The History of Art

The past history have a huge impact on the future. From the ancient art history until current years it is safe to say that the art changed drastically, it shows that people nowadays have different values, styles and priorities in life. The past teaches people about the future and helps to avoid mistakes. In the Paleolithic period, where folks were focusing on hunting and gathering, where everyday life was dynamic, meaning they were moving from one place to another in search of better resources (Upper Paleolithic, 28) to Mesopotamian period where things were more certain and people liked to stay in one place. Paleolithic period did not consist of writing which is the main reason people can only guess and interpret the culture based on their own guesses what was the society like back then.
After looking at the art belonging to the Upper Paleolithic period Handprint at Pech-Merle, Dordogne, France it is safe to say that artists had a sense of ownership of their art. In the piece there were found several hand prints, which was a common thing for the Paleolithic art (Pech-Merle, 29). Based on a different work of art presenting in the book and during class lectures it is clear that the social hierarchy was not defined very well back then. It seems that people were all doing the same thing collectively as a community, looking for resources to make food, tools and some art. The cave paintings are a significant source proving how art was a part of everyday life routine, it was a hunting ritual. According to the textbook “Henri Breuil, believed such hand prints may have been made during initiation ceremony”(Pech-Merle,30). Perhaps, the hand prints on the painting indicated the spiritual connection between the hunter and the animal.
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... temple had four points- North, South, West and East which indicated the relationship to the sky. Only rich and people who had powerful standing were allowed in the temple. It is an example of the power structure at its finest. The sovereign was making rules and other people have to be obey them no matter what. According to ruler, poor people were allowed outside of the temple and never inside (Mesopotamia, February 5th 2014).
The earliest surviving ziggurat was located at the Uruk Period. The White Temple on its ziggurat was made of a stone with brick and asphalt. It adopt its name because of the white walls surrounding the temple (Ziggurats, 55). The temple was a sacred religious place, which was more important then the ruler's building because it was located in the center of the city. It points that people in Mesopotamia were extremely religious and obedient.