930s, paleoanthropologists agreed that the motivation for Cro-Magnon art was sympathetic magic, that is, the belief that by depicting an animal struck by an arrow before a hunt, one can confidently hope to hit it in the coming hunt.

The assumption was based on ethnographic data. Some primitive tribes, for example the pygmies, before a hunt actually draw on the sand the animal they are going to kill and at dawn on the day of the hunt, with the first rays of the sun, they hit the image with a hunting weapon, reciting certain spells. The hunt after this, as a rule, is successful, and the animal is struck exactly in the place where the spear pierced in the picture. But after the hunt is completed, the drawing is never saved. On the contrary, the blood (that is, the life-soul) of a killed animal is poured onto it, and then the image is smoothed out with a bunch of hair cut from the skin.

Despite the seemingly complete similarity between the hunting magic of the Pygmies and the monuments of Paleolithic painting, very important differences are immediately noticeable. Firstly, most of the animals still remain unaffected in the cave “frescos”; often the artist carefully depicts their peaceful life, loves to depict pregnant females and animals during mating games (however, with enviable bashfulness). Secondly, the images are made “for centuries” with the most durable paints using a long and very labor-intensive manufacturing technology. For the pygmy sorcerer, it is important to depict an animal, hit it, then, pouring blood on it, as if to restore life to the killed one. Afterwards, the image of the affected animal only interferes with its revival and is therefore immediately destroyed by the successful sorcerer. For some reason, the Paleolithic hunter did not at all strive to consider the matter over after a successful hunt. His aspirations were of the opposite nature. Thirdly, as a rule, it is important for a sorcerer to bring his magic closer to the place and time of the event that he wants to influence. Wanting to kill an antelope, the pygmies “killed” its image at dawn on the day of the hunt, on the same ground and under the same sky, which were to witness their hunting art.

The artists of the Frankish-Cantabrian caves acted completely differently. They seemed to deliberately choose the darkest, hidden corners, often extremely difficult to access and, if possible, going deeper into the ground. Sometimes, after completion of the work, the entrance was sealed with a stone wall, completely preventing people from entering. Ancient artists, unlike their modern brethren, seem to have been completely devoid of professional ambition. They avoided working where their fellow tribesmen lived. The Cro-Magnons settled, as a rule, not far from the entrance to the cave, if they chose this type of dwelling, and painted away from the camps, in the hidden silence of the dungeons. But they especially loved to choose caves as galleries that were not at all suitable for habitation, where archaeologists never found any traces of the daily life of a Cro-Magnon man. The famous Lascaux cave (Lascaux. Dordogne, France), with its inaccessibility and dank conditions, turned out to be a particularly desirable place for the ancient artist.

A major expert in the field of Paleolithic painting, A. Leroy-Gourhan, pointed out its most interesting feature - “the exceptional uniformity of artistic content” - “the figurative meaning of the images seems to have not changed from the thirtieth to the ninth millennium BC. and remains the same from Asturias to the Don." The French scientist himself explained this phenomenon by the existence of “a single system of ideas - a system reflecting the religion of the caves” Zubov A.B. History of religions. Book one: Prehistoric and ahistorical religions. Lecture course. - M.: Planet of Children, 1997. P.75..

This is the interpretation given by the phenomenological approach in religious studies: “Cro-Magnons learned to bury their dead in the ground. And if they sought to leave images deeper in the depths of the earth, then most likely these images are related not to this above-ground, but to that underground (infernal) world. They tried to hide the images from the eyes of casual viewers, and often from viewers in general - therefore, they were not intended for a person, or certainly not for every person. These were paintings intended for the inhabitants of the underworld, for the souls of the dead and the spirits of the underworld. Pictures of that hunting paradise where the ancestors went and in which they stayed in anticipation of the resurrection. Spirits, unlike living ones, cannot hit animals with arrows and spears, but they need the blood of sacrificial animals in order to lead a full (full-blooded) life there and help the inhabitants of this world. And that is why bleeding, dying animals are depicted in hunting scenes. These are eternally lasting sacrifices to the dead.” Ibid. P. 74..

The idea of ​​God in the Upper Paleolithic. Among the finds belonging to the archaeological cultures of Aurignacian and Solutrian, mammoth bones abound. It makes no sense to hunt such a huge animal for purely utilitarian purposes. Meanwhile, mammoths were killed not as an exception, but regularly, as if the Cro-Magnon man could not do without them. There is even an opinion that this wonderful animal disappeared due to too close interest in it by ancient man. And this interest, it seems, was not so much gastronomic as religious. The mammoth was necessary for the Upper Paleolithic hunter in ritual.

It is noteworthy that modern pygmies of Tropical Africa never hunt an elephant simply for meat. This dangerous and difficult hunt for them is always associated with sacrifice. They consider the elephant to be the embodiment of the Supreme God, the spirit, and the patron of man. They apologize to him for killing him, the most delicious parts (for example, the trunk) are buried in the ground, and the meat is eaten with reverence, in the hope of communion with the highest Heavenly Power. The analogy of these rituals with the customs of the Cro-Magnon man was first seen by P. Werner Zubov A.B. History of religions. Book one: Prehistoric and ahistorical religions. Lecture course. - M.: Planet of Children, 1997. P.80..

Apparently, for the ancient hunters of Europe, communication with a mammoth in sacrifice, the presence of mammoth tusks and bones in the grave, in the sanctuary was a sign of worship of God, communion with God. By giving their dead to the protection of That Being, whose symbol was the mammoth, the Cro-Magnons most likely hoped for the introduction of their dead to His properties of eternity and omnipotence.

