Oyatieva E. (ed.). The dawn of art: palaeolithic, neolithic, bronze age and iron age remains found in the territory of the Soviet Union

Leningrad: Aurora Art Publishers, 1974. — 194 p.The authors of the Album, research students on the staff of the Department of Prehistoric Cultures in the Hermitage, Leningrad, present 114 specimens of ancient artistic craftsmanship, selected from the fabulously rich collections in their care. The objects illustrate an extensive period in the early history of many peoples, both settled and nomadic, which once inhabited the territory now belonging to the Soviet Union. A brief survey of the history of the Hermitage collection, with special reference to the complexes from which the materials published are derived, is given in the Introduction. The Notes contain the usual data (material, size etc.). accompanied by scholarly comment. Beautiful examples of man's creative activity, from the earliest productions of the Stone Age to masterly works by mediaeval craftsmen, have been chosen to give the reader an idea of the gradual development of aesthetic feeling in our ancestors, and the evolution of the content and form of their art.