Article
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Origins of Rock Art in Africa

For Students 9th - 10th
Personal ornamentation and engraved designs are the earliest evidence of art in Africa and are inextricably tied up with the development of human cognition. View pictures and read about prehistoric art in Africa.
Website
PBS

Pbs: How Art Made the World

For Students 9th - 10th
A companion to the PBS series, How Art Made the World, this site shows the vital role art has played in the development of humanity beginning with very early civilizations. With text, images, and interviews with scholars, the site shows...
Activity
Other

The Cave of Chauvet Pont D' Arc

For Students 9th - 10th
The only way to see the prehistoric cave paintings at Chauvet-Pont-D' Arc, France is to take the virtual tour offered here. Learn about the discovery of the caves and the archaeological evidence found that allows great insight into the...
Website
Other

Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History: The Chumash People of California

For Students 9th - 10th
A thorough look at the Chumash people of California. Read about their unique plank canoes, basketry, language, and cave paintings. Many pictures of artifacts and drawings accompany the information.
Website
Other

Rock Art Foundation: Welcome to Rock Art of Texas

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about and view images of ancient rock art in southern Texas.
Article
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Longmen Caves, Luoyang

For Students 9th - 10th
Worship and power struggles, enlightenment and suicide-the 2300 caves and niches filled with Buddhist art at Longmen in China has witnessed it all.The steep limestone cliffs extend for almost a mile and contain approximately 110,000...
Article
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Development of the Buddha Image

For Students 9th - 10th
There is significant debate concerning the development of the Buddha image-where it first occurred, why, and when. This article traces the history of the Buddha image through two centers of artistic production: Gandhara and Mathura.
Lesson Plan
California State University

Cave Painting

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
This cave painting lesson is to be used in conjunction with the fictional novel, "Boy of the Painted Cave" by Justin Denzel. With or without the book this lesson will give learners an opportunity to dive into history and recreate art...
Website
Smart History

Smarthistory: Paleolithic Art, an Introduction

For Students 9th - 10th
Art history and culture website introduces us to the Paleolithic art found in the caves of France. With links to additional resources.
Article
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Paleolithic Art, an Introduction

For Students 9th - 10th
Humans make art. We do this for many reasons and with whatever technologies are available to us. This essay describes some of the earliest forms of art made by humans.
Graphic
New York Times

New York Times: Timeline of Art From the Late Stone Age

For Students 9th - 10th
Find examples of Paleolithic art, including a recently discovered Venus figurine, drawings from the caves at Chauvet and Lascaux, and the Venus of Willendorf in this brief timeline. Examples span a 30,000-year range, approximately, from...
Graphic
Curated OER

Unesco: Spain: Cave of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain

For Students 9th - 10th
Seventeen decorated caves of the Paleolithic age were inscribed as an extension to the Altamira Cave, inscribed in 1985. The property will now appear on the List as Cave of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain. The...
Website
South Carolina Educational Television

Kids Work!: History of Telecommunications

For Students 9th - 10th
An in-depth look at inventions and developments that had an impact on telecommunication.
Article
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Apollo 11 Stones

For Students 9th - 10th
The Apollo 11 Stones remain the oldest examples of figurative art from the African continent. Their discovery contributes to our conception of early humanity's creative attempts, before the invention of formal writing, to express their...
Article
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Decolonizing the Map: Creating the Indigenous Mapping Collective

For Teachers 9th - 10th
For many Indigenous communities, mapping plays a large role in reclaiming their lands. Mapping is not new to Indigenous peoples, in fact, some of the world's earliest maps can be seen in cave paintings or heard in the stories that have...
Lesson Plan
American Geosciences Institute

American Geosciences Institute: Earth Science Week: Rock Art in the National Parks

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students learn the importance of protecting pictographs as part of their geologic heritage by making their own paint using natural ingredients to create art.
Website
Other

American Computer Museum

For Students 9th - 10th
This site presents a pictorial timeline of technology developments.
Article
Other

Hallado en Cantabria Un Friso De Arte Rupestre Anterior a Altamira

For Students 9th - 10th
Article from the Spanish newspaper El Pais about the discovery of prehistoric paintings in a cave in Cantabria. (Published Aug. 28, 1997)
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: The Dawn of Art

For Students 9th - 10th
The images in this video come from Chauvet Cave, an ancient rock art site in France. Watch the video and try to imagine the kind of people that created the art. There are no words in this video, so check out the Dig Deeper section for...
Website
Other

The Texas Archeological Society

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A superb resource for teachers of social and natural sciences, as well as for parents and youth. Links take you to educational sites that explain the "acheological process and discovery," to lesson plans on fitting archeology into the...
Article
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Lascaux

For Students 9th - 10th
The Caves of Lascaux are the most famous of all of the known caves in southwestern France because of what is contained inside - painted and engraved walls. These cave paintings have shown the very human need to communicate in the form of...
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Neh: Edsit Ement: Lascaux: La Vie en Caverne!

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
In this lesson plan, students will consider "Lascaux: La Vie en Caverne!." The plan includes worksheets and other student materials that can be found under the resource tab.