Students explore how people in earlier times used art as a way to record stories and communicate ideas by studying paintings from the Cave of Lascaux and other caves in France. Three lessons on one page.

What was music like during the Stone Age? Learners listen to a CD entitled, Art of Primitive Sound as they consider the culture of people in the Stone Age. They use objects found in nature to create instruments, and then...

Students explore prehistoric times by completing web activities in class. In this human ancestry lesson, students identify the archaeological discovery of the "Lucy" skeleton and what it meant for science. Students investigate the Leakey...

Pupils create their own family crest using prior knowledge and Japanese and Native American examples of symbolic art. Lesson extensions include the creation of a school crest or woodblock examples of crests.

This is a handy study guide for key points about prehistoric times, specifically art during this period. Includes definitions and a specific details about each continent during this period.

This is the home page of the National Museum in Belgrade. The site is available in English although the revolving banner at the top of the page is written in Cyrillic. You can view items in the permanent collection, which covers...

This Ibiblio.org site is a thorough description of Japanese art and architecture. There are no pictures, but the writing makes up for this in its extensive history and descriptions.

The PBS series, titled "How Art Made the World," takes a look at the discovery of prehistoric paintings in a cave at Altamira in northern Spain. With excellent close-ups of the paintings and two video clips that help to explain the...

This site offers the first chapter of Ted Gioia's book, "The History of Jazz." This chapter focuses on the prehistory of jazz, including the Africanization of American music, country blues and classic blues, and Scott Joplin and Ragtime.

Article discussing the construction and the significance of Stonehenge. Includes links to additional information, images, and an animation.

Article discussing some of the significant changes and achievements that marked the beginning of the Neolithic era. Includes links to additional information and images.

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.

This fascinating and unique prehistoric sculpture of a dog-like animal was discovered accidentally in 1870 in Tequixquiac, Mexicocan. Anthropologists are not certain of this object's original meaning for either the artist or the people...

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.

Archaeologists believe that the Ha'il stele was probably associated with religious or burial practices, and was likely used as a grave marker in an open-air sanctuary. While we do not know who produced the stele,we continue to be...

Algeria hosts a rich rock art concentration. The most renowned of all these areas is the Tassili n'Ajjer described as "forests of stone". View pictures and read a brief history of rock art in Africa.

Tlatilco figurines are wonderful small ceramic figures, often of women, found in Central Mexico. Their intimate, lively poses and elaborate hairstyles are indicative of the already sophisticated artistic tradition.View pictures and read...

During the Neolithic period, people settle down and begin to live in one place, year after year. This leads to massive changes in art. Neolithic sculpture became bigger, in part, because people didn't have to carry it around anymore;...

Archaeologists get very excited when they find pieces of Lapita pottery. Why? Because the sequential depositing of potsherds (fragments of pottery) in an easterly direction across the island groups of the Pacific has become the pivotal...

Who was the Running Horned Woman? For so long the search for meaning in rock art was considered impossible-only recently have scholars endeavored to move beyond the mere description of images and styles using a variety of...