Interesting and picturesque messages from the past - drawings on the walls of caves, which are up to 40 thousand years old - fascinate modern people with its brevity.
What were they for the people of ancient times? If they served only to decorate the walls, then why were they performed in remote corners of caves, in places where, most likely, they did not live?
The oldest of the found drawings were made about 40 thousand years ago, others are several tens of thousands of years younger. It is interesting that in different parts of the world the images on the walls of caves are very similar - in those days people depicted mainly ungulates and other animals that were common in their area.
The image of hands was also popular: community members put their palms to the wall and outlined them. Such pictures are truly inspiring: by pressing your palm against such an image, a person can feel as if he has formed a bridge between modern civilization and antiquity!
Below we bring to your attention interesting images made by ancient people from different corners light on the walls of the caves.
El Castillo contains some of the oldest examples of cave painting in the world. The age of the images is at least 40,800 years.
The unique Kovalanas cave was inhabited by people less than 45 thousand years ago!
The walls of the caves located near Covalanas and El Castillo are also decorated with numerous paintings made by people thousands of years ago. However, these caves are not so famous. Among them are Las Monedas, El Pendo, Chufin, Hornos de la Pena, Culalvera.
The Lascaux cave complex in southwest France was accidentally discovered in 1940 local, an 18-year-old guy named Marcel Ravid. Great amount The paintings on the walls, which are surprisingly well preserved, give this cave complex the right to claim the title of one of the largest galleries ancient world. The age of the images is about 17.3 thousand years.
About ancient rock paintings.Around the world, speleologists deep caves find confirmation of the existence of ancient people. Rock paintings have been perfectly preserved for many millennia. There are several types of masterpieces - pictograms, petroglyphs, geoglyphs. Important monuments of human history are regularly included in the World Heritage Register.
Usually on the walls of caves there are common subjects, such as hunting, battle, images of the sun, animals, human hands. People in ancient times gave paintings sacred meaning, they believed they were helping themselves in the future.
Images were applied various methods and materials. For artistic creativity animal blood, ocher, chalk and even bat guano were used. Special view paintings - hewn paintings, they were knocked out in stone using a special chisel.
Many caves have not been sufficiently studied and are limited in visiting, while others, on the contrary, are open to tourists. However, most of the precious cultural heritage disappears unattended, unable to find her researchers.
Below is a short excursion into the world of the most interesting caves with prehistoric rock paintings.
Ancient rock paintings.
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A person's desire to capture the world, events that inspire fear, hope to be successful in hunting, life, struggle with other tribes, nature, demonstrated in drawings. They are found all over the world from South America to Siberia. Rock painting primitive people is also called a cave, since mountain, underground shelters were often used by them as shelters, reliably sheltering them from bad weather and predators. In Russia they are called “pisanitsa”. The scientific name of the drawings is petroglyphs. After discovery, scientists sometimes paint them over for better visibility and preservation.
Drawings carved on the walls of caves, open, vertical surfaces of rocks, separately standing stones, drawn with charcoal from a fire, chalk, mineral or plant substances, essentially represent objects of art - engravings, paintings of ancient people. They usually depict:
These paintings gave scientists a lot to understand the history of the development of society, the animal world, and changes in the Earth’s climate over thousands of years, because early petroglyphs date back to the late Paleolithic, Neolithic eras, and later ones to Bronze Age. For example, this is how the periods of domestication of the buffalo, wild bull, horse, and camel in the history of the use of animals by humans were determined. Unexpected discoveries included confirmation of the existence of bison in Spain, woolly rhinoceroses in Siberia, prehistoric animals in great plain, which today represents a huge desert - the Central Sahara.
This discovery is often attributed to the Spanish amateur archaeologist Marcelino de Sautuole, who found in late XIX centuries of magnificent paintings in the Altamira cave in his homeland. There, the rock paintings, made with charcoal and ocher, available to primitive people, were so good that they were long considered a fake and a hoax.
