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Prehistory


Palaeolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age.



5 subcategories
Bronze Age

BRONZE AGE

Celtic

CELTIC

Iron Age

IRON AGE

Neolithic (Young Stone Age)

NEOLITHIC (YOUNG STONE AGE)

Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age)

PALAEOLITHIC (OLD STONE AGE)

1,733 photos
Phallic figurine, Natufian, c8005-c7996 BC. The natural shape of a calcite cobble has been used to represent the outline of the lovers. Their heads, arms and legs appear as raised areas around which the surface has been picked away with a stone point or chisel. The figures look at one another but have no faces. The arms of one hug the shoulders of the other and its knees are bent up underneath those of the slightly smaller figure. The image is also phallic whichever way you look at it. The piece was found by a Bedouin in the Wadi Khareitoun, and is thought to have come from the cave of Ain Sakhri. The sculpture may have had special significance, perhaps representing ideas about fertility or, reflecting new understanding of the part men played in reproduction. Less complex sculptures of phalli are known from other sites of this period. P&EE, 1958.10-7.1
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Phallic figurine, Natufian, c8005-c7996 BC. The natural shape of a calcite cobbl...

The Mold gold cape, Bronze Age, c1900-c1600 BC. The cape is one of the finest examples of prehistoric sheet-gold working and is quite unique in form and design. It was labouriously beaten out of a single ingot of gold, then embellished with intense decoration of ribs and bosses to mimic multiple strings of beads amid folds of cloth. Perforations along the upper and lower edges indicate that it was once attached to a lining, perhaps of leather, which has decayed. The bronze strips may have served to strengthen the adornment further. It was found by workmen quarrying for stone, in Flintshire, North Wales, in an ancient burial mound in 1833. The mound lay in a field named Bryn yr Ellyllon (the Fairies' or Goblins' Hill). At the centre was a stone-lined grave with the crushed gold cape around the fragmentary remains of a skeleton. The cape would have been unsuitable for everyday wear because it would have severely restricted upper arm movement. Instead it would have served ceremonial roles, and may have denoted religious authority. P&EE, 1836 9-2 1;P&EE, 1856 10-14 10;P&EE, 1857 12
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The Mold gold cape, Bronze Age, c1900-c1600 BC. The cape is one of the finest ex...

Rock painting of hunting a snake or serpent from Zamora, Ecuador
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Rock painting of hunting a snake or serpent from Zamora, Ecuador

The Gouffre at Padirac, Massif Centrale, France. The Cave has a depth of 103 m, and is 99 m around its rim. The average diameter is 35 m.
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The Gouffre at Padirac, Massif Centrale, France. The Cave has a depth of 103 m,...

The Gouffre at Padirac, France. "Virgin and Child".
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The Gouffre at Padirac, France. "Virgin and Child".

Oval chopping tool
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Oval chopping tool

Saddle quern-stone used for grinding corn. (Quern-stones are a pair of stone tools for hand grinding a wide variety of materials. The lower, stationary, stone is called a quern, whilst the upper, mobile, stone is called a handstone.) Palaeolithic stone age
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Saddle quern-stone used for grinding corn. (Quern-stones are a pair of stone too...

Arrow heads. Palaeolithic stone age
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Arrow heads. Palaeolithic stone age

Spearheads, arrows and flints from excarvations at Lisen and Ondranice.
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Spearheads, arrows and flints from excarvations at Lisen and Ondranice.

Head of ox on stone from Riparo Tagliente, Italy. Palaeolithic stone age
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Head of ox on stone from Riparo Tagliente, Italy. Palaeolithic stone age

Prehistoric stonecarvings at Siega Verde, Salamanca, Spain.
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Prehistoric stonecarvings at Siega Verde, Salamanca, Spain.

Prehistoric stonecarvings at Siega Verde, Salamanca, Spain.
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Prehistoric stonecarvings at Siega Verde, Salamanca, Spain.