U N I T 1 THE ANCIENT WORLD What were the first expressions of art and how did they develop? From Prehistory to Ancient Egypt, passing through Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, you will discover the roots of the History of Art. A. PREHISTORY Cave paintings Cave paintings are pictures found on cavern walls, floors and ceilings, which involve the application of pigments. They date back to 40,000 years ago in both Asia and Europe. Cave paintings may have been a way of communicating with other people, or the link to a religious or ceremonial purpose. According to carbon dating, the earliest known cave paintings of animals are at least 35,000 years old, and were found in 2014 at Maros on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. Stonehenge Stonehenge is a (1) ............................ circle of upright stones in Wiltshire, in South West England. The construction of the (2) ............................ monument began 5,000 years ago, and it was probably used as a burial ground; the (3) ............................ stones that still stand today were put in place about 4,000 years ago. Stonehenge remained important into the (4) ............................ Bronze Age, when many burial mounds were built nearby. However, the (5) ............................ purpose and meaning of Stonehenge still remains unknown, even today. One of the (6) ............................ famous theories about Stonehenge is that it was actually a big calendar designed to keep track of time and (7) ............................ astronomical events. Indeed, the stones are aligned almost perfectly with the sunrise on summer solstice. Whatever it may be, Stonehenge remains an (8) ............................ and fascinating place of mystery. GLOSSARY to align: to put two or more things into a straight line burial ground: an area of land where dead bodies are put into the ground carbon dating: a method of calculating the age of extremely old objects by measuring the amount of a particular type of carbon in them to date back: to have existed a particular length of time mound: a large pile of earth, stones etc. like a small ill upright: straight up or vertical Stonehenge. 24