Modern Humans’ Earliest Artwork and Music: New European Discoveries

2018 Hallam L. Movius, Jr. Lecture and Reception

Randall White, Professor, Department of Anthropology, New York University

The earliest evidence of artwork made by modern humans, Aurignacian art, was created more than 35,000 years ago and has been found in French, German, and Romanian archaeological sites. Randall White will discuss the rich corpus of Aurignacian painting, engraving, bas-relief sculpture, musical instruments, and personal ornamentation that was studied before World War I in southwest France, along with recent discoveries from classic Aurignacian sites. He will also highlight how the combined study of archives, long-forgotten museum collections—and even back dirt (excavated material)—is contributing new discoveries and contextual data about early Eurasian expressive culture.

Recorded: March 20, 2018