We all know that ancient people lived in caves. But many do not know how they used those caves as their habitat or what the inside of the cave looked like. Many ancient caves have been found whose interior is decorated with hand-painted works of art. Many would not believe that they knew how to draw such beautiful pictures despite being prehistoric people. But even if it seems unbelievable, it is true. Such a beautiful and artistic painting painted by primitive people thousands of years ago will give birth to wonder in anyone's mind. This article will try to introduce those wonderful cave paintings of prehistoric times.
Lasco Cave Paintings, France
The Lasco Cave is world famous for its Stone Age cave paintings. It is located in Montenia, in the Dorden region of southwestern France.
The image of a bull painted in the Losco cave; Image Source: SPL Lascaux international
On September 12, 1940, four boys were searching for their fallen dog in the Lascaux Cave. One of them, Marcel Rabidat, opens the entrance to the cave and everyone goes inside. There they see some images. The next day they entered the cave with better preparation and discovered all the wonderful images inside the cave. It was opened to the public in 1947.
Images of animals painted in the Lascaux cave; Image Source: subarctic mike
There are more than 2,000 images in this cave. The cave paintings are thought to be twenty thousand years old. The cave depicts various animals, human figures and abstract images. There are several sections inside the Lasco Cave Complex. These are the Great Hall of the Bulls, the Lateral Passage, the Shaft of the Dead Man, the Chamber of Engravings, the Painted Gallery, and the Chamber of the Philā'inasa. (Room of cats).
The most popular of these is the ‘Great Hall of the Bulls’. It has been painted with a total of four black bulls. The seventeen-foot-long black bull painting is the largest animal painting ever discovered in cave art. Stone Age people used natural pigments to paint these images.
Altamira Cave Painting, Spain
The Altamira Cave is located near the village of Antiana Del Mar in Cantabria, northern Spain. The cave was first discovered in 18 Century. A man named Modesto Kubilas first saw it. He later told archaeologist San De Saotola. San De Saotola saw various cave paintings inside the caves and identified them as prehistoric cave paintings.
Images of animals painted in red, black; Image Source: wikimedia commons / Rameessos
But no one at the time agreed to accept them as Stone Age cave paintings. Because of all the cave paintings were discovered at that time. It’s cave paintings were beautiful. Later, however, archaeologists acknowledge that these cave paintings date back to the Stone Age.
At present the cave is 270 meters long. The cave can be divided into three sections. Namely: entrance, polychrome room and gallery. The entrance is the part of the cave where the ancient people lived. Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of various animal bones, knives, and axes, proving that humans lived here.
Images of animals painted on the roof walls of the cave; Image Source: Museum of Altamira / P. Saura
The second section of the cave is the polychrome room located on the inside of the cave, where no natural light reaches. This part is painted with several colors. Most of the pictures are here. The roof of the cave is quite low here. So the people of that time may have painted the pictures on the walls of this roof. Among the hundreds of pictures, there are more pictures of bison, deer and wild boar. There is a narrow gallery at the very end of the cave. French archaeologists have examined the images using carbon dating methods and found that they were painted about 14,000-17,000 years ago. In 1985, UNESCO declared the cave a World Heritage Site.
Kakadu Rock Art, Australia
Kakadu National Park is located in Darwin, Australia. There are more than a thousand primitive sites, including rock arts, stone tools and stone shelters.
The human body has been painted in various colors; Image Source: flickr / brabantsboerke
The rock art of Kakadu National Park represents the primitive human civilization of more than forty thousand years ago. The ancient art of Kakadu mainly depicts hunting, religious rituals and the social life of various primitive peoples living from different periods. The oldest painting of Kakadu National Park was painted 20,000 years ago.
Although
the main subjects for drawing primitive people were various animals,
they also drew human figures; Image Source: wikimedia commons / Dustin
M. Ramsey
The most popular art in Kakadu National Park is Uber Rock Art, Norlanji Rock Art, Nangulur Gallery. These stone figures in Kakadu Park depict Tasmanian tigers, catfish, various marine fish, wheat, and tortoises with snake heads. Apart from these, there are some images which represent the mythological beliefs of the ancestors of Kakadu. However, the most important aspect of this is that the Uber Rock Art site has some of the best ‘X-ray Art Patterns’ in the ancient world.
Sabhē Cave Painting, France
The Sabhē Cave contains one of the oldest paintings in the world. It is located in the Rh -ne-Alpes region of southern France. According to the radiocarbon dating system, its images were painted about 32,000 years ago.
Picture of animals fighting in a cave; Image Source: wikimedia commons
The cave paintings were discovered in December 1994 by Jean-Marie Sombe. He and his cave-walking group were walking along the river bank. At this time they saw a line of light from the cave and went inside the cave and discovered wonderful pictures. There are more than a thousand paintings on the walls of the cave. The paintings were painted by ancient Stone Age people.
