AP Art History Study Guide
AP ART HISTORY
EXAM STUDY PACKET
KEY
BARRON'S BOOK PAGE NUMBERS IN RED
TEXTBOOK PAGES IN BLUE
YEARS IN GREEN
WORKS ARE UNDERLINED
LOCATIONS ARE ITALICIZED
PREHISTORIC ART
Paleolithic
Venus of Willendorf 68 17
Short, fat figure of a woman. It is small and meant to be carried around. Her large stomach and breasts show that she was a symbol of fertility.
Lascaux Caves (Dordgone, France) 69 21/23
Huge set of cave paintings with many different scenes. Most of them are of cows, bulls, horses, and deer. Negative handprints are the way of showing signatures. The paintings were made to ensure success in hunts, for ancestral animal worship, and shamanism.
Neolithic
Stonehenge (Wiltshire, England) 69 28
Large stone slabs called megaliths were rolled by tree trunks into place. It is a post-and-lintel building. The large megaliths in the center are over 20 feet tall and form a horseshoe surrounding a central flat stone. The structure is oriented toward the sunrise on the longest day of the year, and may also predict eclipses.
VOCABULARY
Archaeology: the scientific study of ancient people and cultures principally revealed through excavation.
Cromlech: a circle of megaliths.
Henge: a Neolithic monument, characterized by a circular ground plan. Used for rituals and marking astronomical events.
Megalith: a stone of great size used in the construction of a prehistoric structure.
Menhir: a large uncut stone erected as a monument in the prehistoric era.
Mortise-and-tenon: a groove cut into stone or wood, called a mortise, that is shaped to receive a tenon, or projection, of the same dimensions.
Post-and-lintel: a method of construction in which two posts support a horizontal beam, called a lintel.
ANCIENT NEAR EAST ART
Sumerian
Statuettes from Tell Asmar 73 35
Figures of many different heights, hands are folded in gesture of prayer. Their eyes are huge, as if they are in
EXAM STUDY PACKET
KEY
BARRON'S BOOK PAGE NUMBERS IN RED
TEXTBOOK PAGES IN BLUE
YEARS IN GREEN
WORKS ARE UNDERLINED
LOCATIONS ARE ITALICIZED
PREHISTORIC ART
Paleolithic
Venus of Willendorf 68 17
Short, fat figure of a woman. It is small and meant to be carried around. Her large stomach and breasts show that she was a symbol of fertility.
Lascaux Caves (Dordgone, France) 69 21/23
Huge set of cave paintings with many different scenes. Most of them are of cows, bulls, horses, and deer. Negative handprints are the way of showing signatures. The paintings were made to ensure success in hunts, for ancestral animal worship, and shamanism.
Neolithic
Stonehenge (Wiltshire, England) 69 28
Large stone slabs called megaliths were rolled by tree trunks into place. It is a post-and-lintel building. The large megaliths in the center are over 20 feet tall and form a horseshoe surrounding a central flat stone. The structure is oriented toward the sunrise on the longest day of the year, and may also predict eclipses.
VOCABULARY
Archaeology: the scientific study of ancient people and cultures principally revealed through excavation.
Cromlech: a circle of megaliths.
Henge: a Neolithic monument, characterized by a circular ground plan. Used for rituals and marking astronomical events.
Megalith: a stone of great size used in the construction of a prehistoric structure.
Menhir: a large uncut stone erected as a monument in the prehistoric era.
Mortise-and-tenon: a groove cut into stone or wood, called a mortise, that is shaped to receive a tenon, or projection, of the same dimensions.
Post-and-lintel: a method of construction in which two posts support a horizontal beam, called a lintel.
ANCIENT NEAR EAST ART
Sumerian
Statuettes from Tell Asmar 73 35
Figures of many different heights, hands are folded in gesture of prayer. Their eyes are huge, as if they are in