Back to: Jss1 Cultural and Creative Art (C.C.A)

History and Origin of Art

Art precedes the existence of man. The first creator of art was man. Therefore, one may trace the beginning of the arts back to the activities that early man engaged in. Art refers to any of a wide variety of human pursuits or ways of expressing themselves. Early y man came up with ways to make implements for cooking, hunting, farming, transportation, and other human activities by using readily accessible materials such as stone, wood, iron, and so on. These implements were used for a variety of human endeavours. The murals on the walls and caverns were made using extracts from plants as well as animal blood and waste products. The creative works of Nigerians, such as weaving, masks, ceramics, sculpture, wood carvings, tie and dye, and so on, are examples of how the Nigerian people express themselves via their arts. The traditional Nigerian society was able to provide for itself locally with household items, body ornaments, farming tools, clothing, musical instruments, ceremonial and ritual objects, and other essential articles needed to promote his economic, social, religious, and political life. These essential articles included household items, body ornaments, farming tools, musical instruments, ceremonial and ritual objects, and other essential articles. The raw materials were sourced from the local area, and they are themselves pieces of art.

The history of early man may be broken down into five distinct eras, which are as follows:

The Paleolithic Era, 

This often known as the Old Stone Age, is subdivided into the Lower Paleolithic Era and the Upper Paleolithic Era.

The Lower Paleolitic Era 

This era lasted from 35,000 to 15,000 years before now.

The time period known as the 

UPPER PALEOLITHIC ERA lasted from 14,000 to 8,000 B.C.

Mesolitic Age (middle Stone Age)

During the Mesolithic era, artists focused on the painting of human figures that looked abstracted as opposed to the backdrop of animal figures painted on cave walls by the early men during the upper Paleolithic era. This was in contrast to the animal figures painted on cave walls by the early men during the upper Paleolithic era. During the Mesolithic epoch, farming and more permanent settlements began to take place. The time period known as the Mesolithic Age lasted from 8,000 to 3,000 BC.

Neolithic Age (also known as the New Stone Age)

The Neolithic age was a time when life grew better and more predictable.

The first writing systems appeared at the same time when metal tools for farming and crops like beans, squash, and maize were developed. Massive Architectural Monuments were built, such as the Stonehenge that was found in Europe at Salisbury Plane, Wiltshire, England. (1,800BC-1,400BC) The time period known as the NEOLITHIC AGE lasted from 3,000 to 1,500 B.C.

Bronze Age

The Bronze Age was characterised by the commencement of the skilled use of metals to cast artefacts that were expressed in bronze. This event marked the beginning of the Bronze Age. It is a period of time that is distinguished by the use of bronze, the creation of proto-writing, and other early aspects of urban development, such as the Bronze Age Britain.

It is a period of time that is distinguished by the use of bronze, the creation of proto-writing, and other early aspects of urban development, such as the Bronze Age Britain.

In the Ganges Valley in India, recent archaeological artefacts of iron production have been provisionally dated to the year 1,800 BC.

It is a term used in archaeology to describe to a period of time in the pre-history and protohistory of the Old World (Afro-Eras) when the most common material used in the manufacture of tools was iron. It was followed by the Stone Age in Africa and the Bronze Age in Europe and Asia. In between those two periods was this one. Meteoric metal has been used by humans for at least 3,200 years BC, but extensive manufacturing of old iron did not begin until it was discovered how to process iron ore, remove impurities, and control the quantity of carbon in the alloy.