What are the rocks called. cave painting

Vintage cave paintings of primitive people were very amazing images, basically they were all drawn on stone walls.

There is an opinion that the rock paintings of ancient people are various animals that were hunted at that time. Then these drawings played a major role in magical rites, hunters wanted to attract real animals during their hunt.

Pictures and rock paintings of primitive people very often resemble a two-dimensional image. Rock art is very rich in drawings of bison, rhinos, deer, mammoths. Also in many pictures you can see hunting scenes or people with spears and arrows.

What did the first people draw?

Rock paintings of ancient people is one of the manifestations emotional state and figurative thinking. Not everyone was able to create vivid image animal or hunting, only those people who could create such an image in their subconscious could do this.

There is also an assumption that ancient people with the help of rock art passed on their visions and experiences That's how they expressed themselves.

Where did primitive people paint?

Parts of the caves that were hard to find - this is one of the best places to draw. This explains the significance of the rock paintings. Drawing was a certain ritual, the artists worked by the light of stone lamps.

Cave or rock art - drawings that are found on the walls and ceilings of caves, rock surfaces. The images made in the prehistoric period date back to the Paleolithic era, approximately 40,000 years ago. Some scientists believe that the rock art of primitive people is a way of communicating with the outside world. According to another theory, the drawings were applied for a ceremonial or religious purpose.

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Discovery history

In southwestern France and northern Spain, archaeologists have discovered more than 340 caves containing images from prehistoric times. Initially, the age of the paintings was a contentious issue, since the radiocarbon dating method could be inaccurate due to the dirty surfaces that were examined. But the further development of technology made it possible to establish the exact period for applying images to the walls.

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The chronology can also be established by the subject of the drawings. So, the reindeer depicted in the Cueva de Las cave, which is located in Spain, dates from the end of the Ice Age. The earliest drawings in Europe are found in the Chauvet cave in France. They appeared 30,000 years before our era. The surprise for scientists was that the images had been changed repeatedly over thousands of years, which caused confusion in subsidizing the drawings.

Painting in three stages

There are monochrome and polychrome cave drawings. Polychrome rock art was created in three stages and was completely dependent on the experience and cultural maturity of the artist, lighting, type of surface and available raw materials. At the first stage, the contours of the depicted animal were outlined using charcoal, manganese or hematite. The second stage involved the completion of the drawing and the application of red ocher or another pigment to the image. At the third stage, contours were applied in black to visually enlarge the image.

Plots and themes

The most common plot in the cave painting of primitive people is the image of large wild animals. At the beginning of the Stone Age, artists painted:

lions;
rhinos;
saber-toothed tigers;
bears.

Images of animals that people hunted appear in the late Paleolithic period. The image of a person is a very rare phenomenon and the pictures are less realistic than the painted figurines of animals. In primitive art, there are no images of landscapes and landscapes.

The work of ancient artists

The prehistoric inhabitants of the planet discovered that the paint made from animals and plants is not as stable as that extracted from the earth. Over time, people determined the property of iron oxides in the earth not to lose their original appearance. So they looked for deposits of hematite and could walk tens of kilometers a day to bring the dye home. Modern scientists have discovered paths laid to the deposits, along which the ancient masters cruised.

Using sea shells as a reservoir for paint, working by candlelight or weak daylight, prehistoric painters employed a variety of painting techniques and techniques. At first, they painted with their fingers, and then switched to crayons, moss pads, brushes made of animal hair, and plant fibers. They used a more advanced method of spraying paint using reeds or bones with special holes.

Holes were made in the bones of the bird and filled with red ocher. By studying the rock art of ancient people, scientists have determined that such devices were used by 16,000 BC. In the Stone Age, artists also used the techniques of chiaroscuro and foreshortening. In each era, new methods of painting appear and the caves are replenished with drawings made in new styles over many centuries. The ingenious works of prehistoric artists have inspired many modern masters to create beautiful works.

There is something magically attractive and at the same time sad in petroglyphs. We will never know the names of talented ancient artists and their history. All that remains for us are rock paintings, by which we can try to imagine the life of our distant ancestors. Let's take a look at 9 famous caves with cave paintings.

Cave of Altamira

Opened in 1879 by Marcelino de Sautola in Spain, it is not without reason that they call the Sistine Chapel of primitive art. The techniques that were in service with ancient artists, the Impressionists began to use in their work only in the 19th century.

The painting, discovered by the daughter of an amateur archaeologist, made a lot of noise in the scientific community. The researcher was even accused of falsification - no one could believe that such talented drawings were created millennia ago.

The paintings are made realistically, some of them are three-dimensional - a special effect was achieved using the natural relief of the walls.

After the opening, everyone could visit the cave. Due to the constant visits of tourists, the temperature inside has changed, mold has appeared on the drawings. Today the cave is closed to visitors, but there is a museum not far from it. ancient history and archaeology. Just 30 km from the Altamira cave, you can get acquainted with copies of rock paintings and curious finds of archaeologists.

