Nanyue of the Yangtze River migrated south into North
Vietnam aft er China conquered their country in 333 b.c.e.
and brought with them Chinese tastes, but the natives were
related to the peoples of Indonesia and were infl uenced by
India. Th e kingdom of Funan was centered on the Mekong
Delta from the 100s to 500s c.e. By the 300s c.e. it included
central Cambodia. Th e archaeological fi nds of Funan include
temples and statues in the style of India.
ASIA PACIFIC JEWELRY
Determining what ancient Oceanic jewelry may have been
like involves more speculation than hard evidence. Stone
Age peoples survived not only in Australia but also in plac-
es like New Zealand and Papua New Guinea long enough
to leave for study recently made jewelry. Necklaces, brace-
lets, and anklets made of pig or shark teeth strung together
with animal sinews or string made from palm leaves were
common. In Indonesia wood, seashells, and metal would be
combined to create headgear, necklaces, and bracelets that
were supposed to protect warriors in battle and cure sick-
ness. Beads of glass and quartz were popular, especially in
the Philippines, where beads sometimes represented super-
natural powers.
I n muc h of a nc ie nt A s i a b e a d s we re v a lu e d d e c or at i ve e l-
ements. In Japan they had magical powers and were impor-
tant components of rituals. Still, jewelry in general was not
important to the Japanese. Th e opposite was true in India,
where beads and other decorations were highly esteemed. A
single bead of glass of a rare color could be worth as much
as a precious gem in India. According to Hindu tradition,
jewels had divine attributes, and even the gods worshiped
gems. For instance, Indra worshiped rubies and Vishnu
worshiped sapphires. India had rubies, sapphires, emeralds,
and diamonds in abundance; in fact, India was the world’s
only source of diamonds until the gem was discovered in
Brazil in the early 1700s c.e. Gems were incorporated into
a ll k inds of Indian jewelr y. Turquoise, a va lued minera l, was
imported from the Himalayas.
Ancient Indians loved wearing jewelry. Th e Harappans
wore toe rings and anklets of gold and silver. Neck rings were
common. Th ese were made of solid bars of gold, silver, cop-
per, or other metals that were bent, or they were composed
of wires that were tightly wound together, ropelike. During
much of the period from 500 b.c.e. to 500 c.e., only mem-
bers of India’s two highest castes, the priests and the warriors,
were allowed to wear gold and silver, but this did not discour-
age members of lower castes from wearing jewelry made of
other metals.
During the Six Dynasties period in China (220–589
c.e.), women took to wearing silver bracelets. Rings oft en
had settings with gems, with various stones that held mysti-
cal properties. For instance, a jade ring was said to recog-
nize the soul of its owner, and if lost would fi nd its way back
to him or her.
EUROPE
BY KIRK H. BEETZ
EUROPE OF THE LAST GREAT ICE AGE
Th e earliest dated European art forms are paintings from
caves in southern France. Th ese paintings date from 32,000
to 30,000 b.c.e., during the last great ice age. Other seemingly
related paintings in caves from France and Spain date as re-
cently as 15,000 b.c.e. Th e world of these ancient artists was
very diff erent from the modern one. All of Scandinavia and
much of northern Europe were covered by a giant glacier that
was so heavy it pressed Scandinavia down below sea level.
Most of Britain was covered by a glacier, and it was connected
by land to the rest of Europe.
Th e people who lived in this environment were scat-
tered in small groups. Th ey were hunter-gatherers, mean-
ing that they lived from hunting wild animals and gathering
wild edible plants. Th eir cave paintings depict bison, deer,
rhinoceroses, mammoths, and horses—the creatures they
hunted. Th ese animals are depicted in profi le (from the
side). Th is format allowed the artist to show all parts of the
animal: head, body, tail, and all four legs. Th roughout the
era of ice age paintings, artists took pains to be sure that all
parts of animals showed. Even dead animals were shown in
profi le, lying on the ground as if seen from directly above.
Th e animals are depicted not only with precision but also
with a vibrant sense of life, showing a mature artistic style
that indicates that people began painting far earlier than the
earliest paintings yet discovered.
Th ese cave paintings are found deep underground. To get
to them sometimes requires crawling around stalagmites and
stalactites (spikelike mineral deposits) or large fallen stones
and through narrow passages. Th e artists illuminated their
caves with stone lamps fi lled with fl aming animal fat, and
they brought meals with them so that they could spend hours
at their work. To reach high surfaces of rock walls or ceilings,
they built wooden scaff olds, cutting holes high in the rock to
insert branches to hold up the scaff olding. Th ey used stones
to smooth out the rock surface for their paintings, though
they oft en tried to include the natural bumps and cracks in
the rock surface in their compositions. For certain parts of
their pictures, they used fl int to fi rst carve lines into the rock.
For instance, the bristling hair of bison would be cut fi rst and
then fi lled with colored pigment. Th e artists mixed pigment
with animal fat for painting, or they put pigment into their
mouths and blew it onto the rock.
Ice age painters’ practice of working very deep inside
caverns has led to much speculation by archaeologists and
historians. Because a great deal of art has been inspired by re-
ligious beliefs, many archaeologists believe that creating the
paintings deep in the ground represented access to a super-
natural world: Even tens of thousands of years later, Greeks
and Romans believed that caves led from the world of the liv-
ing to the world of the dead. Many ancient peoples believedart: Europe 105