ap art history study #1

basically just a list to test what I know with out notes (to be edited)

format is: name, location, and medium + extra info

1. venus of wilendorf and dolni vestonice, Austria, czech, diff mediums (not important). both depicted ideal beauty standard of woman at that time. may have been idols for fertility.

2. camelid sacrum in the shape of a canine, tequixiac (spelling?) central Mexico, bone. religious purposes (fertility = sacrum). nomadic society so easy to carry item. dogs = companions, loyalty. People often create things related to what they know, so animals are an obvious choice.

3. anthropomorphic stele, Arabian peninsula, sandstone. Used as a grave marker, found along a trade route (silk road possibly). Not super detailed. 

4. jade cong, lianghzu china, carved jade. Jade was for purity, luck, royalty etc. Bi = circle with hole, Cong = squareish-cylinder with hole. On cong was faces of humans & humans which could be deities or ancestors. inside = earth, mortality. outside = heavens/sky

5. The Ambum Stone, ambum valley, enga province, papau new guinea, graywacke. Depicts an anteater = fat deposits for candles, insulation, etc. Sits in fetal position (fertility?). Could be some sort of pestle or used for worship. 

6. tlatlico female figurine, Mexico site of tlatico, ceramic. Could be a deity figure, represents belief of the culture.

7. terra cotta fragment, lapita, solomon islands, reef islands, terra cotta (incised). Depicts one of the first drawn human faces. Oceanic society. Created using a variety of materials. Ceremonial purposes?

8. Apollo 11 stones, nambia, charcoal on stone. Depicts a therianthrope (human body, cat hind legs). Maybe some sort of deity. Was discovered same day of apollo 11 moon landing.

9. running horned woman, tasili n'aljer (something like that) pigment on rock. Pictograph. ceremonial dots as decoration. maybe some sort of goddess. Composite view of body = mix of dorsal and frontal.

10. great hall of the bulls, lascaux france, rock painting. Drawings of bovines and equines = important to society. Some of the cattle are pregnant - may be a wish for the gods to bring fertility to animals (food, clothes, etc.) Inside of cave - only shamans could go the farthest. Scaffolding used to reach the ceiling and paint.

11. beaker w ibex motifs, susa Iran, painted terra cotta. Motifs of ibex. family crest (heirloom) very stylized with geometric shapes and orthogonals (lines).

12. stonehenge, Wiltshire UK, sandstone. Post-and-lintel system of creation. Henge is a series of menhirs. Circular, center draws the viewer in. May have been a calender to record summer solstice and winter solstice. May have been used as a place to heal sick. Could be a graveyard for dead leaders. Was built over time.