The term Paleolithic Age denotes an era beginning as early as 2.6 million years ago and extends to about 10,000 B.C. During this era humans began to use primitive tools to manipulate stones and other objects for daily use or art. The Neolithic era began about 950 B.C. and is considered the last part of the Stone Age. The wall paintings in the Chauvet caves in France (Getlein and Gilbert 317) is one example of Paleolithic art. The wall paintings depict various animals, most prominently a horse. While the meaning of these paintings is unknown, some researchers have suggested that the animals carry symbolic meaning but again, since no other sources from this time are available it is impossible to know what they meant to the people who created them.
An example of Neolithic "art" is Stonehenge (320). Again, researchers are in the dark about the exact meaning the circle of stones held for the people who created it but it is reasonable to assume that it had a religious or symbolic context. As Getlein points out, art survives for four distinct reasons/ under four conditions (320): 1. It is made from durable materials such as stone, metal, or fired clay, 2. The local environment is not destructive to artwork, 3. The culture was highly organized and had a population that was stable enough to produce cultural artifacts, and 4. The culture had a tradition of keeping artwork in places with limited or no access. The Egyptian pyramids, would be a good example of this, as their interior was used to store artwork and objects of daily life for the Pharaoh's afterlife.
Artworks that were made out of organic materials such as flowers or unburned clay would most likely not survive. Since only certain materials survive, we actually do not have a very objective impression of the kind of culture from which these artworks emerge, as it is possible that these artworks only represent a small portion of the artifacts the culture could have ...