The Cambridge Illustrated History of Prehistoric Art

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding survey of the history of prehistoric art.
Review: Few scholars could deign to undertake a survey of the world's prehistoric art, but Bahn is well chosen. He has experienced a breadth of world rock art equaled by few others. But, it is his command of history and literature that distinguish this book. The first 70 pages define the study of prehistoric art and survey the history of rock art research on each continent. For example, Chinese philosopher Han Fei produced the earliest written account about 2,300 years ago (much of the world's prehistoric art is younger than this). Modern scholars, on the other hand, only "discovered" Chinese rock art about 1950. Two-thirds of the book is devoted to Art on Rocks and Walls, rock art. Bahn leads the reader through the amazing array of rock art around the world and through time, skipping from place-to-place, style-to-style, and culture-to-culture while holding the reader's interest. He takes the reader through the science of dating and style. He turns to literal interpretations of vulvas and sex, human portraiture, zoophilia, and birth. Violence and warfare, sound and music, humor-the vast array of human experiences are revealed in his survey of rock art through the art itself. The reader learns not so much about the art of any one people as about how humans see and experience the world. Bahn's volume on prehistoric art is not the final word on the subject, but it is a valuable contribution to the literature. His survey of works predating 1900 alone makes this book and invaluable addition to one's library.

Rating:
Summary: Too Politically Correct
Review: This is a lovely book, but is so politically correct that it is obnoxious. The primitive art of Australian aborigines, for example, is given as much, if not more, coverage than that of Europe and the Middle East. There is too much emphasis on the peripheral in a misguided attempt to be "fair," with a corresponding reduction in coverage for the prehistoric art of peoples who eventually created civilizations.