The paintings on the walls of the cave look like this from a distance; Image Source: thedebrisfield.wordpress.com
The images depict different animals. Among them are mammoths, wild goats, horses, rhinos, lions, tigers, hyenas and bears. There are also images of some rare ice age animals. Attempts have been made to illustrate the dynamics of animals by drawing lines outside several images. Fossils of various animals, scratches have been found in this cave outside the picture. In 2014, UNESCO declared the cave a World Heritage Site.
Magura Cave Paintings, Bulgaria
Various animals as well as human figures were painted; Image Source: flickr / Plamen Stoev
Magura Cave is one of the largest caves in Bulgaria. Its length is about 2,500 meters. It is located in the village of Rabisha in the Belogradchik region of the Vaidin province of Bulgaria. This is why it is also called Rabisha Cave. Its walls are painted with all the nice paintings. These paintings are thought to have been painted in the early Neolithic and Bronze Ages. More than 700 paintings have been found on the various walls of the cave.
The images depict various gods and goddesses, animal hunting techniques, women, masked men, plants and stars. These images were painted with bird droppings. Incredibly, those images still survive.
These paintings of the caves also highlighted various festivals; Image Source: wikimedia commons
A solar calendar has been placed on the walls of the cave, which presents 366 days and five special festivals. It is the oldest solar calendar ever discovered on the European continent. The cave is home to more than two thousand bats of eight species.
Cueva de Las Monos, Argentina
Cueva de Las Manos Cave is located in the Argentine province of Santa Cruz. It is also known as ‘Cave of Hands’. The reason behind such a name is that there are innumerable hand paintings in the cave. The paintings were made about 9,000 to 13,000 years ago.
The Cueva de las Monos cave is dominated by left-handed images; Image Source: Pablo Gimenez
Not only hand painting, but also various animals, hunting scenes, geometric designs and various crooked designs. These paintings were made by the primitive people of the Patagonia region of Argentina. The cave was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999. Surprisingly, most of the hand-painted images in this cave are left-handed.
Archaeologists are still struggling to gather enough evidence before reaching the final conclusions about the location of the arches. The paint was sprinkled on the hands with a pipe made of bone. Natural mineral dyes, such as manganese oxide (black), porcelain (white), nitrogerosite (black), and iron oxide (red, purple) were used to make the paint.
The Cueva de las Manos cave has paintings of animals as well as hands; Image Source: patagonia-calling.com
By far this cave painting is the longest and most wonderful handprint in the world. No one knows the answer to what is meant by this hand. However, a theory says that these hands were painted as part of the initiation or religious ceremonies of teenagers. Because most of the hands are teenagers. The number of adult hands is very low. According to another theory, these hands were painted as part of a religious ceremony before going hunting.
Bhimbetka, India
Bhimbetka Cave is located in Raisen district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The cave was discovered in 1958 by Indian archaeologist VS Bhakander. It has about 750 cave settlements. Of these, 243 are located in Bhimbetka region and 16 lakh in Juar region. Numerous images have been found in these cave settlements. The oldest paintings were made 30,000 years ago. It also includes paintings painted in the Middle Ages. The paintings from so many years ago still survive, as most of the paintings are on the very inside of the cave. However, some paintings have been made on the top of the cave and they still survive.
The image of the festival is painted in the Bhimbetka Cave in India; Image Source: wikipedia / Raveesh Vyas
Most of the paintings are painted in red and white. Charcoal, manganese and red stone were used to make paints. The paintings depict the social life of the time, hunting, animal fighting, funerals and religious rites. Some images are dedicated only to ferocious animals. Images of tigers, pigs, elephants, rhinos, deer and monkeys have been painted. In 2003, UNESCO declared the cave a World Heritage Site.
The social life of the primitive people is predominant in the Bhimbetka cave paintings; Image Source: india heritage walk
Las Gall, Somalia
Las Gaal is a popular archeological site in northwestern Somalia. The cave paintings were discovered in 2002 by a team of archaeologists from France. While they were digging in this cave in search of a settlement, they came across these images.
Las Gall cave paintings depict wild animals and cows; Image Source: flickr / joepyrek
The cave contains numerous Neolithic paintings that were painted about 8,000 to 10,000 years ago. These paintings are considered to be some of the best preserved cave paintings in Africa. The Las Gaul complex has a total of eight ancient caves. Most of the paintings were painted in the first cave of the complex. Most of the paintings depict wild animals and cows. The image of the cows is painted as if they were dressed in formal attire. The rest of the caves in the Las Gall complex were used as living quarters and prisons. It is currently a popular tourist destination in Somalia and an important archeological site.
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