The cult of the mammoth certainly dominated the Late Paleolithic of Eurasia, but the more ancient bear cults were not completely forgotten. Some tribes preferred them. In the Silesian cave, Hellmishhöchll, L. Zotz made an even more interesting discovery in 1936. Not far from the entrance, he discovered a specially buried head of a young (2-3 years old) cave bear along with the bones of a brown bear. The archaeologist noticed that the teeth of the cave bear were carefully cut down shortly before his death (the dentin on the saw cuts did not have time to fully recover). Tools from the Aurignacian archaeological culture were found in the skull. Soon after L. Zotz published this find, ethnologist W. Koppers suggested a modern analogy to Zotz's find. It turns out that the Gilyaks and Ainu of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands had a custom of the so-called “bear holiday” at the beginning of the 19th century. In winter, after the solstice, a 2- to 3-year-old bear specially bred in captivity is sacrificed after solemn rituals. He is believed to be a messenger to the great spirit and, according to the Ayons, he will intercede for the tribe with this spirit throughout the year and will especially help the hunters. It is noteworthy that shortly before the sacrifice, the teeth of the sacrificial bear are filed down “so that it does not cause harm during the festivities” Zubov A.B. History of religions. Book one: Prehistoric and ahistorical religions. Lecture course. - M.: Planet of Children, 1997. P. 83..

But the preservation of the ritual among the Ainu and Gilyaks does not mean at all that the explanations of its essence have reached us unchanged. The inhabitants of the Kuril ridge and Sakhalin are not able to rationally explain why they are torturing an animal that is already doomed to sacrifice and, at the same time, highly revered in principle. This is probably a later speculation. The ritual of beating a bear, which appeared in the Upper Paleolithic, could not but have a clear and well-understood meaning for people at that time. Most likely, it was somehow connected with the idea of ​​the Supreme Being suffering for the sins of people; it was a ritual reproduction of some divine event that happened “at the time of it” and was associated with the suffering of God.

However, neither the ancient cult of the bear, nor the antlers of deer and mammoth tusks in the graves of fellow tribesmen could, in the Upper Paleolithic era, completely calm the human soul yearning to go beyond the boundaries of this earthly and temporary world. In the Lascaux cave, we are greeted by some images that to this day have not been explained satisfactorily by anyone. To begin with, in the first hall a procession of various animals is “led” through the vaults by a strange three-meter creature. It has the tail of a deer, the back of a wild bull, and the hump of a bison. The hind legs resemble those of an elephant, the front legs of a horse. The head of the animal is similar to a person, and from the crown of the head there are two long straight horns, which do not exist at all in the animal world. This animal, according to a number of researchers, is a female with pronounced signs of pregnancy.

If the goal of the ancient artist was “hunting magic,” then he would never have depicted such monsters. After all, in order to kill an animal during a hunt, it is necessary, from the sorcerer’s point of view, to reproduce its image as accurately as possible, and then kill the image. Even if we agree (and this is very doubtful) that the dark spots on the skin of the monster from Lascaux are traces from the stones of a hunting sling, then it is unclear why the sorcerer had to try hard on the three-meter image, which occupies a central place among the images of the first hall, if the animal is all that you won’t find it in the hunting fields either. The combined animal images strongly argue against the explanation of Paleolithic art as “hunting magic.”

Most likely, both the creature described above and the so-called drawing “died in front of the Great Bison” from the next room reflect the idea of ​​​​God in the Upper Paleolithic. About the last scene, A. Zubov writes: “Here, in this mysterious fresco from Lascaux, the most secret hope of Paleolithic people appears before us - hope for victory over death, and appears not in the form of elements of a funeral ritual, but in a symbolic image. The bison standing over the deceased was struck by what appears to be a heavy spear. He is both the giver of life and the sacrifice for life.” Zubov A.B. History of religions. Book one: Prehistoric and ahistorical religions. Lecture course. - M.: Planet of Children, 1997. P. 88.. This idea may seem too complicated for the Aurignacian hunters, but let us remember that it is precisely with this idea of ​​death and victory over death of the giver of life (Osiris in Egypt, Dumuzi in Sumer, Yama - in the Vedas) humanity enters religious history 4-5 thousand years ago. The idea of ​​the unity of sacrifice, victim and donor is a very ancient idea.

The image on the palette from the Raimondon cave (France) coincides with the Lascaux fresco. Only here people sacrifice a bison, hoping, perhaps, through this sacrifice to unite with the prototype, with that great Being, whose symbol the bison was for the Cro-Magnon man. The palette certainly depicts a sacrifice. The head of a bison on the bones, already freed from meat, and two front legs, cut off and lying in front of the head. There are people on both sides of the bison. These are participants in the sacrifice, the sacrificial meal. One of them has something like a palm branch in his hand.

The Lascaux fresco and the Raimondon palette are two parts of a holistic picture of the religious hopes of Upper Paleolithic man. On the palette we see a sacrifice in the world of people, on the walls of the cave - the result (and at the same time the reason) of this sacrifice in the world of the gods, where man so desired to go after passing the boundary of earthly life. Often the animals for the sacrifice were interchangeable, but this did not change the meaning of the sacrifice.

Paleolithic Venus. Another circle of Upper Paleolithic finds that have a meaning that goes beyond the boundaries of this everyday life are numerous figurines, reliefs and drawings of women. The figurines of Paleolithic “Venuses”, mostly dating back to Aurignac, show that the interest in women thirty thousand years ago was very different from what it is today. The face, arms and legs are very poorly detailed in these figures. Sometimes the entire head consists of one lush hairstyle, but everything that has to do with the birth and feeding of a child is not only carefully described, but, it seems, exaggerated. All this indicates that Paleolithic Venus is the prolific mother of A.B. Zubov. History of religions. Book one: Prehistoric and ahistorical religions. Lecture course. - M.: Planet of Children, 1997. P.98..

The following interpretation is possible. Most likely, these “Venus” were images of “Mother Earth”, pregnant with the dead, who were yet to be born again to eternal life. Perhaps the essence thus depicted was the race itself in its continuation from ancestors to descendants, the Great Mother, always giving birth to life. For the keeper of the clan, individual “personal” characteristics are not important. She is a womb forever pregnant with life, forever feeding her mother with her milk. It is unlikely that the thoughts of the ancients rose to high abstractions, but since they buried their dead in the ground, then they believed in their resurrection, and if they believed, then they could not help but worship Mother Raw Earth, who gives food, life and the revival of Teeth A .B. History of religions. Book one: Prehistoric and ahistorical religions. Lecture course. - M.: Planet of Children, 1997. P.93.. The worship of Mother Earth, so natural among agricultural peoples, in fact turns out to be older than agriculture, since the purpose of worship for ancient man was not the earthly harvest, but the life of the next century.

