Cave Art History

Do you know anything about cave paintings? Well I am here to inform you about them. For example, the majestic paintings of bison in Cosquer Cave. In Altamira more beautiful animals of the Ice Age. In Lascaux too were majestic animals like horse, deer, bison, etc. These facts are truly amazing. These caves are jewels of mother nature. Also, about Carbon 14 Dating and how it works with its formulas.

What are common motifs found in cave paintings such as those at Lascaux and Altamira? Summarize the current theories about their original meaning and purpose

A prehistoric archaeologist’s goal, as per Scupin and DeCorse (2013:5), is to decipher the beliefs and mindset of past societies, particularly early inhabitants of Europe and America, through their material culture, such as the cave art found in Lascaux. This cave, located in southern France, contains what is believed to be one of the oldest artistic representations of wild animals and art; it has captured the interest of numerous scientists, philosophers and historians, all of whom wish to make sense of these enigmatic images (Lippit 2002:20). With the multitude of minds working to decode these images, it comes as no surprise that there are a variety of unique interpretations of these paintings

I want to start off by discussing when and where Paleolithic cave paintings originated. During the Paleolithic Era that lasted from 30,000 BCE to 10,000 BCE, the first achievements in human creativity happened. Paleolithic cave paintings demonstrate civilizations early ability to talk to each other and their interpretations of their surroundings. Lascaux Cave is one location where these cave drawings were discovered. The cave is located in Lascaux, France. It has nearly 2,000 drawings that can be divided into three different types: people, geometric signs and animals. Drawings of humans were very rare and when they were compared to the more detailed and life-like images of animals, the human figures seemed meek. When it comes to the animal

Thinking of life back almost 40,000 years ago can be a challenge to wrap the mind around. To learn about the human species’ past, we must decipher the clues left behind of how humans used to live.

Creating art is one of the single defining factors that set humans apart from animal species. Through art, humans are able to express their innermost ideas and feelings, without having the difficulty of trying to find the correct words to accurately describe their thought processes. Works of art can help us to understand the people who have come before us. This is evidenced by the knowledge humans have discovered of prehistoric men and their symbolic cave paintings. The expression, style, and meaning vary and archaeologists put in much effort to uncover these works.

The Chauvet Cave, which is located in the southern part of modern day France, is full of Palaeolithic (Paleolithic) paintings created about thirty to thirty-three thousand years ago. The last Ice Age period was estimated to be around one-hundred-and-ten to twelve-thousand years ago, and places this within it. However, it was only discovered about twenty-two years ago in 1994 by a group of “cavers” led by the man himself, Jean-Marie Chauvet. Today, the cave is compelling to many observers as it is described to be loaded with “skillfully executed” charcoal and carved creations including animals such as horses/stallions, deer-like figures, lions, hyenas, owls, panthers, and rhinos.

The last article talks about the 59th Unnamed Cave, in Florida. This cave is located in the eastern part of the Florida Panhandle. From the dates of the artifacts and the dates of the glyph, the site was occupied in the Late Woodland period. The cave was discover in 2007 when a group of cave explorer saw fine engravings on the wall. This site was the first cave art site that was found in Florida and it is the second rock art site that was found in the states. Rock art is very rare in Florida, but now with the site found there is a wider perspective on the importance of rock art. The site did not only include the petroglyph drawing of the past, but it included some artifacts that was use to help date the time that the cave was occupied.

Historically, it is always argued that the cave paintings during the Paleolithic period are one of the oldest recorded pieces of art. These include the hand imprints and spotted horses cave painting in Peche-Merle, France, the Halls of Bulls wall painting in Lascaux, France and the animal paintings in the Chauvet cave. While they are located in different locations, there are some common traits in these paintings. First, the cave paintings estimated to be between 13,000 and 15,000 years old, which means

This article talks about the study of the Dunbar Cave in Montgomery County, Tennessee to learn more about the varied ways that the cave was used by people. Many of the artifacts that was in the cave linked its usage time to be from the Late Paleo-Indian to the Mississippian period. The article define dark-zone cave art as “the decorations in the areas of the caves that is beyond the reach of external lights”. Mug Glyph Cave art was found in the 12th Unnamed Cave in Tennessee and since then sixty-nine other caves that had dark-zone cave art were found. The artifacts and chronological data from these sites indicates that the tradition of cave art began 6000 years ago.

This article was talking about the uniqueness of the 11th Unnamed Cave and it tries to theorized on how the site was used. The article did a good job of explaining the why there are so many mud balls on the ceilings. The authors tries to show both supporting and disproving that the mud balls were there is because they were used to hunt bats. They also use radio carbon dating to try to get close to the dates that the sites were occupied. The articles showed many hypothesize and they were able to make claims to help them prove their points base of off the evidence that was found at the cites. While there were some good parts of the article there were some that I was questioning. Like how did they see some of the images from the petroglyph because I tried looking it from multiple angle and I was not able to see the images that they were talking about. Also, the there were a conflict between the radio carbon dating dates and the artifacts that was found dates. For example, the carbon dating material said that the time that the cave was used is around the Mississippian period. However, some of the artifacts that was found indicate that there were traces of Early to Middle Woodland people are there. Human behaviors varies and it is very hard to pin-point what something

This cave had drawings of miraculous things that no one had ever seen before. The

A ground breaking discovery of cave art in Africa, just found. I'm Amelia Moorehead, and I found a beautiful piece of cave art from about 20,000 years ago. It had a hand, a spear and some sort of animal antler. It told me some things about hunting. They must have cut of the antler from the animal with a spear. In the back round there is hands hitting rocks with spears. I came to the conclusion that they where flaking. I wonder if this painting is made by the persons from the paleolithic era who created flaking. It also made hints of people working together. There are hands on it and some are different.

In chapter 1 of the book, the paleolithic era, neolithic era, as well as the importance of art, ceramics, megaliths, myth, and sacred sites in the development of cultures during those eras were discussed. One of the main ideas that show importance in the chapter is when the cave paintings of Chauvet were discussed. The level of realism, naturalism, and representations of animal appearances help show the complexity of the paintings in the cave. Another cave that was discussed was Lascaux and the piece of art that was shown is the wall painting that had the bird headed man, rhinoceros and a bison. In this image the animals were represented with a more natural look and the human which was added later on shows a more abstract representation of human beings. With the paintings in Chauvet and Lascaux, the sophistication of the art and realism seen in the art clearly shows a more culturally linked reason as opposed to linear progression of the sophistication in art.