Hunting The Great Straag Analysis

History is compilation of data and materials gathered throughout time and analyzed to form some consensus of what happened in the past. A common way people learn about history is through reading and memorizing textbooks and historical literature. This can be an effective way of understanding the past but it is important to not overlook other ways of understanding the past such as artwork. Although artwork may not always tell the person about specific knowledge, it may sometimes give more information that other sources could not. The important thing to note about historical artwork is that it shows the scholar insight about what the people of the time thought of themselves and not what other people thought of them. In this way, artwork acts as a primary source and gives off first hand information about a people’s own culture. Specifically,
In “Hunting The Great Stag”, the rise in popularity of animal domestication can be seen through the large central animal in the picture. We can see that the size difference between the animal and the humans is very large. This suggests that animals were a very prized part of neolithic culture because they were a source of food and clothing. Another impression it may leave on the viewer is that tribal efforts were a significant aspect of neolithic culture. As shown, an entire group of people are needed to collaborate to take down the stag. This further suggests the rise in animal domestication. Although the animals were prized to the people of catal huyuk, they were not respected. As seen in the image of “Hunting The Great Stag”, one man is kicking the animal in the behind and another man is trying to break the horns of the animal. The lasting impression taken from this image suggests that the people of catal huyuk and of the neolithic age were first starting to form societies as it served an advantage in hunting and