The cultural history of man is usually divided into two large eras: the culture of primitive society and the culture of the era of civilization. The era of primitive society covers most of human history. The most ancient civilizations arose only 5 thousand years ago. The primitive era mainly occurs in stone Age- the period when the main tools were made of stone . Therefore, the cultural history of primitive society is most easily divided into periods based on an analysis of changes in the technology of making stone tools. The Stone Age is divided into:

●Paleolithic (ancient stone) – from 2 million years to 10 thousand years BC. e.

●Mesolithic (Middle Stone) – from 10 thousand to 6 thousand years BC. e.

●Neolithic (new stone) – from 6 thousand to 2 thousand years BC. e.

In the second millennium BC, metals replaced stone and put an end to the Stone Age.

General characteristics of the Stone Age

The first period of the Stone Age is the Paleolithic, within which there are early, middle and late periods.

Early Paleolithic ( until the turn of 100 thousand years BC. BC) is the era of the archanthropes. Material culture developed very slowly. It took more than a million years to move from roughly hewn pebbles to axes with smooth edges on both sides. Approximately 700 thousand years ago, the process of mastering fire began: people support fire obtained naturally (as a result of lightning strikes, fires). The main types of activity are hunting and gathering, the main type of weapon is a club and a spear. Archanthropes master natural shelters (caves), build huts from twigs that cover stone boulders (southern France, 400 thousand years).

Middle Paleolithic– covers the period from 100 thousand to 40 thousand years BC. e. This is the era of the paleoanthropus-Neanderthal. Harsh time. Icing of large parts of Europe, North America and Asia. Many heat-loving animals became extinct. Difficulties stimulated cultural progress. Hunting means and techniques are being improved (round-up hunting, drives). A wide variety of axes are created, and thin plates chipped from the core and processed - scrapers - are also used. With the help of scrapers, people began to make warm clothes from animal skins. Learned how to make fire by drilling. Intentional burials date back to this era. Often the deceased was buried in the form of a sleeping person: arms bent at the elbow, near the face, legs bent. Household items appear in graves. This means that some ideas about life after death have appeared.

Late (Upper) Paleolithic– covers the period from 40 thousand to 10 thousand years BC. e. This is the era of the Cro-Magnon man. Cro-Magnons lived in large groups. Stone processing technology has grown: stone plates are sawed and drilled. Bone tips are widely used. A spear thrower appeared - a board with a hook on which a dart was placed. Many bone needles have been found for sewing clothes. The houses are half-dugouts with a frame made of branches and even animal bones. The norm became the burial of the dead, who were given a supply of food, clothing and tools, which spoke of clear ideas about the afterlife. During the Late Paleolithic period, art and religion- two important forms of social life, closely related to each other.

Mesolithic, Middle Stone Age (10th – 6th millennium BC). In the Mesolithic, bows and arrows, microlithic tools appeared, and the dog was domesticated. The periodization of the Mesolithic is conditional, because in different areas of the world development processes occur at different speeds. Thus, in the Middle East, already from 8 thousand, the transition to agriculture and cattle breeding began, which constitutes the essence of the new stage - the Neolithic.

Neolithic, New Stone Age (6–2 thousand BC). There is a transition from an appropriating economy (gathering, hunting) to a producing economy (farming, cattle breeding). In the Neolithic era, stone tools were polished, drilled, pottery, spinning, and weaving appeared. In the 4th–3rd millennia, the first civilizations emerged in a number of areas of the world.

Primitive art: functions and forms

Art in the original meaning of the word means a high degree of skill in any activity. In the 19th century the term "art" came to be used to refer only to creative activity aimed at creating artistic images, i.e. images that can make a strong aesthetic impression on people. The term “aesthetics” comes from the Greek aisthetikos - “sensual” and is associated with the feeling of beauty, beauty.

Ancient philosophers associated beauty with usefulness and expediency, with good. This is how the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates called beautiful a shield well adapted for protection, a spear adapted for an accurate throw, etc. However, beauty cannot be explained only by adaptability and usefulness. This was understood by Aristotle, who explained beauty and how harmony in device and forms. Aristotle was sure that “nature strives for beauty,” for purposeful harmony.

Every person’s sense of beauty is born from observing nature and its creations: a beautiful landscape, sunrise or sunset, a beautiful flower, etc. These impressions formed the concept of beauty as such a harmonious combination of sounds, colors, shapes, proportions that evoked strong positive emotions in a person. Thus, first man saw beauty in nature, and then sought to create it himself.

About art of primitive society we can judge from the visual arts (sculpture and painting), since almost no traces remain of music and dance, although they existed and played an important role.

For primitive man, the creation of beauty was not the main task. He created vivid images to explore the world around him. And in the future, the tasks of art were never reduced only to creating beauty. Its functions are much wider: art is a way of understanding the world through artistic images.

Among the works of primitive fine art, two images dominate. The first and main one is the image of an animal, mainly a large one, associated with the theme of getting food. The second is the image of a woman-mother, associated with the theme of procreation.

The primacy of the image of a large animal is clear. Hunting large animals and defending against large predators were the most emotionally powerful acts of human activity. And man sought to master these emotions and adapt to them. Therefore, art developed primarily as an element of hunting of magic. Hunters created images for rituals aimed at subjugating the objects of the hunt. The image (model) of the animal was made of clay or stones, and its outline was also drawn on the wall. At first the outline was very general. For example, animals in profile were most often depicted with only two legs. Then the drawing became more and more accurate. Clay models and paintings in the open air could not exist for a long time. Only what was in the caves has reached us.

The most perfect drawings were found in caves in the foothills of the Pyrenees, separating France and Spain. In 40 caves, paintings made with paint or scratched with stone 20–10 thousand years ago were found. The most famous cave in Lascaux (France) is called the prehistoric Sistine Chapel. It contains a hall of giant bulls painted in red, black and yellow ochre. In the axial passage there is a picturesque group of cows and horses painted in red paint. A mysterious composition: a bison wounded by a man with a bird's beak, and a rhinoceros leaving the scene of the tragedy.

A number of caves with drawings from the Upper Paleolithic era were found in Italy, Georgia, Mongolia, and the Urals (Kapovaya Cave). The presence of fundamentally similar forms of art in Europe and Asia shows that the process of development of artistic creativity of mankind was basically the same.

