That'sWhat
right, it's
ama cave painting of
I looking at?a bison!
What am I looking at?
Reveal
Why do you think ancient
people found a need to paint
in the walls of caves?
Prehistoric Art
Objectives
• I can identify the prehistoric arts
• I can recognize the distinct characteristics of
prehistoric art
What does prehistoric mean?
Prehistoric comes from ‘pre-
history’.
It means a time before written
records existed.
There is no recorded history of
this time that we can read, just
clues left behind that
archaeologists have to
interpret.
Photo courtesy of Tadius magazine@flickr.com - granted under creative commons licence - attribution
Cave Paintings
- are prehistoric images found on the walls
of caves all over the world
- among the earliest records of human
activity; they were painted in the Paleolithic
Period, also called Stone Age
Most cave paintings were of animals or hunters.
A cave could be full of many paintings by many
different painters.
Why is it called the Stone Age?
The Stone Age is so called because the earliest
humans used stone to make tools with a sharp
edge or point.
Stone was the material
predominantly used for tools
throughout the Stone Age.
Purpose of Cave
Paintings
- uncertain
Studies suggest that they were not
merely decorations. Some theories hold
that cave paintings may have been a
way of communicating with other
people, documenting hunting
expeditions, or part of spiritual beliefs.
Cave Paintings
have been found to include
line drawings or stick figures of
people, stencils of hands, and
well-drawn animals.
line drawings or stick figures of people
Photo courtesy of Marie Brizzard (@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence – attribution
Photo courtesy of Marie Brizzard (@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence – attribution
Hand Stencils
Cave Paintings around the world often
include hand stencils, impressions left
by blowing paint around the hand.
Photo courtesy of botheredbybees (@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence – attribution
Photo courtesy of botheredbybees (@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence – attribution
Cuevas De Las Manos
(Cave of the Hands)in Argentina
Photo courtesy of lisa_aws (@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence – attribution
Photo courtesy of GOC53 (@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence – attribution
Photo courtesy of GOC53 (@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence – attribution
Photo courtesy of GOC53 (@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence – attribution
Photo courtesy of GOC53 (@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence – attribution
Photo courtesy of GOC53 (@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence – attribution
What did they use to paint
in caves?
The materials used in cave
paintings were natural substances
such as black charcoal, animal
blood, different colored
minerals, and other pigments
combined with clay.
The following slides contain
prehistoric cave murals known for
their sophistication of details.
Cave of Altamira
Cave of Altamira
-Cave paintings in Altamira are
sometimes called “The Sistine
Chapel of Paleolithic Art”
-Cave paintings depicted wild
animals such as bison, red deer,
wild boar, and horse along with
paintings of human hands
Cave of Lascaux
This Cave is located in France. It was discovered by
children in 1940. This picture shows a recreation of
the cave in a museum.
Photo courtesy of ellenm1 (@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence – attribution
Cave of Lascaux
-contains seven decorated
chambers with more than 2,000
images that can be grouped into
three main categories - animals,
human figures, and abstract
signs
-The Halls of the Bulls is the most
impressive in the Cave of
Lascaux
Cave of Chauvet
This Cave is also located in France. It was
discovered in 1994.
Photo courtesy of ellenm1 (@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence – attribution
Cave of Chauvet
-has two main parts - most
pictures are red and animals are
mostly black
-the Horse Panel and Panel of
Lions are the grandest images
