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Jill Cook
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Ice Age Art: Arrival of the Modern Mind Hardcover – February 18, 2013

by Jill Cook (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 51 ratings
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The accompanying title to the major exhibition at the British Museum: Ice Age art: arrival of the modern mind, 7 February - 26 May 2013.
This is a thought-provoking exploration of the masterpieces of sculpture, drawing and decoration of the last Ice Age. Produced between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago, this is some of the oldest known figurative art in the world. Looking at these art works provides a fascinating insight into the earliest modern minds and their capacity to express ideas symbolically through art. Over 100 objects are featured, including small but exquisite sculptures made from mammoth ivory, engraved drawings, ceramic models, decorated objects and jewellery from the age of the great painted caves. Some are celebrated masterpieces such as the Swimming Reindeer (13,000 years old), the so- called Willendorf Venus (25,000 years old), the Vogelherd Horse (32,000 years old) and the Lion Man (32,000 years old); others are lesser- known treasures from the collections of European museums. The author examines them in a new light, as works of aesthetic – not solely archaeological – interest, and as such forming part of an unbroken continuum of human creativity.
The compelling narrative is also illustrated with a wealth of images, from classical sculpture to twentieth-century painting and even contemporary advertising campaigns, which demonstrate surprising aesthetic parallels between these ancient works and familiar modern pieces. In this way, Ice Age art will bring home the point that the minds that created these objects in all their diversity and inventiveness were modern minds like our own, capable of highly sophisticated thought and expression.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    288 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    British Museum Press
  4. Publication date
    February 18, 2013
  5. Dimensions
    9.75 x 1 x 9.75 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0714123331
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0714123332
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ British Museum Press; First Edition (February 18, 2013)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0714123331
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0714123332
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.5 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.75 x 1 x 9.75 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 51 ratings

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Jill Cook

Jill Cook

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
51 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Larry944
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome pictures and text.
Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2016
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This book is totally inspiring. Both the pictures and the text really put me in the center of the 'action'. I had to wait a while to get this but it was totally worth it.
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Julie A. Hall
5.0 out of 5 stars Early man is a natural artist.
Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2013
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Seeing these very, very early sculptures of animals, pregnant woman, men brings a deep eerie feeling of recognition. They are primative perhaps in execution but highly sophisticated in their eternal effects.
3 people found this helpful
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William G. Jerrems
5.0 out of 5 stars Well done
Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2013
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Familiar with the author and work with collections of this era at the British Museum. Very impressed with the book just wished I could have been there.
3 people found this helpful
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AJP
5.0 out of 5 stars Buy it for the pictures!
Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2016
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Buy it for the pictures!
The commentary is good, but not outstanding.
One person found this helpful
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Carl Wolsefer
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2014
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Beautiful copy. Exceeded expectations. Only wish seller would have shipped using tracking number.
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Book Reader
1.0 out of 5 stars Great pictures, rubbish text
Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2013
The value of this exhibition catalogue lies solely in the excellent images, some of them of old favorites but many of artifacts relatively recently discovered and/or poorly represented outside of the specialist literature. Alas, the text is written in bloated cataloguese and reeks of academic feminism throughout. The author is at pains to nail earlier authors for being creatures of their times but is hoist on her own petard when she applies concepts such as "performance art" to ice age kiln artifacts without the slightest scrap of evidence. In fact, the entire thesis lying behind this book, that ice age art reflects the "modern mind" (whatever that is) is without merit. Aside from the descriptions of the objects, the entire text is pure speculation informed by ideological prejudice. The author has talked to a neurobiologist or two and makes elementary school-level references to "specialised nerve cells called neurons" and the prefrontal cortex. She throws in some early 20th century art the creators of which are documented as having drawn their inspiration from the very objects she is comparing in order to establish the early existence of the "modern mind". You know, even today, kids pick up bits of bone, think "that looks like a duck" and proceed to use a pocket knife to make it look more like a duck and then hang it round their necks. The origin of a lot of ice age art isn't any more complex than that.
17 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Roger
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic survey of prhistoric art.
Reviewed in Canada on May 31, 2019
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Wonderful pictures and full description of each piece.
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H. A. Weedon
5.0 out of 5 stars Superbly Illustrated very Readable Masterpiece.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 12, 2013
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This is a superbly illustrated work with very readable, descriptive text by Jill Cook, a senior curator at the British Museum who, whilst obviously steeped in the knowledge of her subject, has a pleasingly detached style that avoids any personalised slants of opinion. The reader is simply presented with the facts and, where there is uncertainty, it is acknowledged. All told, the reader is left with the overwhelming impression that the creators of Ice Age art were every bit as intelligent as modern humans and that the modern world had already dawned. It was simply a question of the accumulation of knowledge and skills, which were handed down and improved upon from generation to generation. The humans of twenty, even thirty, thousand years ago were already observing, interpreting and devising, one of the results of which is that the quality of both their art work and craftsmanship has never been surpassed. Equalled, yes, but not surpassed.

On page 178 there's an illustration of a masterfully crafted, laurel leaf shaped flint tool that perfectly illustrates how skilled these early people must have been. As we study their work we cannot fail to become aware of the relationship between craftsmanship and pure art and also become aware of the the differences between the two, epitomised by cave paintings on the one hand and flint tools on the other. It is said that, when Pablo Picasso was taken into the caves to see the paintings, he exclaimed: 'We have learned nothing!' In those far off days they already had both innovators and copyists: those with new ideas and those who copied and exploited them. Looking back over the past thousands years we can see how, whilst some art is original and innovative, other so called art is really no more than top quality craftsmanship. An innovator comes along and is followed by load of band wagon jumpers. The fact that it was the same then is so well brought out in this book.

The book has eight chapters: 1: Introduction. 2: Europe's oldest sculptures, 30,000-20,000 years ago. 3: Soft curves and full figures, 30,000-20,000 years ago. 4: Art and identity, 40,000-20,000 years ago. 5: Animals in art, 30,000-20,000 years ago . 6: Renaissance art in Western Europe, 22,000-12,000 years ago. 7: Sex of symbol? Images of women, 18,000-11,000 years ago. 8: Late drawings, sculptures and stories, 15,000-10,000 years ago. There's also an afterword, notes, further reading, picture acknowledgements and an index. A few illustrations of art from the past 2000 years, mainly very recent, have been included for comparisons. All told, this is one of those great works that will never fail to inspire the eagerly returning reader. Jill Cook and her helpers have done us all proud.
8 people found this helpful
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Joaquín Eguizabal Torre
5.0 out of 5 stars Todo perfecto.Excelente vendedor
Reviewed in Spain on April 14, 2013
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Libro en perfectas condiciones y recibido mucho antes de lo previsto.
Vendedor recomendable para amigos y por supuesto para mi en futuras compras.
One person found this helpful
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Stefania
5.0 out of 5 stars il mistero e il fascino delle nostre origini
Reviewed in Italy on March 24, 2013
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Il testo è un bellissimo catalogo dell'omonima mostra che si tiene a Londra in questo periodo. Credo che non possa non impressionare ed emozionare chiunque lo legga, anche senza andare a Londra (ma la mostra è straordinaria!). Le immagini sono molto belle e l'approccio antropologico partendo dalla produzione artistica degli uomini vissuti 50000 anni fa ed oltre è spiazzante, perchè modifica convinzioni che sembravano consolidate sull'origine e la storia della mente umana.Fantastico!
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on May 24, 2017
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Very good info and learn a lot
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