In addition to large rock paintings, people during this period created small sculptures (figures of animals carved from bone, wood, stone), and small drawings scratched on stone and bone. The widespread practice of making animal figurines indicated that people wanted to have their images regardless of practical activities. A small figurine of a deer is not an object for hunting magic. She is a memory and a symbol of the big real world. The man wanted to have this image at hand. This means that it gave him emotional satisfaction and, therefore, had aesthetic significance.

Animal images also predominate in small forms. But in small sculpture there is a lot anthropomorphic images These are predominantly female figurines, emphasizing the forms associated with childbirth and feeding. They also played an obvious applied function: they were associated with demographic magic aimed at preserving and procreating the race. The most famous is a figurine made of soft limestone 6 cm high, found in Austria in the town of Willendorf. She was named the Venus of Willendorf. Characteristically, there is no attempt to convey the woman’s face, since the artist created a generalized image, not an individual one.

decorative arts. Cro-Magnons widely used pendants, beads, and bracelets. Some of them had magical significance. For example, a hunter has a necklace made from the teeth of killed animals. But a woman’s string of white shells was also a decoration, because it emphasized the oval shape of her face, the darkness of her skin, etc. The first jewelry can also be considered the first purely aesthetic works of art.

From the Late Paleolithic there is evidence that man mastered and song and dance art. They are also associated with production magic, with rituals of preparation and completion of the hunt. For example, after a hunt, the main function of song and dance was to throw out excess emotions that arose during the dangerous hunt. It is easy to imagine the following picture: a large animal is killed, the danger has passed, people rejoice, jump around the animal, and scream. Gradually, the screams and jumps begin to coordinate and follow a certain rhythm. The rhythm is fixed by shock and noise effects. Screams acquire a common tonality: low tones for men and high tones for women. People understand that these actions provide emotional release and cultivate them. The development of intonation - the alternation of sounds of different tones - was facilitated by the imitation of the sounds of nature, especially birds and animals. Mastery of rhythm and intonation leads to the emergence of music, singing, and dancing. At Paleolithic sites, hollow bones were found - the first pipes and pipes. Gradually people realized that certain melodies and movements gave the greatest emotional satisfaction. This is how the natural selection of the best samples took place and the idea of ​​the canon of beauty was formed.

To summarize the above, let us draw some conclusions about the essence and functions of primitive art. Art was an element of industrial and demographic magic, and in this regard played an important role as a way of regulating and expressing people's emotions. It also had a decorative function, manifested in a person’s decoration of himself, household items and tools. Gradually, in the process of selecting the best examples, the aesthetic function of art as a way of creating beauty is strengthened.

Paleolithic

Early Paleolithic

About 2.588 million years ago, the Pleistocene began - the longest section of the Quaternary period of the geological history of the Earth, or rather its earliest part - the Gelazian stage. At this time, significant changes occurred both in the Earth's climate and in its biosphere. Another decrease in temperature led to a decrease in the evaporation of water from the ocean surface, as a result of which the forests of East Africa began to be replaced by savannas. Faced with a lack of traditional plant foods (fruits), the ancestors of modern humans began to look for more accessible food sources in the dry savannah.

It is believed that around the same time (2.5-2.6 million)

years ago) are the earliest, crudest and most primitive stone tools currently found, made by the ancestors of modern man. Although more recently, in May 2015, the journal Nature published the results of research and excavations in Lomekwi, where tools made by an as yet unidentified hominid were found, whose age is estimated at 3.3 million.

years. This is how the lower or early paleolithic– the most ancient part of the Paleolithic ( ancient stone age). In other regions of the planet, the production of stone tools (and, accordingly, the onset of the Paleolithic) began later. In western Asia it happened around 1.9 million.

years ago, in the Middle East - about 1.6 million years ago, in Southern Europe - about 1.2 million years ago, in Central Europe - less than a million years ago.

One of the species of australopithecus, Australopithecus garhi, was probably one of the first to make stone tools. His remains are approximately 2.6 million years old.

years were discovered only relatively recently, in 1996. Along with them, the most ancient stone tools were found, as well as animal bones with traces of processing with these tools.

Approximately 2.33 million years ago, Homo habilis (lat. Homo habilis) appeared, possibly descended from Australopithecus gari.

MHC test (grade 10)

Adapting to the savannah climate, he included roots, tubers and animal meat in his diet in addition to traditional fruits. At the same time, the first people were content with the role of scavengers, scraping off the remains of meat from the skeletons of animals killed by predators with stone scrapers, and extracting bone marrow from bones split by stones. It was Habilis who created, developed and spread the Olduvai culture in Africa, which flourished between 2.4 and 1.7 million years ago.

years ago. At the same time as Homo habilis, there was another species - Rudolf man (lat. Homo rudolfensis), however, due to the extremely small number of finds, very little is known about him.

About 1.806 million

years ago, the next - Calabrian - stage of the Pleistocene began, and around the same time two new species of people appeared: the working man (Latin: Homo ergaster) and the upright man (Latin: Homo erectus). The most important change in the morphology of these species was a significant increase in brain size.

Homo erectus soon migrated from Africa and spread widely throughout Europe and Asia, moving from a scavenger role to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle that dominated the rest of the Paleolithic.

Along with erectus, the Olduvai culture also spread (in Europe, before Leakey’s discoveries, it was known as Chelles and Abbeville).

A man working in Africa soon created a more advanced Acheulian culture of stone processing, but it spread to Europe and the Middle East only after hundreds of thousands of years, and did not reach Southeast Asia at all. At the same time, in Europe, in parallel with the Acheulean, another culture arose - the Klektonian.

According to various estimates, it existed in a period of time from 300 to 600 thousand years ago and was named after the city of Clacton-on-Sea in Essex (Great Britain), near which corresponding stone tools were found in 1911. Similar instruments were later found in Kent and Suffolk.

The creator of these instruments was Homo erectus.

Approximately 781 thousand years ago, the Ionian stage of the Pleistocene began. At the beginning of this period, another new species appeared in Europe - Heidelberg man (lat. Homo heidelbergensis). He continued to lead a hunter-gatherer lifestyle and used stone tools belonging to the Acheulean culture, but somewhat more advanced.

