LECTURE No. 15. Culture of the primitive era

1. General characteristics of the period

The culture of the primitive era is the foundation of all subsequent culture of mankind. Many phenomena of the life of modern society originate in the deep antiquity of the primitive era:

1) language;

2) writing;

3) art;

4) religion;

5) mythology;

6) science;

7) morality, etc.

Some modern problems are entirely or partially solved on the basis of the study of the primitive era: the history of the emergence of man, the origin of races, peoples, the emergence of mythology, religion, art, etc. It should be noted that the primitive era has not gone irrevocably into the past. It still continues to exist in local areas:

1) the Amazon jungle;

2) in the central regions of Africa;

3) on the islands of Oceania;

4) in the interior of Australia.

The primitive era covers a huge period from the appearance of man to the emergence of the first class societies and states, as well as writing. The human race has existed for about 2,5 million years. Homo sapiense (reasonable man) is only about 40 thousand years old.

2. Material culture

Man has been using tools for more than 2 million years. This opened up wide opportunities for him:

1) use of natural resources;

2) adaptation to the environment;

3) collective hunting;

4) protection from enemies.

During the Neolithic period:

1) tools are being improved;

2) methods of stone processing (sawing, drilling, grinding);

3) bows, arrows, pottery appear.

Along with hunting, fishing, gathering, agriculture and cattle breeding are spreading. These two great achievements of the primitive economy made man a man.

The most important prerequisite for the decomposition of primitive society was the transition to the use of metals.

3. The emergence of art. Mythology

With the advent of art, a qualitative leap took place in the development of human society. Primitive art has become a new phenomenon.

The starting point of human artistic creativity could be: his aesthetic needs, sexual instinct, mythological thinking, religious practice, the need to consolidate and transfer the accumulated experience, the need for entertainment, etc.

Biological and cultural development has helped man to use symbols. No living being, except man, has this ability.

Mythology occupies an important place in primitive culture. It, being the main form of a person's worldview at an early stage of development, shows how he realizes himself, the world around him and his place in this world.

Literature was also formed on the basis of various forms of verbal creativity. From mythology, such forms of social consciousness emerged as:

1) art;

2) political ideology, etc.

In ancient times, man did not yet distinguish himself from the environment. He transferred his own properties, feelings to natural objects, endowed them with souls and spirits.

The most important feature of the myth is that by replacing some symbols in the myth with others, it makes the described objects more accessible for understanding.

As studies have shown, in the early stages of development, myths were primitive and brief. Later, mythology turned into an extended system of myths connected with each other, forming branched cycles. This is how it turned out:

1) antique;

2) Old Slavonic;

3) Scandinavian mythology, etc.

Scientists distinguish several types of myths:

1) anthropogonic;

2) solar;

3) lunar;

4) astral;

5) zooanthropomorphic;

6) cosmogonic;

7) theogonic, etc.

One of the most common forms of primitive beliefs was the cult of ancestors - the veneration of the spirits of deceased relatives. It was believed that these spirits, evil and good, can influence people's lives. There were many ways in which people tried to propitiate the spirits of their ancestors and neutralize their evil will. Varieties of primitive beliefs are:

1) animism;

2) totemism;

3) fetishism.

The development of agriculture in the late period of the primitive era required the ordering of the calendar, and consequently, astronomical observations. Irrigation work led to the formation of the technique of geometric calculations, the development of exchange - to the improvement of counting systems. Ultimately, all this led to the accumulation of mathematical knowledge. Diseases, epidemics, wars forced the use and improvement of primitive medicine. Land and sea movements served as an incentive for the development of geography and cartography. And with the advent of the smelting of ore metals, the foundations of chemistry were born.

4. Visual arts

In the primitive era, all types of fine arts were formed:

1) graphics (drawings, silhouettes);

2) painting (images in color, made with mineral paints);

3) sculpture (figures carved from stone or molded from clay);

4) decorative art (carving on wood, stone, bone; reliefs, ornaments).

