Cave painting 182028 225307222 2008-07-13T00:28:22Z 85.177.157.97 /* Europe */ moved an image to the talk page [[Image:Lascaux-aurochs.jpg|thumb|[[Aurochs]] on a cave painting in [[Lascaux]], [[France]].]] '''Cave Paintings''' are [[painting]]s on [[cave]] walls and ceilings, and the term is used especially for those dating to [[prehistoric]] times. The earliest known European cave paintings date to 32,000 years ago. The purpose of the cave paintings is not known. The evidence suggests that they were not merely decorations of living areas, since the caves in which they have been found do not have signs of ongoing habitation. Also, they are often in areas of caves that are not easily accessed. Some theories hold that they may have been a way of transmitting information, while other theories ascribe them a religious or ceremonial purpose. == Europe == [[Image:Lascaux2.jpg|thumb|right|Image of a horse from the [[Lascaux]] caves.]] When [[Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola]] first encountered the [[Magdalenian]] paintings of the [[Altamira (cave)|Altamira cave]], [[Cantabria]], [[Spain]] in [[1879]], the academics of the time considered them hoaxes. Recent reappraisals and increasing numbers of discoveries have illustrated their authenticity and have indicated high levels of [[art]]istry of [[Upper Palaeolithic]] humans who used only basic tools. Cave paintings can also give valuable clues as to the [[culture]] and beliefs of that era. === Locations === Well known cave paintings include those of: * [[Lascaux]], France * [[La Marche (cave)|La Marche]], near [[Lussac-les-Chateaux]], France * [[Chauvet Cave]], near [[Vallon-Pont-d'Arc]], France * [[Altamira (cave)|Altamira]], near [[Santillana del Mar]], [[Cantabria]], Spain * [[Cosquer Cave]], with an entrance below [[sea level]] near [[Marseille, France]] * [[Font de Gaume]], in the [[Dordogne]] Valley in France Other sites include [[Creswell Crags]], [[Nottinghamshire]], [[England]]. (Cave etchings and [[bas-reliefs]] discovered in 2003), and Magura [http://www.magura.belogradchik.info/index800.htm], Belogradchik, [[Bulgaria]]. Rock painting was also performed on cliff faces, but fewer of those have survived because of [[erosion]]. One well-known example is the rock paintings of ''[[Astuvansalmi]]'' in the [[Saimaa]] area of [[Finland]]. === Age === Nearly 350 caves have now been discovered in France and Spain that contain art from prehistoric times. The age of the paintings in many sites has been a contentious issue, since methods like [[radiocarbon dating]] can be easily misled by contaminated samples of older or newer material{{Fact|date=February 2007}}, and caves and rocky overhangs (parietal art) are typically littered with debris from many time periods. Recent advances make it possible to date the paintings by sampling the pigment itself. [http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/0957-0233/14/9/301] The choice of subject matter can also indicate date such as the [[reindeer]] at the Spanish cave of [[Cueva de las Monedas]] which imply the art is from the [[Wisconsin glaciation|last Ice Age]]. The oldest cave is that of [[Chauvet Cave|Chauvet]], and is 32,000 years old.[http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/chav/hd_chav.htm] Other examples may date as late as the Early Bronze Age, but the well known prolific and sophisticated style from Lascaux and Altamira died out about 10,000 years ago, coinciding with the advent of the Mesolithic period. [[Image:Rock art bull.jpg|thumbnail|right|Spanish Cave Painting of Bulls]] === Themes and patterns === The most common themes in cave paintings are large wild animals, such as [[bison]], [[horse]]s, [[aurochs]], and [[deer]], and tracings of human [[hand]]s as well as abstract patterns, called [[finger flutings]]. Drawings of humans are rare and are usually schematic rather than the more naturalistic animal subjects. Cave art may have begun in the [[Aurignacian]] period ([[Hohle Fels]], Germany), but reached its apogee in the late [[Magdalenian]] (Lascaux, France). The paintings were drawn with red and yellow [[ochre]], [[hematite]], [[manganese oxide]] and [[charcoal]]. Sometimes the silhouette of the animal was incised in the rock first. ===Theories and interpretations === [[Henri Breuil]] interpreted the paintings as being hunting magic, meant to increase the number of animals. As there are some clay sculptures that seem to have been the targets of spears, this may partly be true, but does not explain the pictures of predators such as the [[lion]] or the bear. An alternative theory, developed by [[David Lewis-Williams]] and broadly based on ethnographic studies of contemporary [[hunter-gatherer]] societies, is that the paintings were made by [[Cro-Magnon]] [[shaman]]s. The [[Shamanism|shaman]] would retreat into the darkness of the caves, enter into a trance state and then paint images of their visions, perhaps with some notion of drawing power out of the cave walls themselves. This goes some way toward explaining the remoteness of some of the paintings (which often occur in deep or small caves) and the variety of subject matter (from prey animals to [[predator]]s and human hand-prints). [[R. Dale Guthrie]]<ref name="Guthrie">[[R. Dale Guthrie]], ''[[The Nature of Paleolithic Art]]''. University Of Chicago Press, 2006. ISBN 978-0-226-31126-5. [http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/311260.html Preface].