Some time later - according to various estimates, from 600 to 350 thousand.

years ago - the first people appeared, with the features of a Neanderthal or proto-anderthal.

The first attempts by man to use fire date back to the Early Paleolithic. However, fairly reliable evidence of fire control dates back to the very end of this period - a time about 400 thousand years ago.

Middle Paleolithic

The Middle Paleolithic replaced the Early Paleolithic about 300 thousand years ago and lasted until about 30 thousand.

years ago (in different regions the time boundaries of the period may differ significantly). During this time, significant changes occurred in all spheres of life of primitive humanity, coinciding with the emergence of new species of people.

From the protoanderthals that arose at the end of the Early Paleolithic to the second half of the Middle Paleolithic (approximately 100-130 thousand)

years ago) the classic Neanderthal (lat. Homo neanderthalensis) was formed.

Neanderthals, who lived in small related groups, were able to perfectly adapt to the cold climate during the last ice age and populated large areas of Europe and Asia that were not covered with ice. Survival in harsh climates was made possible by a number of changes in the lives of these ancient people. They created and developed the Mousterian culture, which used Levallois techniques for stone processing and was the most progressive throughout most of the Middle Paleolithic.

The improvement of hunting weapons (spears with stone tips) and a high level of interaction with their fellow tribesmen allowed Neanderthals to successfully hunt the largest land mammals (mammoths, bison, etc.), whose meat formed the basis of their diet.

The invention of the harpoon made it possible to successfully catch fish, which became an important source of food in coastal areas. To protect themselves from the cold and predators, Neanderthals used shelter in caves and fire, and they also cooked food on fire.

To preserve meat for future use, they began to smoke and dry it. An exchange with other groups of valuable raw materials (ochre, rare high-quality stone for making tools, etc.) that were unavailable in the area in which one or another group lived was developed.

Archaeological evidence and comparative ethnography studies indicate that Middle Paleolithic people lived in egalitarian (egalitarian) societies.

Equal distribution of food resources avoided starvation and increased the community's chances of survival. Members of the group took care of injured, sick and old fellow tribesmen, as evidenced by remains with traces of healed injuries and at a considerable age (of course, by Paleolithic standards - about 50 years).

Neanderthals often buried their dead, leading some scientists to conclude that they developed religious beliefs and concepts, such as belief in life after death. This can be evidenced, among other things, by the orientation of the graves, the characteristic poses of those who died in them, and the burial of utensils with them. However, other scientists believe that the burials were carried out for rational reasons. The development of thinking was manifested in the appearance of the first examples of art: rock paintings, decorative items made of stone, bone, etc.

About 195 thousand

years ago, anatomically modern Homo sapiens appeared in Africa. According to the currently dominant hypothesis of the African origin of man, after several tens of millennia, anatomically modern people began to gradually spread beyond Africa.

There is some evidence that about 125 thousand years ago, having crossed the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, they appeared on the Arabian Peninsula (the territory of modern UAE), a little later - about 106 thousand.

years ago - on the territory of modern Oman, and about 75 thousand years ago - possibly on the territory of modern India. Although no human remains have been found in those places dating back to this time, the obvious similarities between stone tools found there and in Africa suggest that they were created by modern man.

Another group of people, passing through the Nile Valley, reached the territory of modern Israel about 100-120 thousand years ago. The settlers moving south and east gradually populated southeast Asia, and then, taking advantage of the reduced sea level due to glaciation, reached Australia and New Guinea about 50 thousand years ago, and a little later, about 30 thousand years ago.

years ago - and numerous islands east of Australia.

The first anatomically modern humans (Cro-Magnons) entered Europe through the Arabian Peninsula about 60 thousand years ago. About 43 thousand years ago, large-scale colonization of Europe began, during which Cro-Magnons actively competed with Neanderthals. In terms of physical strength and adaptability to the climate of Europe during the glaciation period, the Cro-Magnons were inferior to the Neanderthals, but were ahead of them in technological development.

And after 13-15 thousand years, by the end of the Middle Paleolithic, the Neanderthals were completely forced out of their habitat and became extinct.

Along with the Mousterian culture itself, in the Middle Paleolithic era its local variants also existed in some regions. Very interesting in this regard is the Aterian culture in Africa, which was discovered at the beginning of the 20th century near the city of Bir el-Ather in eastern Algeria, after which it was named.

Initially, it was believed that it first appeared about 40 thousand years ago, then this boundary was pushed back to 90-110 thousand years. In 2010, the Ministry of Culture of Morocco published a press release in which it was reported that objects of Aterian culture dating back up to 175 thousand years had been discovered in the prehistoric caves of Ifri n’Amman.

years. In addition to stone tools, drilled mollusk shells were also found at Aterian sites, presumably serving as decorations, which indicates the development of aesthetic feelings in humans.

In Europe, there were such early and transitional varieties of Mousterian as the Teylac and Micoq industries. In the Middle East, the Emirian culture developed from Mousterian.

During the same period, there were also independent cultures in Africa, formed from the earlier Acheulean, such as Sangoi and Stilbeian. Very interesting is the Howiesons-Port culture, which arose (possibly from the Stilbeian) in South Africa around 64.8 thousand years ago.

years ago. In terms of the level of production of stone tools, it corresponds rather to the cultures of the beginning of the Late Paleolithic, which appeared 25 thousand years later. We can say that in terms of its level it was significantly ahead of its time.

However, having existed for just over 5 thousand years, it disappeared approximately 59.5 thousand years ago, and tools from more primitive cultures reappeared in the region of its distribution.

Late Paleolithic

The Late Paleolithic - the third and final stage of the Paleolithic - began around 40-50 thousand years ago.

years ago and ended about 10-12 thousand years ago. It was during this period that modern man became first the dominant and then the only representative of his own species. The changes in the life of mankind during this period are so significant that they are called the Late Paleolithic revolution.

During the Late Paleolithic, significant climate changes occurred in areas inhabited by humans.

Since the vast majority of the period occurred during the last ice age, the overall climate of Eurasia varied from cold to temperate. Along with climate changes, the area of ​​the ice sheet changed, and, accordingly, the area of ​​human distribution. Moreover, if in the northern regions the territory suitable for habitation decreased, then in the more southern regions it increased due to a significant decrease in the level of the World Ocean, the waters of which were concentrated in glaciers.

