X-ray style art

X-ray style art, sometimes referred to as just X-ray style or X-ray art, is a prehistoric art form in which animals (and humans) are depicting by drawing or painting the skeletal frame and internal organs.[1][2][3]

Example of x ray style art found in Aboriginal art in Australia

The style may date as far back as c. 8000 BC in the Mesolithic (rock) art of northern Europe.[1][2] By c. 2000 BC it (apparently) spread to Africa, South Asia, and Australia[4] where it is most commonly found today[1][2][3][5] and specimens have been dated as early as 4600-3000 BC.[6][7] However, it has also been found in hunting cultures of (Northern spain), Siberia, the Arctic Circle, North America, western New Guinea, New Ireland, India, and Malaysia.[1][2]

The most common subject of X-ray style art is fish (due to its importance in the diet of Aboriginal Australians);[5][8] however, it also includes many other animals, humans, and mythical creatures,[5] including figures as long as 8 feet (2.5 metres).[1][2]

References

"X-ray style | art". Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc.
Kipfer, Barbara Ann (2000). Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 607. ISBN 9780306461583.
Darvill, Timothy (2021). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-252666-3. Manner of depicting humans and animals on *rock‐art panels in which the skeleton and internal organs form part of the motif. Especially characteristic of rock art in northern Australia, where most of it appears to have been produced over the last 3000 years, although some may be as old as 6000 bc.
Witzel, E. J. Michael (2012). The Origins of the World's Mythologies. Oxford University Press. p. 271. ISBN 9780199913329. X-ray style... can be found in Mesolithic art in Europe from c. 8000 bce onward and apparently spread far and wide from an unknown center, as to reach Africa, South Asia, and Australia (by c. 2000 BC ).
Renfrew, Colin; Bahn, Paul (2014). The Cambridge World Prehistory. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-64775-6. The best known art of the region is the characteristic X- ray style, comprising naturalistic and often multicoloured paintings with internal parts of the body shown. This style first appears up to four thousand years ago, but most dates to the last one thousand years. A wide range of mythical, human and animal figures are portrayed in X-ray style, but fish are the most common subject, reflecting their importance in the diet. At least twelve different individual
Tristen Jones; Vladimir Levchenko; Daryl Wesley (2017). David, Bruno; Taçon, Paul; Delannoy, Jean-Jacques; Geneste, Jean-Michel (eds.). The Archaeology of Rock Art in Western Arnhem Land, Australia. ANU Press. p. 140. ISBN 9781760461621. this study reliably proposes a minimum age of 5068—6636 cal BP for the introduction of early X-ray art in western Arnhem Land rock art.
Jupp, James (2001). The Australian People: An Encyclopedia of the Nation, Its People and Their Origins. Cambridge University Press. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-521-80789-0. The development of the poly-chrome 'X-ray' style around 3000 BC...
Frankel, David (2012). Silberman, Neil Asher; Bauer, Alexander A.; Holtorf, Cornelius; García, Margarita Díaz-Andreu; Waterton, Emma (eds.). The Oxford Companion to Archaeology. Oxford University Press. pp. 600–601. ISBN 978-0-19-507618-9. After about 9,000 years ago, as estuarine conditions developed, fish became the main motif. These are painted in a new, simple X-ray style, where internal anatomical parts are shown. With the development of freshwater swamps, species such as magpie geese become important in the environment, *subsistence, and art. More elaborate forms of X-ray art developed, with a wider array of motifs, including new types of artifacts such as the didjeridoo (drone pipe) and the more recent depictions of Europeans and their introduced animals. This tradition continues to the present.

External links

"X-ray Style in Arnhem Land Rock Art". The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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[auto-1] "X-ray style | art". Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc.

[auto1-2] Kipfer, Barbara Ann (2000). Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 607. ISBN 9780306461583.

[Darvill2001-3] Darvill, Timothy (2021). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-252666-3. Manner of depicting humans and animals on *rock‐art panels in which the skeleton and internal organs form part of the motif. Especially characteristic of rock art in northern Australia, where most of it appears to have been produced over the last 3000 years, although some may be as old as 6000 bc.

[4] Witzel, E. J. Michael (2012). The Origins of the World's Mythologies. Oxford University Press. p. 271. ISBN 9780199913329. X-ray style... can be found in Mesolithic art in Europe from c. 8000 bce onward and apparently spread far and wide from an unknown center, as to reach Africa, South Asia, and Australia (by c. 2000 BC ).

[Renfrew2014-5] Renfrew, Colin; Bahn, Paul (2014). The Cambridge World Prehistory. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-64775-6. The best known art of the region is the characteristic X- ray style, comprising naturalistic and often multicoloured paintings with internal parts of the body shown. This style first appears up to four thousand years ago, but most dates to the last one thousand years. A wide range of mythical, human and animal figures are portrayed in X-ray style, but fish are the most common subject, reflecting their importance in the diet. At least twelve different individual

[6] Tristen Jones; Vladimir Levchenko; Daryl Wesley (2017). David, Bruno; Taçon, Paul; Delannoy, Jean-Jacques; Geneste, Jean-Michel (eds.). The Archaeology of Rock Art in Western Arnhem Land, Australia. ANU Press. p. 140. ISBN 9781760461621. this study reliably proposes a minimum age of 5068—6636 cal BP for the introduction of early X-ray art in western Arnhem Land rock art.

[7] Jupp, James (2001). The Australian People: An Encyclopedia of the Nation, Its People and Their Origins. Cambridge University Press. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-521-80789-0. The development of the poly-chrome 'X-ray' style around 3000 BC...

[8] Frankel, David (2012). Silberman, Neil Asher; Bauer, Alexander A.; Holtorf, Cornelius; García, Margarita Díaz-Andreu; Waterton, Emma (eds.). The Oxford Companion to Archaeology. Oxford University Press. pp. 600–601. ISBN 978-0-19-507618-9. After about 9,000 years ago, as estuarine conditions developed, fish became the main motif. These are painted in a new, simple X-ray style, where internal anatomical parts are shown. With the development of freshwater swamps, species such as magpie geese become important in the environment, *subsistence, and art. More elaborate forms of X-ray art developed, with a wider array of motifs, including new types of artifacts such as the didjeridoo (drone pipe) and the more recent depictions of Europeans and their introduced animals. This tradition continues to the present.