Cave and Rock Paintings

Did you know? Humans have been doing paintings since long before agriculture In fact, the earliest cave paintings, which were made about 30,000 years ago, were done in parts of caves that were very hard to get to. In many of the caves, the ceilings are so low archaeologists (the scientists who study ancient history) have to crawl on their hands and knees to get to the paintings The people didn't have paintbrushes and paints to work with either. Instead, they used animal fat, clay and charcoal as paints and feathers, sticks and their fingers to paint with.

There are two kinds of Cave Art The Petroglyphs which are pictures carved in stone Pictographs, which are pictures painted on stone. These kinds of cave art have been found all around the world. Scientists can tell how old the pictographs are, but not the petroglyphs

The Paint The “paints” used were chunks of red and yellow ocher ground into powder and applied with brushes or blown onto the surface through hollow bones.

Altamira Cave Altamira is a cave in Spain. It is significant because it was the first cave with prehistoric art ever discovered. In 1879 Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola entered the cave with his eight-year-old daughter Maria. It was Maria who discovered the paintings! Most of the paintings range in age from 18,500 – 14,000 years ago, but one is over 35,600 years old!

Interesting Facts! Lascaux is the setting of a complex of caves in southwestern France famous for its Paleolithic cave paintings. The original caves are located near the village of Montignac, in the department of Dordogne. They contain some of the best-known Upper Paleolithic art. These paintings are estimated to be 17,300 years old

The paintings were discovered in 1940 by four teenagers. The cave was opened to the public in 1948, but closed in 1963 because of damage from people’s breath! In 1983, a replica (copy) was opened to the public – it took 12 years to build!

Lascaux

Take a look! Lascaux  The Dawn of Art The Day Pictures were Born

Chauvet The Chauvet Cave is one of the most famous prehistoric rock art sites in the world. Located in the Ardeche region of southern France This cave was only discovered as recently as 1994, by a small team of cavers led by Jean-Marie Chauvet. Chauvet Cave's importance is based on two factors 1. The Paintings are of very good quality 2. The cave art paintings have been dated between 30,000 & 33,000 years ago.

Niaux

The Cave of Niaux is located in Niaux in the Ariège département of south-western France. Like Lascaux it contains many prehistoric paintings of superior quality. The paintings have been dated to between 12,500 and 13,500 years old.

The Bradshaw Paintings

The Bradshaw Rock Paintings Bradshaw rock paintings, or the Bradshaws are a distinctive style of rock art found in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. They are named after the Joseph Bradshaw who was the first European to discover them in 1891, whilst searching for grazing land for his cattle. The Bradshaws are also known as Gwion Gwion by the local Aboriginal people.

What kind of animals do you see? Why is this unusual? What do you think it means?

The Dreamtime Paintings http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7oE4sKIDuU&feature=related

The Cave of Swimmers The Cave of Swimmers is a cave with ancient rock art in the mountainous Gilf Kebir plateau of the Libyan Desert section of the Sahara. It is located in the New Valley Governorate of southwest Egypt, near the border with Libya. The cave and rock art was discovered in October 1933 by the Hungarian explorer László Almásy. It contains Neolithic pictographs (rock painting images) of people swimming. They are estimated to have been created 10,000 years ago during the time of the most recent Ice Age.

The Americas Arizona Most of this art was done 9,000 to 10,000 years ago

Baja California

The UAE Hili Archeological Park Al Ain

This was built about 4,000 years ago