So, during the maximum of the Ice Age, which occurred 19-26.5 thousand years ago, sea level fell by about 100-125 m. Therefore, many archaeological evidence of human life who lived on the coast in those days is now hidden by the waters of the seas and is located at a considerable distance from the modern coastline.

On the other hand, glaciation and low sea levels allowed man to move across the Bering Isthmus that existed at that time to North America.

Since the beginning of the Late Paleolithic, the variety of artifacts left by people has increased significantly. Manufactured instruments are becoming more specialized, and their manufacturing technologies are becoming more complex.

Important achievements are the invention of various types of tools and weapons. In particular, about 30 thousand years ago a spear thrower and a boomerang were invented, 25-30 thousand years ago - a bow and arrow, 22-29 thousand years ago - a fishing net. Also at this time, a sewing needle with an eye, a fishing hook, a rope, an oil lamp, etc. were invented. One of the most important achievements of the Late Paleolithic can be called the taming and domestication of the dog, which, according to various estimates, occurred 15-35 thousand years ago.

years ago (and possibly earlier). A dog has much better developed hearing and sense of smell than a human, which makes it an indispensable assistant in protecting against predators and hunting.

More advanced tools and weapons, methods of hunting, building housing and making clothing allowed people to significantly increase their numbers and populate previously undeveloped territories. The earliest evidence of organized human settlements dates back to the Late Paleolithic.

Some were used year-round, although more often people moved from one settlement to another depending on the season, following food sources.

Instead of a single dominant culture, various regional cultures with numerous local varieties arise in different places, existing partly simultaneously and partly replacing each other. In Europe, these are the Chatelperonian, Seletian, Aurignacian, Gravettian, Solutrean, Badegulian and Magdalenian cultures.

In Asia and the Middle East - Baradostian, Zarzian and Kebarian.

In addition, during this period the flourishing of fine and decorative arts began: Late Paleolithic man left many rock paintings and petroglyphs, as well as artistic products made of ceramics, bone and horn.

One of the ubiquitous varieties is female figurines, the so-called Paleolithic Venus.

MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC: material culture of people. Main parking areas.

The Middle Paleolithic, or Middle Old Stone Age, is an era that lasted from 150,000 to 30,000 years ago.

Upper Paleolithic cultures

More precise dating is difficult using existing methods. The Middle Paleolithic of Europe is called the Mousterian era after a famous archaeological site in France. The Middle Paleolithic has been well studied.

It is characterized by widespread human settlement, as a result of which paleoanthropus (Middle Paleolithic man) settled throughout almost the entire glacier-free territory of Europe. The number of archaeological sites has increased significantly. The territory in Europe is populated up to the Volga.

Mousterian sites appear in the Desna basin, the upper reaches of the Oka, and the Middle Volga region. In Central and Eastern Europe there are 70 times more Middle Paleolithic sites than Early Paleolithic sites. At the same time, local groups and cultures emerge, which becomes the basis for the birth of new races and peoples.

Tools The production of stone tools has improved. The stone industry of that time is called "Levallois". It is characterized by the chipping of flakes and blades from a specially prepared disc-shaped “core”. They are distinguished by their durability.

Double-sided tools in some regions were also used in the Middle Paleolithic, but they changed significantly. Hand axes are reduced in size and are often made from flakes.

Leaf-like points and points of various types appear, which were used in complex tools and weapons, such as throwing spears. A typical Mousterian tool - a scraper - has multi-bladed forms. Mousterian tools are multifunctional: they were used for processing wood and hides, for planing, cutting and even drilling. It is believed that European Mousterian developed in two main zones - in Western Europe and the Caucasus - and from there spread throughout Europe.

A direct connection between the Middle and Early Paleolithic has been established in rare cases. Archaeological cultures are divided into early Mousterian (existed in the Riess-Würm period) and late Mousterian (Würm I and Würm II; absolute period - 75/70-40/35 thousand BC).

years ago). Archaeological sites Mousterian sites are quite clearly divided into base camps (the remains of which are often found in large and well-closed caves, where thick cultural layers with a fairly diverse fauna were formed), and temporary hunting camps (poor industry).

There are also workshops for the extraction and primary processing of stone. Base camps and temporary hunting camps were located both in caves and in the open air. Mousterian flint mining sites were found in the canton of Bern (Switzerland) in the form of vertical pits 60 cm deep, dug with horn tools. The primary processing of flint took place here. In Balatenlovas (Hungary) there were mines for the extraction of dyes. In southwestern France, Mousterian sites were found under rock overhangs and in small caves, which rarely exceed 20-25 m in width and depth.

Caves in Combes Grenada and Le Peyrard (Southern France) were deepened. Dwellings made of mammoth bones with the remains of open-air fire pits in the middle were found at the site of Molodova I on the Dniester. Until the end of Würm I, large dwellings with several fire pits were built, found in France (Le Peyrard, Vaux-de-l'Obezier, Eskicho-Grano).

Remains of ten small dwellings found in the lower reaches of the Durand River (France) Archaeological cultures F. Borda's research revealed different cultures that were not tied to territory. At the same time, different cultures could coexist in the same area. The paths of development are determined by the limitations of the raw materials used, the level of technological development, and a certain set of tools.

There are Levallois, jagged, typical Mousterian, Charente, Pontic and other development paths. Bord's conclusions about the existence of “Mousterian cultural communities” were criticized by L. Binford. Settlement increased, which was supposed to contribute to the consolidation of human groups that lived sedentary.

High level of tribal social relations. For example, a person who lost an arm lived for a long time after losing his ability to work; the team could give him such an opportunity.

Archaeological periodization of history. The oldest period of human history (prehistory) - from the appearance of the first people to the emergence of the first states - was called the primitive communal system, or primitive society.

At this time, there was a change not only in the physical type of a person, but also in tools, housing, forms of organization of groups, family, worldview, etc.

Taking these components into account, scientists have put forward a number of systems for the periodization of primitive history. The most developed is archaeological periodization, which is based on a comparison of human-made tools, their materials, forms of dwellings, burials, etc.