In fact, such drawings had long been known all over the world by that time, with the exception of Antarctica. Thus, rock paintings along the banks of Siberian rivers, Far East known since the 17th century and described by famous travelers: scientists Spafari, Stallenberg, Miller. Therefore, the discovery in the Altamira cave and the subsequent hype is just an example of successful, albeit unintentional, propaganda in the scientific world.
Art galleries, “photo exhibitions” of ancient people, amazing with their plot, variety, and quality of detail:
Rock art in Russia has a geography from the White Sea to the banks of the Amur and Ussuri. Here are a few of them:
It must be said that the rock paintings of primitive people in different places differ significantly in preservation, plot scenes, and quality of execution by ancient authors. But to see them at least, and if you’re lucky in reality, is like looking into the distant past.
Modern man is surrounded by an incredible amount artistic images. Wherever we turn our gaze, everything is replete with paintings, ornaments, photographs, from the simplest everyday life to works of art.
Throughout history, man has strived to convey the internal or external through the image. “Truly, art lies in nature; whoever knows how to discover it owns it.” Albrecht Durer
The artistic culture of mankind dates back to time immemorial - the Paleolithic itself. Everyone knows the oldest rock painting. It was in the Paleolithic (2.5 million-10,000 BC) that art as such arose.
A time when agriculture did not yet exist, and the Earth was inhabited by extinct species of animals, during the Stone Age, when primitive man was engaged in gathering and hunting with the help of primitive weapons.
Even then, people began to feel the need to express simple images artistically.
These drawings, differing in the manner of execution, were located in caves where Paleolithic people lived, sometimes in inaccessible places.
Rock painting was performed on stone using a rough cutting tool, as evidenced by stone chisels found at the sites of primitive people.
Mineral dyes were often used, which were applied as a second layer; they were prepared from manganese oxide, coal, kaolite and gave color variations from ocher to black. “The authors of cave paintings had a better understanding of the anatomy of four-legged animals than most contemporary artists, and made fewer mistakes in drawings of walking mammoths and other mammals” It is assumed that meaning of rock drawings was ritual, but debates on this topic continue to this day. Mostly animals were depicted, including those that had already become extinct. The image of a person is much less common and dates back to a later period.
For rock paintings characterized by a lack of proportions, a simple primitive depiction technique, sometimes a primitive hunting plot is visible, and often the drawings of primitive people conveyed movement.
Rock painting distributed throughout the world. Its most striking examples are in Kazakhstan (Tamgaly), Karelia, Spain (Altamira cave), France (Fond-de-Gaume, Montespan caves, etc.), Siberia, on the Don (Kostenki), Italy, England , Germany, Algeria.
Cave drawings were carefully hidden in numerous caves not in one place, but all over the world. They first attracted public attention only 120 years ago.
Why did this happen relatively recently, despite the fact that they were probably found several times before? Apparently, their ease of execution, often similar to children's drawings, was simply unremarkable.
IN XIX-XX centuries there is a systematization and comprehension of everything artistic heritage of our planet. In the middle of the 19th century, no art older than Egyptian or Celtic was known.
The existence of some ancient rudimentary forms of art was assumed, but it was believed that they would have to be extremely primitive. This is probably why it took half a century to recognize and comprehend the already found, very meaningful and multifaceted cave drawings.
Marcelino de Sautuola is considered the discoverer of rock art. He explored the caves that were located in the area where he lived since 1875. In 1879, while exploring the Altamira cave, his nine-year-old daughter discovered amazing drawings, which were later called the “Sistine Chapel.” primitive art” Altamira caves.
It took Marcelino de Sautuola a whole year to dare to make a public statement. He was right to worry, since his statement caused an incredible storm of unrest in scientific circles.
It took a lot of time and discovery to recognize the authenticity rock paintings Altamira. With the passage of time and numerous similar discoveries, experts were forced to admit that Marcelio was right; unfortunately, he did not live to see these days.
Spanish cave of Nerja with finds found in it rock paintings may revolutionize ideas about Neanderthals. These caves were discovered in 1959 by boys hunting bats. Excavations in these caves continue to this day.