</ref> has studied not only the most artistic and publicized paintings but also a variety of lower quality art and figurines, and he identifies a wide range of skill and ages among the artists. He also points that the main themes in the paintings and other artifacts (powerful beasts, risky hunting scenes and the over-sexual representation of women in the [[Venus figurine]]s) are to be expected in the fantasies of adolescent males, who made a big part of the [[prehistoric demography|human population at the time]]. == Africa == [[Image:Southafrica468bushman.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Rock paintings from the [[Western Cape]] ]] At [[Ukhahlamba-Drakensberg]], [[South Africa]], now thought to be some 3,000 years old, the paintings by the [[Bushmen|San]] people who settled in the area some 8,000 years ago depict animals and humans, and are thought to represent religious beliefs. Recently, an archeological team discovered the [[Laas Gaa'l]] cave paintings outside [[Hargeisa]] in [[Somaliland]]. They show the ancient inhabitants of the area worshipping [[cattle]] and performing religious ceremonies. Cave paintings found at the [http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/apol/hd_apol.htm "Apollo 11 caves"]in Namibia may be among the earliest cave art. The estimated age of the images date from approximately 23,000 - 25,000 B.C. Cave paintings are found in the [[Tassili n'Ajjer]] mountains in southeast [[Algeria]] also in the [[Akakus]], [[Mesak Settafet]] and [[Tadrart]] in Libya and other Sahara regions including: Ayr mountains, Niger and Tibesti, Chad. == Australia == Significant early cave paintings have also been found in [[Kakadu National Park]] in [[Australia]]. The [[Kakadu|park]] has a large collection of [[ochre]] paintings. Ochre is a not an [[organic material]], so [[carbon dating]] of these pictures is impossible. Sometimes the approximate date, or at least, an [[epoch]], can be guessed from the content. == Southeast Asia == [[Image:Bhimbetka.JPG|thumb|right|200px|[[Bhimbetka]] rock painting, [[World Heritage Site]]]] There are rock paintings in caves in India,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=925 |title=Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka |publisher=World Heritage Site |accessdate=2007-02-15 }}</ref> Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. In Thailand, caves and scarps along the Thai-Burmese border, in the Petchabun Range of Central Thailand, and overlooking the Mekong River in Nakorn Sawan Province, all contain galleries of rock paintings. In Malaysia the oldest paintings are at Gua Tambun in Perak, dated at 2000 years, and those in the Painted Cave at [[Niah Caves]] National Park are 1200 years old. See [[prehistoric Malaysia]]. In Indonesia the caves at Maros in Sulawesi are famous for their hand prints, also found in caves in the Sangkulirang area of Kalimantan. ==Gallery== <gallery> Image:Kakadu-painting-hero.jpg|A male hunter or warrior. Image:Rock-painting-wallaby.jpg|A [[wallaby]] (and some other things). Image:Rock-painting-turtle.jpg|An elaborate turtle. Image:Rock_painting_fishes.jpg|Fishes -- an [[X-ray]] style painting -- with some internal organs shown in detail. Image:Rock_painting_kangaroo_skeleton.jpg|A [[macropod]]'s (probably [[kangaroo]]'s) [[skeleton]] (?) Image:San Rock Art - Cederberg.jpg|Hunters and elephant. </gallery> == See also == * [[Sympathetic magic]] * [[Rock art]] * [[Parietal art]] * [[Petroglyph]] * [[Prehistoric art]] ==References== <references/> ==Further reading== * Thomas Heyd and John Clegg, eds. ''Aesthetics and Rock Art''. Ashgate Publishing, Aldershot, England and Burlington, VT, USA. 2005. ISBN 0-7546-3924-X * Gregory Curtis, ''The Cave Painters: Probing the Mysteries of the World's First Artists'', Knopf, New York, NY, USA, 2006. 1-4000-4348-4 * [[Joseph Nechvatal]], ''Immersive Excess in the Apse of [[Lascaux]]'', Technonoetic Arts 3, no3. 2005 ==External links== * [http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/ Bradshaw Foundation] The recording of cave paintings around the world * [http://www.europreart.net EuroPreArt] database of European Prehistoric Art * [http://www.cavesofmalaysia.com Malaysian Caves] * [http://www.39steps.aixa.com/page6.html Cave paintings in Castell de Castells Spain] * [http://www.arara.org American Rock Art Research Association] [[Category:Prehistoric art]] [[Category:Murals]] [[Category:Media technology]] [[Category:Caves]] [[ca:Pintura rupestre]] [[de:Höhlenmalerei]] [[es:Pintura rupestre]] [[eo:Prahomaj pentraĵoj]] [[eu:Labar-pintura]] [[fr:Art pariétal]] [[gl:Pintura rupestre]] [[it:Pittura rupestre]] [[ka:კლდის მხატვრობა]] [[hu:Barlangrajz]] [[nl:Rotstekening]] [[ja:洞窟壁画]] [[no:Hulemaleri]] [[pl:Malarstwo jaskiniowe]] [[pt:Arte rupestre]] [[ro:Pictura rupestră]] [[simple:Cave painting]] [[sl:Jamske poslikave]] [[fi:Kalliomaalaus]] [[sv:Grottmålning]] [[ta:குகை ஓவியம்]] [[vi:Tranh hang động]] [[zh:石洞壁画]]