According to this principle, the history of human civilization is divided into centuries - stone, bronze and iron. In the Stone Age, which is usually identified with the primitive communal system, three eras are distinguished: Paleolithic (Greek - ancient stone) - up to 12 thousand.

years ago, Mesolithic (middle stone) - up to 9 thousand years ago, Neolithic (new stone) - up to 6 thousand years ago. Epochs are divided into periods - early (lower), middle and late (upper), as well as into cultures characterized by a uniform complex of artifacts. The culture is named according to the place of its modern location (“Chelles” - near the city of Chelles in Northern France, “Kostenki” - from the name of a village in Ukraine) or according to other characteristics, for example: “culture of battle axes”, “culture of log burials”, etc. The creator of Lower Paleolithic cultures was a man of the Pithecanthropus or Sinanthropus type, the Middle Paleolithic was a Neanderthal, and the Upper Paleolithic was a Cro-Magnon.

This definition is based on archaeological research in Western Europe and cannot be fully extended to other regions. On the territory of the former USSR, about 70 sites of the Lower and Middle Paleolithic and about 300 sites of the Upper Paleolithic have been studied - from the Prut River in the west to Chukotka in the east. During the Paleolithic period, people initially made rough hand axes from flint, which were standardized tools.

Then the production of specialized tools begins - these are knives, piercings, scrapers, composite tools, such as a stone axe.

The Mesolithic is dominated by microliths - tools made of thin stone plates, which were inserted into a bone or wooden frame. It was then that the bow and arrows were invented. The Neolithic is characterized by the production of polished tools from soft stones - jade, slate, slate. The technique of sawing and drilling holes in stone is mastered. The Stone Age is replaced by a short period of the Eneolithic, i.e. the existence of cultures with copper-stone implements. The Bronze Age (Latin – Chalcolithic; Greek – Chalcolithic) began in Europe in the 3rd millennium.

BC. At this time, in many regions of the planet, the first states emerged, civilizations developed - Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Mediterranean (Early Minoan, Early Helladic), Mexican and Peruvian in America. On the Lower Don, settlements of this time were studied in Kobyakovo, Gnilovskaya, Safyanovo, on the shores of the Manych lakes. The first iron products appeared on the territory of Russia in the 10th–7th centuries.

BC – among the tribes that lived in the North Caucasus (Scythians, Cimmerians), in the Volga region (Dyakovo culture), Siberia and other regions. Note that frequent and massive migrations of various peoples from the east, passing through the territory of Central Russia and the Don steppes, destroyed the settlements of the sedentary population, destroyed entire cultures that could, under favorable conditions, develop into civilizations and states. Another periodization system based on a complex characteristic material and spiritual cultures, proposed in the 70s of the XIX century.

L. Morgan. In this case, the scientist was based on a comparison of ancient cultures with modern cultures of the American Indians. According to this system, primitive society is divided into three periods: savagery, barbarism and civilization. The period of savagery is the time of the early tribal system (Paleolithic and Mesolithic), it ends with the invention of the bow and arrow. During the period of barbarism, ceramic products appeared, agriculture and animal husbandry appeared.

Civilization is characterized by the emergence of bronze metallurgy, writing and states. In the 40s of the 20th century. Soviet scientists P.P. Efimenko, M.O. Kosven, A.I. Pershits et al. proposed systems for the periodization of primitive society, the criteria of which were the evolution of forms of ownership, the degree of division of labor, family relationships, etc.

In a generalized form, such periodization can be represented as follows: the era of the primitive herd; the era of the tribal system; the era of the decomposition of the communal-tribal system (the emergence of cattle breeding, plow farming and metal processing, the emergence of elements of exploitation and private property). All of these periodization systems are imperfect in their own way.

There are many examples when stone tools of Paleolithic or Mesolithic form were used by the peoples of the Far East in the 16th-17th centuries, while they had a tribal society and developed forms of religion and family.

Therefore, the optimal periodization system should take into account the largest number of indicators of social development.

LATE PALEOLITHIC: art and religious ideas. In the Late Paleolithic, major shifts occurred in the development of productive forces and human society as a whole. The most striking expression of the maturity of human societies in the Late Paleolithic is the emergence of art and the composition of all the basic elements of primitive religion.

Cave paintings, sculptural images of people and animals, engravings on bones, and various decorations appeared; deliberate burials of people with tools, weapons and jewelry. Most of the Upper Paleolithic monuments are definitely of a religious nature. Describing and systematizing them requires time, which we do not have, but we must not forget that, according to the correct remark of the modern American philosopher Huston Smith, “Religion is not primarily a collection of facts, but a collection of meanings.

One can endlessly enumerate gods, customs and beliefs, but if this activity does not give us the opportunity to see how with their help people overcame loneliness, grief and death, then no matter how impeccably accurate this enumeration is made, it has not the slightest relation to religion "

Let's try to see behind the facts of the Upper Paleolithic finds their significance in the spiritual quest of the Cro-Magnon man. The first ordered forms of social organization arise - the clan and the clan community. The main features of primitive society are formed: consistent collectivism in production and consumption, common property and equal distribution in groups. 35 - 12 thousand.

years ago - the most severe phase of the last Würm glaciation, when modern people settled throughout the Earth. After the appearance of the first modern people in Europe (the Cro-Magnons), there was a relatively rapid growth of their cultures, the most famous of which are the Chatelperonian, Aurignacian, Solutrean, Gravettian and Magdalenian archaeological cultures. North and South America were colonized by humans through the ancient Bering Isthmus, which was later flooded by rising sea levels and became the Bering Strait.

The ancient people of America, the Paleo-Indians most likely formed into an independent culture about 13.5 thousand years ago. Overall, the planet became dominated by hunter-gatherer societies that used different types of stone tools depending on the region. Numerous changes in human lifestyle are associated with climate changes of this era, which is characterized by the beginning of a new ice age.

The first examples of Paleolithic art were found in caves in France in the 40s of the 19th century, when many, under the influence of biblical views on the past of man, did not believe in the very existence of Stone Age people - contemporaries of the mammoth.

In 1864, in the La Madeleine cave (France), an image of a mammoth on a bone plate was discovered, which showed that people of that distant time not only lived with the mammoth, but also reproduced this animal in their drawings.

