1. Prehistoric Cave Art and Sculpture

4. Painted by Cro-Magnon man (35,000-10,000 yrs. ago)
Old Stone Age – Paleolithic Period
41 caves found in France and Spain in 1900s

5. Altamira, Spain: 1879 - Archaeologist excavating cave entrance. 12 yr
Altamira, Spain: Archaeologist excavating cave entrance. 12 yr. old daughter wanders off.
“Look Papa! Look at the painted bulls.”
1st indication of prehistoric art. Immediately attributed to modern painter. Man is accused of perpetrating a forgery.
15 yrs. later other caves found to prove he was not lying. He died an embittered man.

6. Lascaux, France - 1940 four children playing, dog fell into a hole, they rescue dog and explore cave
Cave closed in 1963 – carbon dioxide, humidity, temperature destroying paintings
Artists constructed wooden scaffoldings to paint
Artists used the contours of the cave to make drawings more realistic (three-dimensional)
One animal is >18 ft. long
Most animals were aurochs(bulls), bison, horses and not fish or birds
Very few humans pictured
Hand prints – pigments blown across hands

7. Art Materials and Application
Yellow, red, black clay soils (ocher, iron oxide, carbon or manganese) – ground to powder, mixed with animal fat, egg whites or vegetable oil
3 basic colors intermixed for additional shades - Red is most durable color
Paints applied with: fingertips(earliest form of pointilism), fine animal hair brushes, blown through hollow bones, frayed sticks, moss and fur (served as sponges)
Engravings with flint tools
Painted in narrow passage ways (one yard wide), back of caves, required great courage – mountain lions and cave bears

8. Motive or Reasons for Paintings
Magic or religious ritual – risk would rule out other purposes such as decoration, education
Paint what you want to be able to find and successfully hunt and kill
But most animals painted were not most common food sources
Other possible reasons: initiation rite, or pictorial text for young

16. Earth Mothers
Venus of Willendorf

21. Stonehenge – Druids
3100 BC
Easter Island AD (not prehistoric)