At the end of the Ice Age the great herds that had provided sustenance for the Paleolithic hunters disappeared from France and Spain. Forests cloaked the landscape and harbored much smaller groups of deer and related species. These were fleet and elusive and, in consequence, much more difficult to hunt and kill. Thus, although the climate was warmer than before, it was much harder to live by hunting alone. Humans had to modify their hunting techniques and forage for the seeds and fruits that the forests provided, or the fish and shellfish that they could find in rivers or on the coasts. Cooperation was essential, and the new situation is clearly reflected in the art of the period.
In the southern and eastern parts of what is now Spain, small bands of such hunter-gatherers left a record of their activities in the rock shelters where they camped periodically. In some ways the new paintings resemble the old. Although a simple silhouette technique for the most part replaced the outline and shading techniques of the Paleolithic style, facility of brushwork and accuracy of observation continued to imbue the new creations with a vivacity and sense of movement similar to those of their predecessors. There are obvious conceptual differences between the two artistic complexes, however. The new paintings constitute the first real compositions having a clear narrative meaning, and humans finally emerge as the chief actors in the dramas played out on the rock walls. At Remigia three hunters are depicted stalking a leaping ibex, while at Los Caballos a line of archers fires arrows into a small herd of panic-stricken deer, presumably driven into the ambush by beaters. Scenes of battle or groups of dancers also occur, while social status is implied in a carefully executed archer found at Santolea: he is dressed in painstakingly portrayed finery and is flanked by two other figures. This emphasis on humans is new, but even more significant is the element of cooperation as part of a group whose social cohesion in warfare, hunting, or ritual was probably necessary if the group was to survive and prosper.
Neolithic
The subsequent Neolithic Period saw the introduction from western Asia of farming and the raising of domesticated animals. The new way of life appeared in the Balkans sometime before 6000 bce and rapidly spread across Europe. For the first time humans were able to live a relatively settled village life and accumulate a wide range of household goods. Thus far, there is no evidence that the farming communities decorated their house walls with painted designs, as their Asiatic mentors had done; the latterâs walls, as in the shrines at ĂatalhĂŒyĂŒk in Turkey, were often embellished with ambitious decorative schemes. In different places and at different times the European farmers did indeed indulge their aesthetic drive by producing highly decorated painted pottery whose patterns reflect contemporary basketwork or textiles.
Aegean and eastern Mediterranean Metal Age
In Greece and the Aegean, influence from the adjacent areas of western Asia helped promote the rise of small towns by about 3000 bce. The cultural development is usually divided into three separate strands: Minoan on Crete, Cycladic on the islands of the central Aegean, and Helladic on the Greek mainland. A fourth area, Cyprus, is often included in this development, though its culture was closer to those of Syria and Asia Minor, and it was only during the 13th century bce that Greek invaders brought Cyprus fully into the Aegean orbit.
The Metal Age in Europe started in the early 3rd millennium bce, when the peoples around the Aegean Sea began to work copper, under the influence of the neighboring peoples of western Asia. By 2500 bce coppersmiths were also active across the Alps. Bronze began to be used in Europe at the beginning of the 2nd millennium bce, and iron was used in Greece by the 11th century bce and north of the Alps by the 8th century bce. Bronze was always a luxury item because the sources of its constituent metals, tin and copper, occurred in scattered deposits, often far from the producing centers. Its use, therefore, encouraged trade. But iron, when it came into use, was cheaper and easier to work; moreover, the ore lodes were often close at hand. Its use, especially for agricultural implements, allowed more intensive exploitation of the countryside, especially those areas where heavy soils had precluded farming with basic tools. The end of this period is usually placed at the point where written records supplement the archaeological record. In Greece and Italy this happened during the 8th century bce or a little later, whereas in northwestern Europe the Celtic and Germanic peoples had to wait for the Roman conquests of the 1st century bce before emerging into history. Beyond the imperial frontiers old patterns continued longer. Throughout this long period it was the Mediterranean, with its flourishing towns and cities, that produced major works of painting.
Early Bronze Age (3000â2000 bce)
Early Minoan
In Crete the Early Minoan peoples lived in small towns and villages with a basically agricultural economy. Although traces of their houses have been preserved, it is clear that they did not paint their walls with decorative designs. The fine plaster introduced at this time, however, did provide the basis for later developments. Their pottery was at first plain or decorated with simple, arresting patterns of straight lines. (Pottery is an important source for modern knowledge of painting in the last three millennia bce because, although fired clay objectsâeven when decoratedâmay be broken, they are not easily pulverized, so many fragments have survived.) In the following phase (2500â2200 bce) a similar style flourished, though other vases with a mottled surface imitating variegated stones were produced. During the third phase (2200â2000 bce) most fine vases were decorated with designs in white or cream paint on a dark ground. Elegant running spirals and other curvilinear motifs, as well as the occasional use of other colors, revolutionized the style and paved the way for the advances of the Middle Minoan period.
Early Cycladic
In the islands there was some interest in painted designs. Most decoration consisted of incised or impressed geometric schemes, though there were examples of vases with similar designs in paint. The typical pottery of the second and third phases (2500â2000 bce) was decorated in semilustrous paint, either as an allover wash or in angular patterns. The white marble sculptures with which the Cyclades are most often associated were also probably painted to suggest facial and anatomical details, garments, jewelry, and tattoos.
Early Helladic
On the Greek mainland there was a similar lack of interest in painted decoration on pots. Although monumental buildings have been found in the Peloponnese dating to the Early Helladic II period (2500â2200 bce), none of these had decorated walls. New settlers arrived about 2200 bce and destroyed the old centers of power. Their houses were uncomplicated affairs and only a few of their finer vases bore painted designs, these being of straight lines or other simple patterns.