[Illustration: PREHISTORIC ART
SKETCH OF MAMMOTH ON A TUSK FOUND IN A CAVE IN FRANCE
CAVE BEAR DRAWN ON A PEBBLE
BISON PAINTED ON THE WALL OF A CAVE
WILD HORSE ON THE WALL OF A CAVE IN SPAIN.
Later he pictured an aurochs—later he pictured a bear—
Pictured the sabre toothed tiger dragging a man to his lair—
Pictured the mountainous mammoth hairy abhorrent alone—
Out of the love that he bore them scribing them clearly on bone—
KIPLING.]
EARLY ARCHITECTURE
A still later period of the Stone Age witnessed the beginnings of architecture. Men had begun to raise huge dolmens which are found in various parts of the Old World from England to India. They also erected enormous stone pillars, known as menhirs. Carved in the semblance of a human face and figure, the menhir became a statue, perhaps the first ever made.
As we approach historic times, we note a steady improvement in the various forms of art. Recent discoveries in Egypt, Greece, Italy, and other lands indicate that their early inhabitants were able architects, often building on a colossal scale.
[Illustration: A DOLMEN Department of Morbihan, Brittany. A dolmen was a single chambered tomb formed by laying one long stone over several other stones set upright in the ground. Most if not all dolmens were originally covered with earth.]
[Illustration: CARVED MENHIR
From Saint Sernin in Aveyron, a department of southern France.]
SIGNIFICANCE OF PREHISTORIC ART
Their paintings and sculptures prepared the way for the work of later artists. Our survey of the origins of art shows us that in this field, as elsewhere, we must start with the things accomplished by prehistoric men.