Erotica is the depiction of sexuality and sexual things. Contrary to popular belief, erotica is not a modern trait - it even predates civilization, as there are many cave paintings of erotic nature. Across civilizations, Erotic art is stimulating and arousing, and is a way of depiction of cultures and practiced sexual behavior.

Cave Paintings
The earliest examples of erotic depictions are the Paleolithic cave paintings and carvings with depictions of human genitalia - thought to be fertility symbols. Cave drawings in France (dated 4000BC) clearly show a crouching woman with a man approaching her from behind. Nude humans with exaggerated sexual characteristics (eg. Venus figurines) may be found in some Paleolithic paintings and artifacts.

Ancient Greek Erotica
Ancient Greeks often painted sexual scenes on their ceramics. Their art simply reflected sex scenes from daily life - both hetero as well as homosexual. Carved phalli may be seen in places of worship such as the temple of Dionysus on Delos, while a common household item and protective charm was the herm - a statue with a prominent phallus on the front. Various sexual relationships, other than only a husband and wife were celebrated on vases and in much of Athenian literature.

Roman Erotica
Numerous sexually explicit paintings and sculpture can be found in the Roman ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The phallus had varying significance, depending on the context. Sometimes it was a sign of protection against the evil eye, a symbol of good luck or of good fortune - often as a functional part of a sculpture - a waterspout for a fountain or a handy hangar for bells. In most homes, there were frescoes where men and women cavorted in all manner of sexual adventures, positions, combinations and levels of enjoyment.

Erotica in ancient Peru
The Moche of Peru - who flourished in northern Peru from about 100 AD to 700 AD - are another ancient people that sculpted explicit scenes of sex into their pottery. The Moche believed that the world of the dead was the exact opposite of the world of the living. Therefore, for funeral offerings, they made vessels showing sex acts such as masturbation, fellatio and anal sex that would not result in offspring.

Erotica in the Orient
Japan, China, India and Persia have a rich tradition of erotic paintings and sculpture depicting love between men and women.

	In Japan, for example, shunga (erotic paintings) appeared in the 13th century and were sexually explicit in their imagery.
	Chinese brides in The Han Dynasty paid dowries in Spring Coins - with words of good omen on one side and a copulating deity on the other. Erotic novels with sexual illustrations such as the famous "Ching Ping Mei" were very popular in China in the 1600s.
	In India, the erotic sculptures of Khajuraho (created between 850 AD to 1100 AD) best reflect the culture of the time - a culture in which orgasm was understood as the closest that an ordinary person could get to God.

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