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Great Art 18

The document discusses the history and significance of ancient cave paintings, particularly those dating back to the Upper Palaeolithic era, around 30,000 BCE. It highlights the survival of these artworks due to their location in deep caves and mentions the discovery of similar images in Africa and Australia. Additionally, it addresses the impact of tourism on these sites, leading to the creation of replicas to protect the original artworks.

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callaontheway
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12 views1 page

Great Art 18

The document discusses the history and significance of ancient cave paintings, particularly those dating back to the Upper Palaeolithic era, around 30,000 BCE. It highlights the survival of these artworks due to their location in deep caves and mentions the discovery of similar images in Africa and Australia. Additionally, it addresses the impact of tourism on these sites, leading to the creation of replicas to protect the original artworks.

Uploaded by

callaontheway
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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016 ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL

TIMELINE WE NOW SHOULDERED


It is just over a century since historians accepted the idea that cave paintings A HEAVY BURDEN
dated back to the Upper Palaeolithic era. The earliest European examples OF RESPONSIBILITY.
appear to date from around 30,000 BCE. However, as new discoveries are made THIS INTACT SITE ...
and dating techniques become more sophisticated, this situation may change.
MUST BE PROTECTED
Many of the European paintings were produced inside deep, barely accessible
caves, which has aided their survival. Similar images have been found in Africa
AT ALL COSTS
and Australia, where the practice of creating them continued for far longer. 1995 | Eliette Brunel Deschamps
French speleologist, on the discovery of Chauvet

Megaceros Deer
Running
c.30,000 BCE Chauvet Candamo Cave
Cave, Ardèche, France The oldest cave paintings in Spain may
The megaceros was a giant have been produced c.23,000 BCE, at La
deer, which is now extinct. Peña de Candamo. These include images
It did not return to southern of bison, bulls, and aurochs (wild cattle).
Europe after the Late
Glacial Period and
paintings of it are only
found in very old caves,
such as Chauvet
and Cougnac.

30,000 BCE 27,000

Neanderthals extinct Venus figurines


The remains of the last Neanderthals date from A number of small Venus
c.30,000 BCE. They have dominated the Middle sculptures date from
Palaeolithic age, but are now replaced by c.26,000 BCE. Made from
modern humans. stone or mammoth tusks, the
women are often obese, with
few facial features and
REPLICA CAVES complex hair arrangements.
The most famous examples
Most cave paintings survived because they are from Willendorf in
Austria, and Lespugue and
were preserved in a stable microclimate, but this
Brassempouy in France.
changed as tourists flocked to view them. In the
1950s, officials at Lascaux noticed that algae and
calcite crystals were forming on the walls and the
paintings were beginning to fade. The cave was
closed in 1963 and a replica – Lascaux II – was
created for visitors in a nearby concrete bunker.

Replicas of cave paintings in Lascaux II

Venus of Willendorf
c.25,000 BCE Naturhistorisches
Museum, Vienna, Austria
Discovered in 1908, this is the
most famous of the Venus figurines
excavated from Palaeolithic sites
across Europe. It was found at
Willendorf in Austria but must have
originated elsewhere, as its
CONTEXT

material (oolitic limestone) was not


locally available. Images of similar
figures were produced, either as
paintings or engravings, in
prehistoric caves.

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