Ancient art refers to creative works from early civilizations where history was first recorded, including those in China, India, Mesopotamia, Babylonia, and Egypt. Prehistoric art from the Stone Age includes cave paintings from as early as 16,000 BC featuring animals and pictographs found in places like Lascaux, France and Altamira, Spain. Early civilizations like the Sumerians in Mesopotamia established writing systems and religious structures like ziggurats, while the Egyptians are renowned for their mummification practices, hieroglyphics, pyramid tombs for pharaohs, and sculptures and paintings found therein.