It was in Nerja that they were discovered cave drawings strange spiral shape, reminiscent of the structure of DNA. Scientists claim that pinnipeds, which the inhabitants of that time ate, had a similar appearance.
“Art must first of all be clear and simple; its meaning is too great and important.” M. Gorky The coal found in the images was examined radiocarbon dating, which determined the approximate age of the drawings. Their age stunned everyone - it turned out that the drawings were about 43 thousand years old. This is 13 thousand years older than the drawings of the Chauvey cave, France, which were still considered the most ancient.
On this moment There have been no official statements about the Nerja Cave, since they can have a great influence on ideas about human development, cave drawings need numerous studies and confirmation.
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Human civilization has passed long haul development and achieved impressive results. Modern Art- one of them. But everything has its beginning. How did painting arise and who were they - the first artists of the world?
In the Paleolithic, primitive art first appeared. It had different shapes. These were rituals, music, dances and songs, as well as drawing images on various surfaces - rock paintings of primitive people. The creation of the first man-made structures - megaliths, dolmens and menhirs, the purpose of which is still unknown, dates back to this period. The most famous of them is Stonehenge in Salisbury, consisting of cromlechs (vertical stones).
Household items, such as jewelry, children's toys, also belong to the art of primitive people.
Scientists have no doubts about the time of the birth of primitive art. It began to form in the middle of the Paleolithic era, during the period of the late Neanderthals. The culture of that time is called Mousterian.
Neanderthals knew how to process stone, creating tools. On some objects, scientists found indentations and notches in the form of crosses, forming a primitive ornament. In that era they could not yet paint, but ocher was already in use. Pieces of it were found ground down, like a pencil that had been used.
This is one of the types. It is an image painted on the surface of a cave wall by an ancient man. Most of such objects were found in Europe, but drawings of ancient people are also found in Asia. The main area of distribution of rock art is the territory of modern Spain and France.
For a long time modern science it was not known that art primitive man has reached this high level. Drawings were not found in caves until the 19th century. Therefore, when they were first discovered, they were mistaken for fraud.
The ancient cave painting was discovered by an amateur archaeologist, Spanish lawyer Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola.
This discovery is associated with dramatic events. In the Spanish province of Cantabria in 1868, a hunter discovered a cave. The entrance to it was littered with fragments of crumbled rock. In 1875 she was examined by de Sautuola. That time he found only tools. The find was the most ordinary. Four years later, the amateur archaeologist again visited the Altamira cave. He was accompanied on the trip by his 9-year-old daughter, who discovered the drawings. Together with his friend, archaeologist Juan Vilanova y Piera, de Sautuola began excavating the cave. Shortly before this, at an exhibition of Stone Age objects, he saw images of bison, surprisingly reminiscent of that rock art ancient man, which his daughter Maria saw. Sautuola suggested that the animal images found in the Altamira cave belong to the Paleolithic. Vilanov-i-Pierre supported him in this.
Scientists have published the shocking results of their excavations. And they were immediately accused scientific world in falsification. Leading experts in the field of archeology categorically rejected the possibility of finding paintings from Paleolithic times. Marcelino de Sautuola was accused that the drawings of ancient people, allegedly found by him, were drawn by a friend of the archaeologist, who was visiting him in those days.
Only 15 years later, after the death of the man who had revealed to the world beautiful examples of painting by ancient people, his opponents admitted that Marcelino de Sautuola was right. By that time, similar drawings in the caves of ancient people had been found in Fonts-de-Gaume, Trois-Freres, Combarel and Rouffignac in France, Tuc d'Auduber in the Pyrenees and other regions. All of them were attributed to the Paleolithic era. Thus, the honest name of the Spanish scientist, who made one of the notable discoveries in archeology, was restored.
The rock art, photos of which are presented below, consists of many images of different animals. Among them, bison figurines predominate. Those who first saw the drawings of ancient people found in are amazed at how professionally they were made. This magnificent skill of ancient artists made scientists at one time doubt their authenticity.
