Prehistoric Art in the

East
Indus valley, pre-dynastic in
China, and Japan
Indus Valley…
The earliest known civilization in South Asia
(2500?-1700 BC)

Mohejo Daro and Harappa

Are the great achievements of the civilization
Mohenjo-Daro Ruins
The ruins of the ancient city
Mohenjo-Daro are found in the
province of Sind, southern
Pakistan. Dating to 2500 bc, the
ruins are an important source of
information about the Indus
Valley civilization, which was one
of the world’s first great
civilizations
Indus Valley Art
This figure of two oxen
pulling a woman in a cart
was found at the
archaeological site of
Mohenjo-Daro in what is
now Pakistan. The Indus
Valley civilization thrived in
the area of Pakistan and
western India between
about 2500 and 1700 bc.
Small ceramic figures
depicting aspects of
agricultural life were
characteristic of Indus
Valley art.
 … Silk Road

…Jalur Sutra
Silk is one of the oldest known textile fibers and, according
to Chinese tradition, was used as long ago as the 27th
century bc. The silkworm moth was originally a native of
China, and for about 30 centuries the gathering and
weaving of silk was a secret process. China successfully
guarded the secret until ad300, when Japan, and later
India, penetrated the secrecy.

Beginning in about 100 bc, a network of overland trade routes developed to carry goods between
Asia and Europe. The earliest, most direct, and most heavily used route came to be known as the
Silk Road, for the precious Chinese cloth that was traded abundantly on it. The routes waxed and
waned over the centuries with changing political and environmental conditions. After the discovery of
a sea route from Europe to Asia in the late 15th century, the land routes were gradually abandoned in
favor of ocean-borne trade.
Pre-dynastic in China…
…Beginning in about 10,000 BC
humans in China began developing
agriculture.
The art of China’s earliest dynastic periods, often called the
Bronze Age, from the Shang to the Han dynasty, focused on
the cult of the dead

The Shang Dynasty (1570?-1045? bc)

A king was the religious and political head of the society

Bronze of Shang Dynasty, China
Significant development of bronze work
took place in China during the Shang
dynasty (1570?-1045? bc). Kings and
priests used bronze vessels in ritual
sacrifices and also placed them in royal
burial chambers. Used in rituals to divine
guidance from the spirits of ancestors, the
vessels were often cast with images of
animals that were believed to aid
communication with the dead.
 The Zhou Dynasty (1045?-256 BC)
The Zhou dynasty divided into two
periods:

the Western Zhou (1045?-

771 bc), when the capital
was near modern Xi’an in
the west
the Eastern Zhou (770-256
bc), when the capital was
moved further east to
modern Luoyang.
…The Western Zhou dynasty is
described as an age when
people honored family
relationships.

During the Zhou period, farming techniques improved, iron

became widely utilized for tools and weapons, and
Confucianism and Daoism (Taoism) became the prevailing
philosophies of moral conduct.