PRE HISTORIC

CAVE PAINTINGS
ARE BOLD AND
BEAUTIFUL
CAVE PAINTINGS …

Cave or Rock Paintings are paintings on

cave or rock walls and ceilings, usually
dating to prehistoric times. The earliest
known rock paintings are dated to the
Upper Palaeolithic, 40,000 years ago, while
the earliest European cave paintings date to
32,000 years ago.

The first discoveries of Palaeolithic

painting (40,000 BC-12,000 BC) , which
were greeted with scepticism and disbelief,
were made around 1835 in France and
Switzerland and later in Spain, Australia,
South Africa, and other places.

Naturally blocked for thousands of years,

these deep caves maintained sufficiently
stable temperature and humidity to
preserve, untouched, not only paintings but
also footprints and handprints of their
inhabitants.

Not only in the western world, cave

paintings were also discovered in India at
Bhimbetka, Madhya Pradesh.
In art, the Palaeolithic era is marked by
cave paintings and drawings of animals.

It is thought that the animals were either

those needed for food and that the
paintings were some type of ritual related
to the hunt, or that the animals were sacred
and were given god-like qualities.

The purpose of the cave paintings is not

known, and may never be. The evidence
suggests that they weren't merely
decorations of living areas, since the caves
in which they've been found don't have
signs of ongoing habitation.

It has also been suggested that the

paintings represent primitive calendars or
almanacs, "coming of age" ceremonies,
records of tribal migrations, and mystic
paintings during a shamanistic trance.
The Altamira caves of Spain were discovered in the year 1879.

The Lascaux cave paintings which are located in the Vézère Valley (in the
department of Dordogne) near the town of Montignac were discovered by
two teenagers and their dog in 1940.

The prehistoric cavemen drew and painted animals mainly - such as

mammoths, aurochs, bison horses, figures of humans, and strange
symbolic shapes such as circles, dots and lines. They used flint tools, red
ochre or charcoal, by the light of a lamp burning reindeer or mammoth
fat.
 Much of these prehistoric cave art are found deep inside the caves and
are not easily accessible.

Many are quite large and are even life-size. The contours of the rocks are
used to give a real sense of dimension and movement. The subject in the
paintings were the animals that were found in that part of the world at
that time

The picture above is that of a horse. The colours depict the built of the
animal. Also the animal has been drawn along the contours showing a 3D
relief .
The painting below shows the meeting point of two groups of stags.
Some historians believe that apart from using minerals, charcoal and flint
stones the pre historic men sometimes used animal blood for these cave
paintings. Sometimes they used human blood also.

Some of the paintings stretched from the floor to the ceiling. They had
paintings which were life-sized and sometimes even bigger.
These paintings showed detailed features of the animals- ranging from their
body features to their sexual characteristics and features.
Here there are also a number of dubious figures. Some mysterious
figure like the ‘unicorn’ as shown in the above picture.

It would appear, therefore, that the said mysterious figures are the oldest
creations to be seen in this varied and colourful ensemble
The above picture is that of the renowned ‘Ceiling of the Polychromes’.
Identifiable amongst the painting are four outlined or monochrome-shaded
horses, a goat, and several hands, which likewise are drawn either as outlines
or as shaded figures.

The painting shown below is at eye level facing an unfinished horse-like

figure..
The above painting shows two ibexes which are confronting each other. The
painting shown below is believed to be of a bull which seems to be chasing a
herd of horses.

The cavemen picked topics which were realistic and which happened around
them. Basically they were natural scenes of animals fighting, running etc.