Please respond by January 26 to this question:
Why would prehistoric humans decorate an object?
Professor M. Och
ARTH 114 and ARTH 115: Introduction to Western Art, University of Mary Washington
Please respond by January 26 to this question:
Why would prehistoric humans decorate an object?
Prehistoric humans could’ve decorated objects to possibly show ownership of the item. In very early and primitive cultures, the artistic items could have been offerings to royals or gods, so they would have wanted them to be asthetically pleasing.
Prehistoric humans would decorate an object because it could be a beautiful image thats stuck in their head and need to get it on a canvas or picture. Another is because the artist is trying to relay a story about a memory that happened previously in the past. People of different backgrounds and cultures might have decorated objects that resemble gods that they worship or for sacrificial purposes to keep gods to keep gods happy.
It might have to do societal development in expression, not only that but to also tell a story that would seem epic or amazing.
Perhaps prehistoric humans had a number of different reasons to decorate objects. In decorating a wall with such subject matter as animals, they could be painting a successful hunt and maybe appealing to their gods to have continual successful hunts. Perhaps those humans would transfer that art or their own style of art to their own objects like tools or statues to invoke that same luck in hunting, childbirth, gathering, etc. Or, maybe designs were aesthetically pleasing and could reflect elements of nature in some symbols.
I think that prehistoric humans were decorating objects to imitate or visualize certain things in nature. Nature played a major factor in their everyday lives as these prehistoric humans had to learn, live and grow in nature. These decorative objects in a way give thanks to nature and all that encompasses it. Also, since nature is all that these people knew their thoughts are consumed my images that surrounded them or held significance.
I think prehistoric humans started to decorate objects because they started to develop what we think of as creativity and used object decoration to convey stories or to distinguish items for a particular group of people. The act of deliberately decorating an item shows that prehistoric humans were able to think about their world like us and depict it in a way that they could understand.
Prehistoric humans decorated objects and ascribed to them the power of the amulets and fetishes.
Their main purpose was to secure safety and help in the fight against harsh nature .
Decorating objects may have been a way for prehistoric humans to communicate ideas with others and keeps records. In this way, the meaning of certain objects and places could be known and understood by others.
It is instinctual for humans to groom and manipulate. We find well crafted aesthetics pleasing. Even before culture and civilization, it has always been man’s need to create. Tools were not just the foundation of human survival, they sparked the need to make something new and useful. That desire arose and grew, the use of decorations allows man to look through a lens into himself. Creation is tool for navigating through the chaos of life. When anything is made, the human brain goes into a state of recovery, as if healing itself. I do not know if this has always been the case, but this calming and restorative effect evolved nonetheless. Also, simply because he wanted to. There is a sense of pride in making something beautiful, from only the thoughts and intentions to do so. Merely decorating objects was the beginning of a life long marriage between human beings and their art.
There is not real answer for why Prehistoric humans decorated objects but they followed their maternal instincts which allowed to to create, build, and expand the human mind.
Prehistoric people may have decorated objects because of a multitude of reasons. Seeing as how many pieces of art combine some animal with that of human features, I believe that objects were decorated out of personal curiosity and belief. Although this could also be linked to social standing and decorative measures, we can only speculate their true intentions behind these ancient artifacts.
I think that prehistoric humans decorated objects because creating art has always been a fundamental part of human nature. Instead of being wholly utilitarian, tools and other objects are made into something useful and beautiful because people have always made art as an expression of themselves.
Prehistoric humans may have started to decorate objects to demonstrate their creativity with their culture or religion. They also may have decorated items in the sense of showing pride or even communicating by creating a statement of artwork.
Prehistoric humans may have decorated objects for worship / or their religious values at the time . The objects that were decorated could’ve also been used as icons during the practice of their prayer .As this can relate to when christians wear a cross to represent their faith , the prehistoric humans used the objects for the same representation purposes .
It is possible that prehistoric humans decorated objects as a way of distinguishing themselves from other groups. Similar to how modern day humans have family names or flags to categorize, prehistoric humans may have used certain ways of decorating represent a group they associate with.
In the past ( and maybe the present) it is known that some groups of humans honor and worship animals and nature. Maybe they decorated objects to worship and show respect to animals/nature??