The origins of such types of artistic creativity go back to ancient times, such as:

1) music;

2) singing;

3) dance;

4) theatrical performances.

The first works of primitive art that have come down to us belong to the Upper Paleolithic, their age is about 40 thousand years. Among them, a special place is occupied by the so-called "Venuses" - images, apparently associated with the cult of the mother ancestress. Generalized expressive images of animals were found: a mammoth, a horse, a deer, a bear, a bison, scenes of hunting for them.

At the end of the XIX century. primitive cave painting was discovered (Altamir cave in Spain). Later, researchers discovered dozens of similar caves in Spain, France, and also in Russia (Kapova Cave, South Urals).

The early period of development of rock art was characterized by:

1) primitive drawings;

2) unclear signs;

3) wavy lines;

4) handprints.

Towards the end of the first period, uncertain contour drawings of animals appear, which begin to fill in with paint. The second period is characterized by a transition from a contour, planar image to the transfer of volume and individual details. In the third period, cave art reached its greatest heights. The paintings are striking in their:

1) scale and realism;

2) the perfection of the transfer of volumes;

3) proportions of figures;

4) perspective;

5) movement;

6) the use of polychromy.

Later, a simplification of the image is observed, the figures become symbols.

5. The emergence of writing

The emergence of writing was of great importance. Modern letter-sound systems of writing were preceded by its various forms, one of the first being pictographic writing, consisting of individual specific images.

With the onset of the Mesolithic era, the image begins to dominate the person. Color and volume give way to movement. If Paleolithic cave painting consists of many figures that are compositionally unrelated to each other, then multi-figure rock art reproduces hunting scenes, honey gathering, ritual actions, dances, battles, etc.

In the Neolithic era, art undergoes profound qualitative changes. Culture ceases to be unified, it acquires distinct features and original character in different territories.

6. Further development of abstract thinking, accumulation of rational knowledge

With the development of abstract thinking, language, mythology, religion, the accumulation of rational knowledge, a person had a need to embody complex images in art: the sun, earth, fire, water. An ornament consisting of stylized abstract motifs is gaining popularity: a cross, a circle, a spiral, a triangle, a square, etc.

At the same time, there is a desire to decorate all the objects that a person used. Ornament or individual symbols covered ancient ceramics - the most common type of decorative art. The man adorned himself:

1) body coloring;

2) necklaces;

3) beads;

4) bracelets.

Among the most mysterious phenomena of primitive art is a group of megalithic monuments:

1) menhirs;

2) dolmens;

3) cromlechs.

Megalithic structures were the prototype of monumental architecture. Already on the threshold of the emergence of the first civilizations, cyclopean or raw fortifications, temples, tombs appeared, which in turn was associated with the stratification of society into classes, the separation of the nobility, the complication of religious ideas and religious practice.

The accumulated archaeological data make it possible to trace the emergence and development of other types of primitive artistic creativity:

1) music;

2) dance;

3) theatrical performance;

4) applied arts.

Found tubular bones with drilled holes on the sides, drilled horns, animal skulls with traces of numerous blows are examples of the first wind and percussion musical instruments. Dance also occupied an important place in the system of primitive art. The dances were:

1) ritual;

2) military;

3) hunting;

4) male;

5) women's, etc.

Dance is closely intertwined with theatrical performance. With a great deal of confidence, one can also guess about the existence in this era of the most accessible type of creativity - oral folk:

1) songs;

2) stories;

3) fairy tales;

4) myths;

5) epics.

Primitive art became the beginning of a figurative reflection of the surrounding world, a means of its knowledge, as well as the formation of the inner world of the person himself. The study of the monuments of primitive art allows us to trace the evolution of styles, forms, means and methods of artistic creativity, to understand the patterns of formation and development of the entire world artistic culture.

Author: Konstantinova S.V.

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