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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
The Londesborough Brooch, Irish, 8th-9th century. The Londesborough brooch is unusual in that all its fine decoration is cast and no filigree was used. The brooch is a heavy silver ring cast with complex patterns of interlace, spirals, animal and bird motifs and then thickly gilded on the front. Seven circular amber settings on the hoop compliment the gold. The pin was made from three pieces and the head is decorated in a style to match the hoop, with a large domed boss and amber at its centre. Two L-shaped fields at the top corners once held blue glass. The back of the brooch is also decorated with amber and has as well two inset gilt-bronze discs with Celtic triskeles. M&ME, 1888,7-19,101
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The Londesborough Brooch, Irish, 8th-9th century. The Londesborough brooch is un...

Lady of Elche. Painted limestone bust; from L'Alcúdia, Spain; 4th century BCE. The famous but controversial "Lady of Elche" (Dama d'Elx in Catalan, Dama de Elche in Spanish) is a polychrome stone bust that was revealed as found by chance in 1897 at L'Alcúdia, an archaeological site that was on a private estate about 2 km, south of Elx (Spanish Elche) (Alicante, Land of Valencia, Spain). The Lady of Elx is generally believed to be Iberian art of the 4th century BCE, or of the Hellenistic or the Roman periods. The bust is usually thought to represent a woman wearing a very complex headdress and big coils on each side of the face. A minority interpretation sees it representing a man.
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Lady of Elche. Painted limestone bust; from L'Alcúdia, Spain; 4th century BCE....

Bronze dagger and scabbard with figures of animals. Celtic; 6th century BCE.
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Bronze dagger and scabbard with figures of animals. Celtic; 6th century BCE.

Bronze fibula in shape of a human figure. Celtic; from Hradek near Manetin, Bohemia; 450 BCE.
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Bronze fibula in shape of a human figure. Celtic; from Hradek near Manetin, Boh...

Animal merchant. Detail of the middle zone of the embossed and engraved sheet-bronze Benvenuti Situla from Este, Italy. Height of the frieze: 5.5cm Inv. 4667
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Animal merchant. Detail of the middle zone of the embossed and engraved sheet-b...

Bronze leaf depicting woman in sacred ceremonial dress. From Este, Italy; 6th century BCE.
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Bronze leaf depicting woman in sacred ceremonial dress. From Este, Italy; 6th c...

Terracotta ossuary. From Este, Italy; 8th century BCE.
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Terracotta ossuary. From Este, Italy; 8th century BCE.

Bronze-mounted wooden bucket. Celtic; from Aylesbury, Great Britain; 1st century BCE.
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Bronze-mounted wooden bucket. Celtic; from Aylesbury, Great Britain; 1st centur...

Head of Gaul,from the Monastery of Tapa-Kalan, Hadda,Afghanistan. 3rd-4th CE Stucco,11,5 x 7,7 x 5,5 cm TK 68
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Head of Gaul,from the Monastery of Tapa-Kalan, Hadda,Afghanistan. 3rd-4...

Head of Gaul,from the Monastery of Tapa-Kalan, Hadda,Afghanistan. 3rd-4th CE Stucco,10 x 6 x 6,9 cm TK 67
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Head of Gaul,from the Monastery of Tapa-Kalan, Hadda,Afghanistan. 3rd-4...

Stone relief from the Apadana (audience hall) at Persepolis, Achaemenid Persian, from Persepolis, south-west Iran, 6th-5th century BC. This broken relief from the Persian royal capital Persepolis depicts a row of so-called Susian guards. They are very similar to figures formed from moulded glazed bricks from the city of Susa. They may represent the 'immortals' who made up the king's personal bodyguard. Towards the end of the reign of the Persian king Cambyses a revolt broke out. On his way to deal with the problem, Cambyses was accidentally killed. The rebellion was eventually crushed by a group of seven conspirators and one of them, Darius, became the next king. He was keen to stress his legitimacy and founded Persepolis as a new royal centre. His successors Xerxes, Artaxerxes I and Artaxerxes III continued to build at Persepolis.The most important structures were built on a terrace of natural rock which rose above the surrounding plain. Remains of some fifteen major buildings survive, including the Apadana or audience hall. This relief comes from the north side of the east wing of the Apadana, where the figures decorated a staircase. The reliefs originally showed the enthroned Persian king in the centre, while towards him moved processions of tribute bearers representing twenty-three different subject peoples.Persepolis was destroyed by Alexander the Great in 330 BC. ANE, 118838
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Stone relief from the Apadana (audience hall) at Persepolis, Achaemenid Persian,...

Gold model chariot from the Oxus treasure, Achaemenid Persian, from the region of Takht-i Kuwad, Tadjikistan, 5th-4th century BC. This remarkable model is one of the most outstanding pieces in the Oxus treasure, which dates mainly from the 5th and 4th centuries BC, and is the most important surviving collection of gold and silver to have survived from the Achaemenid period. The model chariot is pulled by four horses or ponies. In it are two figures wearing Median dress. The Medes were from Iran, the centre of the Achaemenid empire. The front of the chariot is decorated with the Egyptian dwarf-god Bes, a popular protective deity. ANE, 123908
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Gold model chariot from the Oxus treasure, Achaemenid Persian, from the region o...