wooly mammoths steppe bison and other
large mammals once roamed alongside
people across Eurasia tens of thousands
of years later we may have a glimpse
into this Ice Age world through the cave
art left behind by early humans around
400 art filled caves and shelters
predominantly located in France and
Spain have been discovered so far some
of the most elaborate prehistoric
artwork exists in caves in France known
as Lascaux grotto and Chauvet upon dark
cave art dates as far back as 65
thousand years ago to the time of the
Neanderthals though radiocarbon dating
and other methods have revealed most art
to be less than 40 thousand years old
and created by Homo sapiens
the majority of cave art depicts animals
that humans would have encountered or
hunted during the Ice Age such as
mammoths horses lions rocks and deer
some human figures and other symbols
have also been discovered cave paintings
were mostly created with red or black
pigments made from rocks some artworks
were painted directly onto cave walls
while some were first engraved into the
stone with tools occasionally the
artists would follow the natural
contours of the stone walls to
accentuate an animal’s features ever
since the late 1800s people have debated
the meaning and purpose of cave art some
scholars think cave paintings were
created by shamans who would go deep
into caves and enter a trance-like state
drawing animals they encountered in the
spirit world
cymbals repeated across artworks may
indicate that those cymbals had
agreed-upon meanings among the artists
thus perhaps cave art also represents
the earliest form of graphic
communication in reality cave art may
have been created for a variety of
reasons while we may never know with
absolute certainty why cave art was made
or the meaning behind individual
paintings these works give us insight
into the evolving minds of our
prehistoric ancestors and the world in
which they lived by one view cave
artists were prehistoric natural ists
their detailed drawings may teach us
about the appearance and behavior of
animals that have long been extinct but
perhaps more significant a part of our
never-ending quest to find out who we
are and where we came from cave art may
provide evidence of a time when humans
were first able to edge their thoughts
in stone [Music]
large mammals once roamed alongside
people across Eurasia tens of thousands
of years later we may have a glimpse
into this Ice Age world through the cave
art left behind by early humans around
400 art filled caves and shelters
predominantly located in France and
Spain have been discovered so far some
of the most elaborate prehistoric
artwork exists in caves in France known
as Lascaux grotto and Chauvet upon dark
cave art dates as far back as 65
thousand years ago to the time of the
Neanderthals though radiocarbon dating
and other methods have revealed most art
to be less than 40 thousand years old
and created by Homo sapiens
the majority of cave art depicts animals
that humans would have encountered or
hunted during the Ice Age such as
mammoths horses lions rocks and deer
some human figures and other symbols
have also been discovered cave paintings
were mostly created with red or black
pigments made from rocks some artworks
were painted directly onto cave walls
while some were first engraved into the
stone with tools occasionally the
artists would follow the natural
contours of the stone walls to
accentuate an animal’s features ever
since the late 1800s people have debated
the meaning and purpose of cave art some
scholars think cave paintings were
created by shamans who would go deep
into caves and enter a trance-like state
drawing animals they encountered in the
spirit world
cymbals repeated across artworks may
indicate that those cymbals had
agreed-upon meanings among the artists
thus perhaps cave art also represents
the earliest form of graphic
communication in reality cave art may
have been created for a variety of
reasons while we may never know with
absolute certainty why cave art was made
or the meaning behind individual
paintings these works give us insight
into the evolving minds of our
prehistoric ancestors and the world in
which they lived by one view cave
artists were prehistoric natural ists
their detailed drawings may teach us
about the appearance and behavior of
animals that have long been extinct but
perhaps more significant a part of our
never-ending quest to find out who we
are and where we came from cave art may
provide evidence of a time when humans
were first able to edge their thoughts
in stone [Music]
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