The Cambridge Illustrated History of Prehistoric Art
The Cambridge Illustrated History of Prehistoric Art
Desmond Morris
Out of Print
Beautifully illustrated in colour with many rare and unique photographs, prints, and drawings, The Cambridge Illustrated History of Prehistoric Art presents the first balanced and truly world-wide survey of prehistoric art. The book also offers the first detailed account of how the world of scholarship became aware of the existence of prehistoric art, reproducing the very earliest drawings by explorers and surveyors from the 1600s onwards to create a unique pictorial as well as discursive resource. With this powerful combination of illustration and analysis, Paul Bahn describes what prehistoric art is and the different ways in which it can shed light on the lives and preoccupations of our ancestors: sexual, humorous, social, economic, and religious.
- The first book to present an account of how prehistoric art was discovered by the world of scholarship, what it consists of, how it can shed light on the lives of our ancestors
- Only truly world-wide survey of prehistoric art covering all prehistoric eras, not just Europe or the Ice Age
- Superb photographs from inaccessible sites, and prints of very early reproductions of ancient art by travellers, explorers, and surveyors
- Uniquely illustrated subject resource of art not only unknown to the public, but also to many archaeologists, let alone art historians
Reviews & endorsements
'Paul Bahn's expertise gives a welcome global perspective to prehistoric art and provides plenty of surprises, even for those with some knowledge of the subject.' The Financial Times
'Presents the first balanced and truly world-wide survey of prehistoric art.' Art Book Review Quarterly
' … the most comprehensive treatise on prehistoric art to date … lucid and descriptive, satisfying to the advanced anthropologist or artist while quite comprehensible to uninitiated readers … highly recommended'. Choice
' … beautifully edited … Bahn has authored a book that will be useful to nonspecialist professionals and students with interests in the fasinating subject of parietal art.' American Antiquity
Product details
November 1997Hardback
9780521454735
334 pages
261 × 212 × 29 mm
1.42kg
164 colour illus. 1 map
Unavailable - out of print March 2011
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- 1. The 'discovery' of prehistoric art
- 2. The nineteenth century: prehistoric art comes into its own
- 3. Bodies and objets d'art - the art of the object
- 4. Art on rocks and walls
- 5. Putting things in order: dating techniques and criteria
- 6. Matters of the body: objects of art
- 7. Matters of the mind: reasons for art
- 8. The future of prehistoric art
- Epilogue
- Glossary
- Further reading
- Map of sites
- Index.
