In the history of art, prehistoric art is all art produced in preliterate, prehistorical cultures beginning somewhere in very late geological history, and generally continuing until that culture either develops writing or other methods of record-keeping, or makes significant contact with another culture that has, and ...

The choice of sturdy materials and their cultural value are two factors contributing to the survival of certain ancient artwork.

It includes examples of sculpture in stone, clay, and bronze, as well as coins, glass, jewelry, vases, and mosaics of outstanding quality and interest. There are some 2,300 works of ancient Mediterranean art in the department's holdings.

The foundations of art history can be traced back thousands of years. Ancient art is often grouped together with pre-historic art (c. 40,000 BCE–600 CE) and roughly dates from around 6,000 or 3,000 BCE (depending on the source) to c. 400–600 CE.