Mesolithic Art refers to art created in the Mesolithic Era or the Middle Stone Age. It is dominated by Rock Art with few finds of sculptures. Some of the finest examples of Mesolithic rock art may be found in India at several sites including Bhimbetka, Adamgarh and Pachmarhi. The two best known Mesolithic sculptures are Shigir Idol and Ain Sakhri Lovers. Here are six important examples of Mesolithic Art. Click on the Title of Artworks for details and sources.
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The Key Questions
The word Mesolithic is a combination of two Greek words mesos (middle) and lithos (stone). The Old Stone Age (Paleolithic Era) lasted till the end of the Ice Age around 10,000 BCE. The New Stone Age (Neolithic Era) began when farming communities began to be established. The period between these two eras is known as the Mesolithic era. The start and end dates of the Mesolithic era varies by geographical regions. It is dated approximately between 10,000 BCE and 8,000 BCE.
Like the Paleolithic era, rock paintings dominate the surviving examples of Mesolithic art. However, due to warmer climates, art moved from caves to vertical cliffs or walls of natural rock. While depictions of animals dominated Paleolithic cave art, Mesolithic rock paintings have more human depictions. The other difference is that there have been only a few discoveries of Mesolithic sculptures as compared to the Paleolithic period.
#1 Shigir Idol
| Estimated Age: | Around 12,500 years |
| Found At: | Shigir, Russia |
| Discovered By: | Alexey Stenbok-Fermor |
| Discovered In: | 1890 |
Shigir Idol is famous for being the oldest known wooden sculpture in the world. Moreover, it stands out from other prehistoric artworks for its abstract symbols and complex iconography. It was discovered in 10 fragments. When the complete structure was assembled, it had a height of seventeen and a half feet. There are eight faces concealed in the statue with the last one being discovered as late as 2018. Apart from the faces, it has geometric motifs: zigzags, rhombuses and chevrons.
#2 Ain Sakhri Lovers
| Estimated Age: | Around 11,000 years |
| Found At: | Bethlehem, Palestine |
| Discovered By: | René Neuville |
| Discovered In: | 1933 |
The Ain Sakhri Lovers is made on a calcite cobble. It has a height of 102 mm, a width of 63 mm and weighs 343 grams. It shows a couple having sex and is also phallic in profile as well as when viewed from above or below. The depicted couple may be locked in a passionate kiss as well but lack of facial features makes this open to interpretation. The Ain Sakhri Lovers is renowned for being the first known depiction of sexual intercourse.
#3 Zoo Rock At Bhimbetka
| Estimated Age: | Around 10,000 years |
| Found At: | Bhimbetka, Madhya Pradesh, India |
| Discovered By: | Vishnu Wakankar |
| Discovered In: | 1972 |
The Bhimbetka rock shelters are located in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The shelters were discovered by accident in 1957. They were were inhabited for a period of more than 100,000 years ago and the art discovered there span the Paleolithic, Mesolithic and historic periods. Zoo Rock, the most famous artwork in the shelters, contains hundreds of depictions of up to 250 distinct species of animals. These include sambar deer, elephant, leopard, buffalo, rhinoceros, jackal, bear and boar.
#4 Dancers of Cogul
| Estimated Age: | Around 10,000 years |
| Found At: | Roca dels Moros, Catalonia, Spain |
| Discovered By: | Ramon Huguet |
| Discovered In: | 1908 |
Roca dels Moros is a prominent prehistoric art sites on the eastern side of the Iberian Peninsula. Dancers of Cogul is the most famous scene depicted there. It shows nine women, mostly in pairs, surrounding a male. The scene has been interpreted to mean different things: a celebration of fertility spirit; as depiction of a dance of women around a man, as seen in other primitive cultures; and as a tribute to a prominent male.
#5 Man of Bicorp
| Estimated Age: | Around 8,000 years |
| Found At: | Bicorp, València, Spain |
| Discovered By: | Jaime Poch y Garí |
| Discovered In: | 1920 |
The art at Coves de l’Aranya (Spider Caves) was always known to the locals but the first scientific study of the cave took place in 1920. Man of Bicorp is the best known representation in the caves. It is famous for being the oldest surviving depiction of honey gathering by humankind. It shows a man or a woman climbing a rickety rope-ladder with a bag in hand. The person depicted is suspended over the side of a cliff and is robbing a nest of bees. The artist has ingeniously used a cavity in the rock to represent the hole of the hive.
#6 Panel of Hand Stencils
| Estimated Age: | Around 7,000 years |
| Found At: | Cueva de las Manos, Santa Cruz, Argentina |
| Discovered By: | Alberto Maria de Agostini |
| Discovered In: | 1941 |
The Panel of Hand Stencil is one of the most incredible paintings at Cueva de las Manos. It has more than 800 of colorful hand-prints stenciled on the walls of the cave. The cave dwellers probably used bone-made pipes to create the silhouettes. Most of the prints are of left hands which suggest that they held the spraying pipes in their right hands. The size of most hand-prints resemble that of a 13-year-old boy.