Q&A Hero

Q: The incised design on a cylinder seal found in the tomb of Queen Puabi (Fig. 2-8) demonstrates the Sumerians use of A. narrative images. B. geometric patterns. C. personal monograms. D. cuneiform.

Q: Stepped structures known as ziggurats may have developed from the practice of A. using prisoners as a workforce. B. repeated rebuilding at sacred sites. C. establishing settlements on high land for safety. D. burying the dead in pyramids.

Q: What original element of the Head of a Woman (Fig. 2-3) symbolizes the purity of the figure? A. the wooden body B. a gold wig C. inlaid eyes D. the marble face

Q: What does the uppermost scene of the Carved Vessel (Fig. 2-4) from Uruk represent? A. the birth of a goddess B. a ritual burial C. a re-enactment of a ritual marriage D. the signing of a peace treaty

Q: What did the low relief scenes on the walls at Kalhu portray? A. war campaigns and lion hunts B. abstract, geometric motifs C. bulls and the god Marduk D. judgments and punishments

Q: The Stele of Hammurabi is significant as both a work of ancient Mesopotamian art and as A. an example of Babylonian literature. B. a religious artifact recording Hebrew tradition. C. a key to deciphering cuneiform texts. D. a historical document recording a written code of law.

Q: What was at the top of the Anu ziggurat White Temple? A. scenes of military victories B. a living quarters for priests C. giant columns D. a simple rectangle with an off-center doorway

Q: Which culture controlled most of Mesopotamia by the end of the ninth century BCE? A. Assyrian B. Persian C. Hittite D. Babylonian

Q: What technique did the Sumerians use to create cylinder seals that ensured the identification of documents and established property ownership? A. illusionism B. registers C. vertical perspective D. sunken relief

Q: The Epic of Gilgamesh was attributed to the A. Sumerians. B. Akkadians. C. Babylonians. D. Persians.

Q: Ziggurats functioned symbolically as A. entrances to the underworld. B. bridges between the earth and the heavens. C. fortresses of the rulers. D. the home of the gods.

Q: The Sumerians invented the first system of writing called A. pictographs. B. hieroglyphics. C. cuneiform. D. inlay.

Q: How are the structures of megalithic architecture similar in form and function? Give examples and compare and contrast those examples.

Q: Many early vessels of clay or metal were covered with decorative motifs. Why would early people have made the effort to decorate their functional objects? What drives people to go beyond the purely functional? Support your viewpoint with specific examples of early art.

Q: What formal artistic devices did the artists of the Chauvet Cave in southeastern France use to convey images of horses, mammoths, aurochs, and other animals?

Q: What is the significance of the form and the manner in which Woman from Doln Vĕstonice (Fig. 1-8) was created?

Q: How would you compare the artistic representations of the Paleolithic period to the Neolithic period?

Q: Briefly discuss the artistic decorations found in the structures of atalhyk.

Q: What new technologies emerged in the Neolithic period, and what was the purpose and function of each?

Q: What events or occurrences determined the onset of a Neolithic culture?

Q: Why is the Lascaux scene Bird-Headed Man with Bison (Fig. 1-12) unique, and what might it represent?

Q: How did the artists of Lascaux fuel the lamps that they used to see within the deep recesses of the cave?

Q: Why was the cave of Lascaux closed to the public?

Q: Why is the Lion-Human sculpture remarkable for the Paleolithic period?

Q: Why does the date for the transition from the Paleolithic period to the Neolithic period vary?

Q: What are the particular challenges and rewards of studying prehistoric art?

Q: The Human Figures (Fig. 1-28) from Ain Ghazal give the impression of living individuals who A. can communicate with the gods. B. are unable to express themselves. C. can communicate with the dead. D. are leaders of their site.

Q: What conclusion can be made about both the Lion-Human (Fig. 1-6) and Woman from Willendorf (Fig. 1-7)? A. Artists expressed imaginative themes. B. Celestial observations influence art. C. Killing a lion would incur a curse. D. Humans and animals were part of separate groups.

Q: Scholars dismissed the sympathetic magic interpretation of cave paintings because A. animal and human representations are abstract. B. animals were frequently shown alongside human figures. C. animals used for food were not portrayed. D. animals are painted on cave ceilings.

Q: An anthropologist who studied the Altamira Cave does not believe that the animals that are depicted are dead but rather are A. gods. B. dust-wallowing. C. surrogates for man. D. disabled.

Q: The painting of Men Taunting a Deer(?) (Fig. 1-17) at atalhyk may represent A. a belief in sympathetic magic. B. an earlier cave painting. C. the hope for more animals. D. a dangerous ritual or game of baiting.

Q: What method of dating cave paintings and excavated objects uses organic material? A. radiometric dating B. electron spin resonance C. potassium-argon dating D. uranium-thorium dating

Q: What technique was used to create Gold-Adorned Face Mask (Fig. 1-29)? A. corbeling B. sculpture in the round C. relief sculpture D. composite pose

Q: Rather than being a product of invaders, the destruction of houses at some sites in the Neolithic period was part of A. the selection of a new leader. B. a rival familys attempt to gain property. C. a ritual killing of the house. D. ritual celebrating a birth.

Q: What conclusion can archeologists make about the ancient site of atalhyk? A. It was temporarily used as a burial ground. B. It had religious and domestic functions. C. The people focused on military defenses. D. The settlement was built over an older Paleolithic site.