Ancient people did not immediately learn to create accurate images of animals. Drawings have been found in which the outlines are barely outlined, so it is almost impossible to find out who the artist wanted to depict. Gradually, the drawing skill became better and better, and it was already possible to quite accurately convey the appearance of the animal.
The first drawings of ancient people can also include handprints found in many caves.
A hand smeared with paint was applied to the wall, the resulting print was outlined in a different color and enclosed in a circle. According to researchers, this action had important ritual significance for ancient man.
The rock painting of an ancient man reflected the reality that surrounded him. It reflected what worried him most. In the Paleolithic, the main occupation and method of obtaining food was hunting. Therefore animals main motive drawings of that period. As already mentioned, numerous images of bison, deer, horses, goats, and bears were discovered in Europe. They are conveyed not statically, but in motion. Animals run, jump, frolic and die, pierced by a hunter's spear.
Located in France, there is the largest ancient image of a bull. Its size is more than five meters. In other countries, ancient artists also painted those animals that lived next to them. In Somalia, images of giraffes were found, in India - tigers and crocodiles, in the caves of the Sahara there are drawings of ostriches and elephants. In addition to animals, the first artists painted scenes of hunting and people, but extremely rarely.
It is not known exactly why ancient man depicted animals and people on the walls of caves and other objects. Since by that time a religion had already begun to take shape, they most likely had deep ritual significance. The “Hunting” drawing of ancient people, according to some researchers, symbolized the successful outcome of the fight against the beast. Others believe that they were created by tribal shamans who went into a trance and tried to gain special power through the image. Ancient artists lived a very long time ago, and therefore the motives for creating their drawings are unknown to modern scientists.
To create drawings, primitive artists used a special technique. First, they scratched an image of an animal on the surface of a rock or stone with a chisel, and then applied paint to it. It was made from natural materials- ocher different colors and black pigment, which was extracted from charcoal. Animal organic matter (blood, fat, brain matter) and water were used to fix the paint. Ancient artists had few colors at their disposal: yellow, red, black, brown.
The drawings of ancient people had several features. Sometimes they overlapped each other. Artists often depicted a large number of animals. In this case, the figures on foreground were depicted carefully, and the rest - schematically. Primitive people did not create compositions; the vast majority of their drawings were a chaotic jumble of images. To date, only a few “paintings” have been found that have a single composition.
During the Paleolithic period, the first painting tools were already created. These were sticks and primitive brushes made from animal fur. Ancient artists also took care of lighting their “canvases.” Lamps were discovered that were made in the form of stone bowls. Fat was poured into them and a wick was placed.
She was found in 1994 in France, and her collection of paintings is recognized as the oldest. Laboratory studies helped determine the age of the drawings - the very first of them were made 36 thousand years ago. Here were found images of animals that lived in glacial period. These are the woolly rhinoceros, bison, panther, tarpan (ancestor of the modern horse). The drawings are perfectly preserved due to the fact that thousands of years ago the entrance to the cave was blocked.
It is now closed to the public. The microclimate in which the images are located may disturb human presence. Only its researchers can spend several hours in it. It was decided to open a replica of the cave nearby for visiting spectators.
This is another famous place where drawings of ancient people were found. The cave was discovered by four teenagers in 1940. Now her collection of paintings by ancient Paleolithic artists includes 1,900 images.
The place has become very popular with visitors. The huge influx of tourists led to damage to the drawings. This happened due to an excess of carbon dioxide exhaled by people. In 1963, it was decided to close the cave to visitors. But problems with the preservation of ancient images still exist today. The microclimate of Lascaux has been irreversibly disrupted, and the drawings are now under constant control.
The drawings of ancient people delight us with their realism and skillful execution. Artists of that time were able to convey not only the authentic appearance of the animal, but also its movement and habits. In addition to aesthetic and artistic value, the paintings of primitive artists are important material for studying the animal world of that period. Thanks to what was found in the drawings, scientists made an astonishing discovery: it turned out that lions and rhinoceroses, the original inhabitants of hot southern countries, lived in Europe during the Stone Age.