The Unwritten History of Cave Paintings Essay

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Religious stories and scientific theories have tried for thousands of years to accurately date the formation of man. However, in the 1860s, a new art was discovered that changed the view of human creation forever. This new insight was cave painting. Cave painting is a form of prehistoric art that dates back hundreds of thousands of years. Analysts are unable to specify the reasoning behind these paintings of objects on cave walls, but many theories have been formulated to surmise the rational behind the art. Questions arise like, “why did man find a need to paint the walls of caves” and is this part of the foundation of the origin of human life as we know it? (Beacon) The ecumenical belief is rooted at history, cave paintings are…show more content…
The methods used to create have proven themselves more useful in dating the art than the work itself. The natural objects used have withstood time better that the art. In the earlier times of the paintings, fingers and soft clays created many of the paintings. The fine engravings were created later in time, respectively, and are much more rare. Over time the art became more revolutionized and the artists began to mix colors with pestles and mortars. They even went as far as using stencils and blowpipes to create different effects. Another supporting theory that the paintings were done consciously to preserve time is the cost of the art. The cave paintings were expensive to create. The artists required sufficient lighting and a homemade type of scaffolding to reach the high areas. If it didn’t seem imperative to the people to preserve their experiences, they wouldn’t have gone to such costs to create the work. The quality and consistency of the best-painted works in caves supports this. They honed their skill to perfection so that it would last for centuries to be interpreted months later by different clans or even years later by completely different generations. When the first painting was found, people didn’t know whether they were conclusive to a specific area. Many years later from 1860 after finding the first cave of Chauvet, hundreds of paintings have been found. Historians believe there to have been over a thousand of
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