Cave Art
Early people also expressed themselves through art. Some of this art can still be seen today, even though it is thousands of years old. For example, in 1879 a young girl named Maria de Sautuola wandered into a cave on her grandfather's farm near Altamira, Spain. She was startled by what she discovered on the walls of the cave:
"Maria entered the cave... and suddenly reappeared all excited, shouting 'Papa, look, painted bulls!' Maria had discovered one of the most famous animal-art galleries in the world."
-from Hands: Prehistoric Visiting Cards? by August Gansser
About ten thousand years before Maria's visit, Paleolithic artists had painted mysterious signs, including what looked like a heard of animals-horses, boars, bison, and deer-on the cave's ceiling. In 1940, a cave with similar paintings to those in Spain was discovered near Lascaux in southern France.
Paleolithic cave painting have been found all around the world. Early artists crushed yellow, black and red rocks and combined them with animal fat to make paints. They used twigs and their fingertips to apply these paints to the rock wall. They later used brushes made from animal hair. Early people created scenes of lions, oxen, panthers and other animals. Few humans, however, appear in these paintings.
Historians are not sure why early artists chose to make cave paintings. Early people may have thought that painting an animal would bring hunters good luck. Some scholars believe, however, that the paintings may have been created to record the group's history. They may have been created simply to be enjoyed.
-From "A History of the World" by Jackson Spielvogel
Visit the cave of Lascaux
Respond:
What do you think of the cave art?
Why might it have been created?
What can we learn about early humans from it?
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