Q: What was encountered at Newgrange that may have induced hallucinations? A. celestial maps B. entoptic motifs C. deer hunts D. female figures

Q: Handprints at the cave at Pech-Merle were probably created using what technique? A. incising lines with a sharp stick B. spraying paint onto the cave wall C. painting the image with a brush D. drawing with an ocher crayon

Q: Which of the following was created in the most realistic style? A. Bison, Le Tuc dAudoubert (Fig. 1-14) B. Woman from Willendorf, Austria (Fig. 1-7) C. Lion-Human, Hohlenstein-Stadel, Germany (Fig. 1-6) D. Figures of a Woman and a Man, Cernavoda, Romania (Fig. 1-27)

Q: Prehistory includes all of human existence before the development of A. written records. B. architecture. C. metal tools. D. carved images.

Q: The potters wheel developed in approximately 4000 BCE in A. China. B. Egypt. C. Japan. D. Near East.

Q: Bronze is an alloy of copper and A. tin. B. gold. C. terra cotta. D. silver.

Q: How were the beams of Stonehenge secured? A. mortise-and-tenon joints B. corbeled vault and capstone C. post-and-lintel construction D. mammoth tusks and hides

Q: Scholars see the transport of bluestones to Stonehenge from more than 150 miles away as a sign of A. associations with Celtic druids. B. evidence of engineering technology. C. connections to ancestral homelands. D. ritual significance of materials.

Q: Continually rebuilt and replastered, early houses at atalhyk may have functioned as A. grain storerooms. B. temples. C. observatories. D. historical markers.

Q: Rows of trapezoidal buildings made of wooden posts, branches, mud, and clay characterize the architectural remains at A. Skara Brae. B. atalhyk. C. Lepenski Vir. D. Newgrange.

Q: Most Neolithic architecture in Germany and central Europe consisted of wood posts supporting a central beam or A. ridgepole. B. thatch. C. megalith. D. capstone.

Q: What were small-scale female sculptures from the Upper Paleolithic period once called? A. Mother Goddess B. Venus C. Eve D. shamans

Q: The Woman from Brassempouy (Fig. 1-9) captures the essence of a head, also called the A. memory image. B. abstracted mind. C. soul image. D. mind image.

Q: How long ago did figurines of people and animals appear? A. 50,000 years B. 30,000 years C. 25,000 years D. 10,000 years

Q: Prehistoric people often coated their floors with powdered A. ash. B. bones. C. clay. D. ocher.

Q: Archaeologists link the emergence of image making to the arrival of A. Homo sapiens. B. Neanderthals. C. Homo sapiens sapiens. D. Homo erectus.

Q: 5. Describe the aesthetics of the Kano Schools Appreciation of Painting (Fig. 26-6) and Sotatsus Waves at Matsushima (Fig. 26-9).

Q: 4. Compare and contrast Winter Landscape (Fig. 26-3) and View of Kojima Bay (Fig. 26-12) in terms of form, composition, and content.

Q: 3. Write a comparison of artistic production in Kyoto and Edo during the Edo period. Consider how the different social and economic contexts of each city influenced issues of patronage, style, and the types of art produced.

Q: 2. Explain the phenomenon known as ukiyo-e. Consider the origin of this word and what it came to mean. Build your discussion on specific artists and their work, referring to technique, style, subject matter, and audience.

Q: 1. Discuss the Muromachi period and the introduction of Zen Buddhism. Describe the impact of Zen Buddhism on painting.

Q: 10. Discuss the current state of ceramics in Japan.

Q: 9. Consider the changes that impacted Japan and the arts during the Meiji period.

Q: 8. Discuss the formal elements of Ornamental Box: Dancing in the Cosmos (Fig. 26-21).

Q: 7. What inspired Tange Kenzo in the design of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum (Fig. 26-19)?

Q: 6. How did exposure to European firearms influence Japanese architecture?

Q: 5. What is the tea bowls significance in the tea ceremony?

Q: 4. What is a writing box? Describe the actual object and identify an artisan who made writing boxes.

Q: 3. Who was a daimyo?

Q: 2. What were registration marks in the woodblock print process? Are they necessary?

Q: 1. What is the meaning of the Japanese phrase ukiyo-e? Associate this phrase with a specific artist and work.

Q: Ike Taigas View of Kojima Bay (Fig. 26-12) blends Japanese aesthetics and his own personal brushwork with the models of which country? A. Britain B. India C. Malaysia D. China

Q: Discuss the civic layout of Florence, including the Palazzo della Signoria and the doors of the Baptistery of San Giovanni.

Q: Discuss the Small Ivory Chest with Scenes from Courtly Romances (Fig. 18-19, 18-20, and 18-21) in terms of style, technique, composition, and content.

Q: Discuss the creation of Duccio’s Maestà (Fig. 18-10). Address specifics, such as its purpose, its size, the style, the technique, and subject matter. What is its present-day condition?

Q: 2. Compare and contrast the approaches of Cimabue and Giotto to depictions of the human figure and the surrounding space in terms of style, technique, and composition

Q: 1. Discuss the major developments in fourteenth-century Europe, in general, and then focus on one that clearly impacted the arts. Build your discussion on specific works of art, using visual and historical analysis.

Q: 10. Who was Christine de Pizan? In what ways did she contribute to her profession and to her era?

Q: 9. Discuss the different phases of construction for Exeter Cathedral.

Q: 8. Discuss the change in patronage practices in fourteenth-century France. How did these changes impact the arts?

Q: 7. How did the Holy Roman Empire change during the fourteenth century?

Q: 6. What was the impact of the Black Death on the arts in fourteenth-century Europe?

Q: 5. Discuss the techniques of buon fresco and fresco secco, citing examples of each.

Q: 4. Who was Geoffrey Chaucer and what was his contribution to literature?

Q: 3. Discuss The Allegory of Good Government in the City and in the Country (Fig. 18-1) in the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena. Consider the technique, the subject matter, and the commission itself.