Lascaux cave

In 1940, a group of teenagers accidentally discovered a cave near Montillac in France, the entrance to which was opened by a tree that had fallen during a thunderstorm. It is small, but there are thousands of drawings under the vaults. Some of them were painted by ancient artists on walls as early as the 18th century BC.

It depicts people, symbols and in motion. The researchers divided the cave into thematic zones for convenience. Drawings of the Hall of the Bulls are known far beyond the borders of France, its other name is the Rotunda. Here is the largest rock art, of all discovered - a 5-meter bull.

Under the vaults there are more than 300 drawings, including here you can see the animals of the ice age. It is believed that the age of some paintings is about 30 thousand years.

Cave Nio

In the southeast of France is located, about the painting inside which the locals knew back in the 17th century. However, they did not attach due importance to the drawings, leaving numerous inscriptions nearby.

In 1906, Captain Molyar discovered a hall with images of animals inside, which later became known as the Black Salon.

Inside you can see bison, deer and goats. Scientists believe that in ancient times, rituals were performed here to attract good luck on the hunt. For tourists, next to Nio, the Pyrenean Park of Prehistoric Art is open, where you can learn more about archeology.

Koske Cave

Not far from Marseille is located, which can only be entered by those who can swim well. To see the ancient images, you have to swim through the 137-meter tunnel, located deep under water. The unusual place was discovered in 1985 by diver Henri Koske. Scientists believe that some images of animals and birds found inside were made 29 thousand years ago.

Kapova Cave (Shulgan-Tash)

Cueva de las Manos Cave

In the south of Argentina in 1941, ancient paintings were also discovered. There is not one cave here, but a whole series, the total length of which is 160 km. The most famous of them is Cueva de las Manos. Its name is translated into Russian as "".

There are many images of human palms inside - our ancestors made prints on the walls with their left hands. In addition, here you can see hunting scenes and ancient inscriptions. The images were taken from 9 to 13 thousand years ago.

Caves of Nerja

The caves of Nerja are located 5 km from the city of the same name in Spain. The rock paintings were discovered by accident by teenagers, as happened earlier in the Lascaux cave. Five guys went to catch bats, but accidentally saw a hole in the rock, looked inside and found a corridor with stalagmites and stalactites. The find interested scientists.

The cave turned out to be impressive in size - 35,484 square meters, which is equivalent to five football fields. The fact that people lived in it is evidenced by many finds: tools, traces of a hearth, ceramics. Downstairs are three rooms. The hall of ghosts scares guests with unusual sounds and strange shapes. The hall of waterfalls was equipped as a concert hall, it can accommodate 100 spectators at the same time.

Montserrat Caballe, Maya Plisetskaya and other famous artists performed here. Bethlehem Hall impresses with bizarre columns with stalactites and stalagmites. Rock paintings can be seen in the Hall of Spears and the Hall of Mountains.

Before the discovery of this cave, scientists assumed that the most ancient drawings are in the Chauvet cave. According to recent studies, our distant ancestors began to engage in creativity even earlier than I thought modern science. The results of radiocarbon analysis showed that six images of seals and fur seals were supposedly made 43,000 years ago - therefore, they are even older than the rock art discovered in Chauvet. However, it is too early to draw conclusions.

Magura Cave

The images in all these caves and the methods of applying drawings are completely different. However, there are also common features. The artists of antiquity conveyed their perception of the world with the help of creativity and shared their outlook on life, only they did it not with words, but with drawings.

The discovery of an ancient rock painting in a cave in Gibraltar, which scientists believe was made by Neanderthals about 39,000 years ago, has become a real sensation in the scientific world. If the discovery turns out to be true, then history will have to be rewritten, because it turns out that the Neanderthals were not at all primitively stupid savages, as is commonly believed today. In our review, there are a dozen unique rock paintings that were found at different times and made a splash in the world of science.

1. Rock of the white shaman

This 4,000-year-old ancient rock art is located in the lower reaches of the Pecoe River in Texas. The giant image (3.5 m) shows the central figure surrounded by other people performing some rituals. It is assumed that the figure of a shaman is depicted in the center, and the picture itself depicts the cult of some forgotten ancient religion.

2. Kakadu Park

Kakadu National Park is one of the most beautiful places for tourists in Australia. It is especially valued for its rich cultural heritage - the park has an impressive collection of local Aboriginal art. Some of the rock paintings at Kakadu (which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site) are nearly 20,000 years old.

3. Chauvet Cave

Another UNESCO World Heritage Site is located in the south of France. More than 1000 different images can be found in Chauvet Cave, most of them animal and anthropomorphic figures. These are some of the oldest images known to man: their age dates back to 30,000 - 32,000 years. About 20,000 years ago, the cave was filled with stones and it has been preserved in excellent condition to this day.

