Fig 1.Gold Funeral Mask, Mycenae, National Museum Athens, c. 1200–1000 b.c.
Metals have been found in a natural state since prehistoric times. It was the discovery of the processes of metallurgy, the treating and smelting of ores and the making of alloys, which was the catalyst for the first industrial revolution. The discovery of metallurgy revolutionized the ancient world and helped transform Late Neolithic agrarian societies into city-states. Neolithic culture had used the same principals and technologies over many thousands of years. The most highly used materials for artists were stone, (the least perishable), wood, bone and textiles, (the most perishable). With the great invention of the loom, new types of art developed. Weaving was initially utilitarian in nature, and the provenance of women, (see Fig 3). Women quickly realized the potential of the loom as an artistic tool that could be used to help unleash their creativity. Essentially, throughout the history of art, new technologies would lead to new methods of working with new materials. This would eventually lead to new styles of art. The modern analogy of this is the advent of photography, computers, and video.

Ancient artists were influenced and inspired by the natural world around them. These influences were best expressed in simple graphic terms. The prehistoric artists had very limited materials to create with. The prehistoric cave painters had a few basic earth colours, a cave wall, a few simple arm movements and using their mouths to spray the paint. The prehistoric sculptor relied on found objects, such as stone, wood, and bone. Sometimes the found object itself would resemble and mimic an animal or figurine. By the simple addition of a few scratches or marks, a found object would be transformed into a work of art. To see a human or animal shape in a rock formation, or a found object, (see Fig 4.) an artist must have the ability to think laterally and in abstract terms. This thought process involves working from abstraction towards reality, or from reality towards abstraction. This is profound. It is the very foundations upon which modern art is constructed.