Art, Society and Religion in the Paleolithic

Pre-requisites: None

Course objectives: Introducing students to testimonies of symbolic thinking, social organization, art and the system of beliefs in the Paleolithic.

Course description: The course deals with the archaeological record pertaining to the social and spiritual life of the Paleolithic societies. This course will review artistic objects, cave art, burial, cult objects, everyday objects and their social role.

Learning Outcomes: Seminar and oral examination.

Art, Society and Religion in the Paleolithic

Pre-requisites: None

Course objectives: Introducing students to testimonies of symbolic thinking, social organization, art and the system of beliefs in the Paleolithic.

Course description: The course deals with the archaeological record pertaining to the social and spiritual life of the Paleolithic societies. This course will review artistic objects, cave art, burial, cult objects, everyday objects and their social role.

Learning Outcomes: Seminar and oral examination.

Literature/Reading:

• P. G. Bahn, J. Vertut 1997, Journey through the Ice Age, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London.
• J. Flood 1995, Archaeology of the Dreamtime, Angus & Robertson, Sydney
• C. Gamble 1999, The Palaeolithic Societies of Europe, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
• A. Leroi Gourhan 1971, Préhistoire de l’Art Occidental, Mazenod, Paris
• A. Leroa Guran 1991, Religije prethistorije, Plato, Beograd
• T. D. Price, J. A. Brown (eds.) 1985, Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherer – The Emergence of Cultural Complexity, Academic Press, Orlando
• J. Riel-Salvatore, G.A. Clark 2001, Grave Markers - Paleolithic Burials and the Use of Chronotypology in Contemporary Palaeolithic Research, Current Anthropology, Vol. 42, N 4, August-October.
• P. J. Ucko, A. Rosenfeld 1966, L’Art paléolithique, Librairie Hachette, Paris
• D. Lewis-Williams 2004, The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art, Thames and Hudson.