4. Cueva de El Castillo

In Spain, the "Cave Cave" or Cueva de El Castillo was recently discovered, on the walls of which the oldest rock paintings in Europe were found, their age is 4,000 years older than all the rock paintings that were previously found in the Old World. Most images show handprints and simple geometric figures, although there are also images of strange animals. One of the drawings, a simple red disk, was made 40,800 years ago. It is assumed that these paintings were made by Neanderthals.

5. Laas Gaal

Some of the most ancient and well-preserved rock paintings on the African continent can be found in Somalia, in the Laas Gaal (Camel Well) cave complex. Despite the fact that they are "only" 5,000 to 12,000 years old, these rock paintings are perfectly preserved. They depict mainly animals and people in ceremonial robes and various decorations. Unfortunately this wonderful cultural object cannot receive World Heritage status because it is located in an area where there is constant war.

6. Bhimbetka rock dwellings

The rock dwellings at Bhimbetka represent some of the earliest traces of human life on the Indian subcontinent. In natural rock shelters, there are paintings on the walls that are about 30,000 years old. These paintings represent the period of development of civilization from the Mesolithic to the end of prehistoric times. The drawings depict animals and people in daily activities such as hunting, religious ceremonies and, interestingly, dancing.

7. Magura

In Bolgari, the rock paintings found in the Magura cave are not very old - they are between 4,000 and 8,000 years old. They are interesting with the material that was used to apply the images - guano (litter) bat. In addition, the cave itself was formed millions of years ago and other archaeological artifacts have been found in it, such as the bones of extinct animals (for example, a cave bear).

8. Cueva de las Manos

The "Cave of Hands" in Argentina is famous for its extensive collection of prints and images of human hands. This rock painting dates back to 9,000 - 13,000 years. The cave itself (more precisely, the cave system) was used by ancient people as early as 1,500 years ago. Also in Cueva de las Manos you can find various geometric figures and images of hunting.

9. Altamira Cave

The paintings found in the cave of Altamira in Spain are considered a masterpiece of ancient culture. The stone paintings of the Upper Paleolithic (14,000-20,000 years old) are in exceptional condition. As in the Chauvet cave, a collapse sealed the entrance to this cave about 13,000 years ago, so the images remained in their original form. In fact, these drawings are so well preserved that when they were first discovered in the 19th century, scientists thought they were fake. It took a long time until technology made it possible to confirm the authenticity of the rock art. Since then, the cave has proved so popular with tourists that it had to be closed in the late 1970s as large amounts of carbon dioxide from the breath of visitors began to destroy the painting.

10. Lascaux Cave

This is by far the most famous and most significant collection of rock art in the world. Some of the most beautiful 17,000 year old paintings in the world can be found in this cave system in France. They are very complex, very carefully made and at the same time perfectly preserved. Unfortunately, the cave was closed over 50 years ago due to the fact that under the influence of carbon dioxide exhaled by visitors, the unique images began to collapse. In 1983, a reproduction of a part of the cave called Lasko 2 was discovered.

Of great interest are and. They will be of interest not only to professional historians and art critics, but also to everyone who is interested in history.

Niramin - Jun 14th, 2016

Ancient rock paintings are nothing but a chronicle of the most distant times, when the only way to convey impressions about the world around us and the events taking place in it were drawings made by the most common means of labor and creativity at that time - stone and coal.

In these simple, but sometimes very impressive plots, with amazing expressiveness, everyday life primitive man, his thoughts about eternity and his place in the universe, about who or what he is, where he came from and what is the meaning of his life full of fears and anxiety. The surviving petroglyphs are mute witnesses of the daily life of the disappeared tribes and peoples, their rituals and traditions. It is thanks to the ancient rock paintings that we can learn about the past of mankind, the ways of its development, the customs of ancient peoples, the formation of civilizations, etc.

One of the most famous rock art monuments is located in the Chauvet cave in the south of France. There are preserved drawings that are 32 thousand years old. On the walls of the cave you can see images of animals, scenes of hunting, cooking, household items, etc. The first ancient drawings are one-color. Later, two-color images appeared, in which red ocher was most often used.

Many rock paintings are very picturesque: expressive figures of people chasing game, ritual scenes, images of animals and plants. In the era of pastoralists, pictures of hunting are replaced by visual stories about the life of shepherds. During this period, images of herds of cattle are more common on the walls, where figures of bulls, cows, antelopes, and goats are carefully painted.

The creation of rock paintings is caused by the natural need of a person to convey his understanding of the world around him. The appearance of the first images of gods, mythical creatures, and masks is connected with this.

Photo gallery of rock paintings:

Photo: Ancient rock drawing.

Photo: Rock drawing - Lascaux Cave in France.

Photo: Chauvet Cave in France.