I’m of the opinion that prehistoric humans were far too preoccupied with sustaining themselves through hunting, gathering, and traveling to decorate objects simply for the sake of the aesthetic appeal. Rather, I feel that such techniques would not occur unless it proved to be practical and beneficial for these humans beyond simply being nice to look at. The first theory that comes to mind is distinction, not so much to show off anything, but rather so they could tell the difference between their own possessions, should they ever cross paths with other groups of nomads who had similar tools and objects. Another major theory I have is that these prehistoric groups were trying to communicate something that modern scholars cannot yet decipher. As advanced and sophisticated as the decorations may be for the time in which they were created, the decorations and images are still unfortunately too simplistic and generalized for us to agree on a single concrete message, assuming such was the original intention. I personally try to avoid the religious theory (in artifacts from every time period, not just this one) mainly because these early humans had not yet been able to develop verbal communication. Without the capability of speech, there is very little to no opportunities to exchange existential ideas with other group members or other nomad groups. Given that the lifestyle of these early humans is lacking any permanence, since they are obliged to travel where their main food source is abundant (as harvesting is still unheard of at this point), I feel it is safe to assume that every member of these groups would have their own tasks and assignments that would be integral to the group’s longevity. That being said, I would theorize that these prehistoric humans each held a sense of purpose sufficient, that the need to question the reasons behind their own existence was basically invalid, as everyone had a task, and everyone played an important role in the group. Which brings me back to my original theories, that such decorations, while appealing to the eye, would have been intended to serve far more practical purposes like communication or distinction to avoid confusion. Didn’t mean for this to turn into an almost essay, sorry about that!
Prehistoric humans I think started to think out of the box when they started creating art work. I think some of the artwork that many created that portrayed animals and beings that don’t actually exist, at least we can’t say that they exist because we have no proof of it, showed a start to a world of imagination throughout humans because we were able to think of things that didn’t actually exist. We could put the body parts of different animals and mix and mingle because they figured out they weren’t just limited to reality.
Prehistoric humans may have decorated objects in order to show newly found creativity. With the new findings of color with ocher and charcoal, it could have been appeasing to their eyes. It may have been used to tell stories or instructions to do certain task. It could also be spiritual if they wanted to be represent as something else with the example of “The Lion Man.” We may never know the true meaning to why prehistoric humans decorated their objects, but so far it showed that art and humans will always coexist in many different ways.
Prehistoric humans, upon their discovery of charcoal and clay, may have used these mediums as a way to communicate with each other or to state ownership of an item. They also may have decorated objects simply for pleasure and as a way of expressing early forms of creativity.
I think Prehistoric humans decorated objects to potentially show value, explore creativity, but also I think it is important to examine the historical context of the time period. What did they value as a society? What did the decorations symbolize? Strength? Divinity? I think they were very intentionally placed on the objects, not just randomly placed, or they weren’t just trying things out.
It is hard to say why exactly prehistoric humans would decorate objects, since there is no written account. In my opinion Prehistoric humans would decorate object for a number of reasons. Reason one, to convey a message about different things that were going on in that area, to state to others that came across that area about the objects, animals, etc. Reason two, to paint and show what happened that day, to tell a story without words to show to others in that groups the accomplishments that had been done that day. Reason three, there is no record of religion but objects like the Woman of Willendorf could be a fertility goddess or something the could be a goddess. Things like the atlatl shown in class could represent hunting gods or things of that sort. Of course this is all speculation.
Prehistoric humans may have made and decorated objects for various reasons. The decoration of useful objects such as tools and weapons may suggest that they may have had some religious or spiritual significance. On the other hand, the objects may have been decorated because it was aesthetically pleasing to the person. During this time period it was common to see body art, cave paintings, carvings, and tools with etchings (designs). Although not very sophisticated people, they were able to express different artistic abilities to portray religious, spiritual, and lifestyle qualities they may have valued.
We will truly never understand what was going through the minds of these prehistoric humans. Be it creativity to draw figures that are present during their time, the possible explanation to others of what something may look like, appeasing a or multiple deities for unexplainable reasons, or to tell stories of creatures, objects, or what they personally went through. I believe that prehistoric humans tried to explain what something may be or further, a story of explanation of a creature, object, or a narrative.