11 years later, in 1875, the cave paintings of Altamira (Spain) that amazed researchers were unexpectedly discovered, followed by many others. In the Upper Paleolithic, as we see, hunting techniques became more complex. House-building is emerging, a new way of life is taking shape. As the clan system matures, the primitive community becomes stronger and more complex in its structure. Thinking and speech develop. A person’s mental horizons expand immeasurably and his spiritual world is enriched.

Along with these general achievements in the development of culture, the specifically important circumstance that Upper Paleolithic man now began to widely use the bright colors of natural mineral paints was of great importance for the emergence and further growth of art. He also mastered new methods of processing soft stone and bone, which opened up previously unknown possibilities for him to convey phenomena of the surrounding reality in plastic form - in sculpture and carving.

Without these preconditions, without these technical achievements, born of direct labor practice in the manufacture of tools, neither painting nor the artistic processing of bones, which mainly represent the Paleolithic art known to us, could have arisen. The most remarkable and most important thing in the history of primitive art lies in that from its first steps it followed mainly the path of truthful transmission of reality. The art of the Upper Paleolithic, taken in its best examples, is distinguished by amazing fidelity to nature and accuracy in conveying vital, most significant features.

Already in the early days of the Upper Paleolithic, in the Aurignacian monuments of Europe, examples of truthful drawing and sculpture, as well as cave paintings identical in spirit, are found. Their appearance, of course, was preceded by a certain preparatory period. Paleolithic art had a huge positive significance in the history of ancient mankind. By consolidating his working life experience in living images of art, primitive man deepened and expanded his ideas about reality and gained a deeper, more comprehensive understanding of it, and at the same time enriched his spiritual world.

The emergence of art, which meant a huge step forward in human cognitive activity, at the same time greatly contributed to the strengthening of social ties.

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STONE AGE ART

its first small forms were found by E. Larte during the excavation of a cave in the 60s of the 19th century, shortly after the recognition of the discoveries of Boucher de Perth (see prehistoric art). At the turn of the Mesolithic, animalism (depictions of animals) dried up, being replaced mostly by schematic and ornamental works.

Only in small regions - the Spanish Levant, Kobystan in Azerbaijan, Zarautsay in Central Asia and Neolithic rock paintings (petroglyphs of Karelia, rock paintings of the Urals) did the monumental-story tradition of the Paleolithic continue.

For a long time, caves with Paleolithic paintings were found only in Spain, France and Italy.

In 1959, zoologist A.V.

Paleolithic culture

Ryumin discovered Paleolithic drawings in the Kapova Cave in the Urals. The drawings were located mainly in the depths of the cave on the second, hard-to-reach tier.

Initially, 11 drawings were discovered: 7 mammoths, 2 horses, 2 rhinoceroses.

All of them were made with ocher - a mineral paint that was ingrained into the rock so that when a piece of the stone in the drawing broke off, it turned out that it was completely saturated with paint.

In some places the drawings were poorly differentiated, so it was difficult to make out who they depicted. Some squares, cubes, and triangles were visible here. Some images resembled a hut, others - a vessel, etc.

Archaeologists had to work hard to “read” these drawings.

There has been much debate about what time they belong to. A convincing argument in favor of their antiquity is their very content. After all, the animals depicted on the walls of the cave became extinct long ago. Carbon dating has shown that the earliest examples of cave painting known today number over 30 thousand.

years, the latest - approx. 12 thousand years.

In the Late Paleolithic, sculptural depictions of naked (less often clothed) women became widespread.

The sizes of the figurines are small: only 5 - 10 cm and, as a rule, no more than 12 - 15 cm in height. They are carved from soft stone, limestone or marl, less often from soapstone or ivory. Such figurines - they are called Paleolithic Venus - were found in France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Ukraine, but especially many of them were found in Russia.

It is generally accepted that figurines of naked women depict the ancestral goddess, since they emphatically express the idea of ​​motherhood and fertility. Numerous figurines represent mature, full-breasted women with large bellies (probably pregnant).

Among the female figurines there are also clothed figures: only the face is naked, everything else is covered in a kind of fur “overall.” Sewn with the wool facing out, it fits tightly to the body from head to toe. The costume of an Old Stone Age man is especially clearly visible on the figurine found in 1963.

in Bureti.

The fur of the clothing is marked by semicircular pits and notches arranged in a certain rhythmic order. These pits are not present only on the face.

The fur is sharply separated from the convex face by deep narrow grooves that form a roll - a thick fluffy border of the hood. The wide and flat hood points towards the top.

Very similar clothes are still worn by Arctic sea game hunters and tundra reindeer herders. This is not surprising: 25 thousand years ago there was also tundra on the shores of Lake Baikal.

Cold, piercing winter winds forced Paleolithic people, like modern inhabitants of the Arctic, to wrap themselves in fur clothing.

Very warm, such clothes at the same time do not restrict movement and allow you to move very quickly.

Interesting works of Paleolithic art found at the Mezin Paleolithic site in Ukraine. Bracelets, all kinds of figurines and figures carved from mammoth tusk are covered with geometric patterns. Along with stone and bone tools, eyed needles, jewelry, remains of dwellings and other finds, bone items with a metrical pattern were found in Mezin.

This design consists mainly of many zigzag lines. In recent years, such a strange zigzag pattern has been found at other Paleolithic sites in V.

Central Europe. What does this “abstract” pattern mean and how did it come about? The geometric style really doesn’t fit in with the brilliantly realistic drawings of cave art. Where did “abstract art” come from? And how abstract is this ornament?

Having studied the structures of sections of mammoth tusks using magnifying instruments, the researchers noticed that they also consist of zigzag patterns, very similar to the zigzag ornamental motifs of Mezin products. Thus, the basis of the Mezin geometric ornament was a pattern drawn by nature itself.

But ancient artists did not only copy nature. They introduced new combinations and elements into the original ornament, overcoming the dead monotony of the design.

During the Mesolithic and Neolithic eras, art continued to develop. Interesting are the monuments of ancient art of Central Asia and the Black Sea region, the origins of which lie in the Near and Middle East. The favorable combination of natural conditions of the Near and Middle East allowed man to move from hunting and gathering to agriculture in the Mesolithic.

Both architecture and art developed rapidly here (see prehistoric art).