Prehistoric humans could have decorated objects for any number of reasons. In my opinion, it is most likely that they did it for aesthetic, or religious/superstitious purposes. It seems natural to want to beautify your surroundings and by creating art, that is exactly what one does. As I stated earlier, I also believe that religion and superstition both played roles in the daily lives of prehistoric humans, especially when it came to hunting.
Prehistoric people may have decorated items in an attempt to show ownership, or simply even fill their time. They may have been honing in on skills with the tools in which they crafted art. Perhaps making art was part of various rituals or forms of visual communication.
Prehistoric humans could have decorated objects to claim them as theirs and so they wouldn’t get them mixed up with others. They could have painted on the walls to say that there is a good amount of food in that area or to tell other groups that there was danger around. Most of all I think they were doing it to have fun and take a break from hunting.
During the Prehistoric there wasn’t really a concept of monetary value. I believe that the level of decoration or adornment of an item correlates with its value. The more intricate and detailed an item is, the more it is worth. Also, the amount of time put into decorating a piece amounts to it’s value as well. So instead of having a currency, prehistoric people might have used decorated items to trade or benefit from based off of the level of intricacy.
one possible reason would be to give an object more worth or value for spiritual reasons. this does not have to be limited to a kind of monotheistic view of religion but instead more of a pagonistic kind with multiple deities or gods. an example could be for a health birth, leading the artist to make a women holding a child or as we saw a half man half cat which could have been the artist asking for the traits of the cat while they hunt.
I think that prehistoric people would decorate objects that had a lot of importance to their lives. This can be seen in the cave paintings of buffalo and horses. They most likely lived in these caves, and they decorated the caves with what was, most likely, their main sources of food. However, I think the act of decorating objects also partially stemmed from the free time that the hunters and gatherers.
I think that people long before us decorated rocks for many reasons. I think the most basic reason we can assume is that they used the drawings or paintings as location markers. Another reason is that they could be depicting some event that happened in their lives. One way to re-live a memory is based on visual cues.
Humans are born with an innate aesthetic value, and therefore had the desire to decorate objects.
I think that prehistoric people would decorate objects because it allowed them to express themselves. It provided an outlet for their thoughts and possibly gave them a way to mark important events. Also, decorating things was probably a good way to pass the time.
I think that prehistoric people would decorate objects because it allows your creative side to form and they were able to express themselves on a canvas like image. It was more like a canvas for them to keep track of anything or just to be able to write their thoughts down.
As we saw with the Woman of Willendorf, decoration could just be to more accurately represent something, like hair. In other cases, like the cave paintings in Lascaux, decorating a cave wall will obviously not be seen by many more people than the people actually creating it, so it could be created out of boredom, fascination (with the animals they interact with every day), or as a means of communication with other people.
Humans have always been creative and the decoration of these ancient artifacts is just one form of expression that they used. The purpose behind the decoration of these objects could be multiple reasons. I believe the decoration of objects was a way that ancient humans used to communicate their thoughts and expressions, whether it be to relay or leave a message or to express their worship to higher individuals.
I think prehistoric humans probably decorated objects because of a genuine interest in them.They were most likely fascinated with the subject matter and therefore had a desire to learn more about it. Much like today when you like something you want to remember it and think of it often and pretty much the only way to do that back then was create art or go out and see what you were thinking about.
It is a possibility that these prehistoric humans would decorate objects to show possession. To indicate to other humans that the object was theirs and no one else’s. Another possibility is that they were decorating objects to express themselves because other than the making of these objects, the prehistoric humans were mainly focused on survival.
Although there is nothing to definitively answer the question why prehistoric humans decorated objects, it is possible that they used decoration to assert their social status or to communicate with others. Surfaces such as cave walls and ceramics allowed these prehistoric humans to use different media to communicate without a language.
Prehistoric humans decorated objects because they wanted to make things more beautiful and neat. They also decorated objects to communicate messages about themselves to their culture or make markings of areas to hunt. They also decorate objects to give praise to gods or whoever they worshiped like their kings or rulers.