Cave paintings are an important element in understanding about the ancient times as they reveal information about who lived in the past and how the nature looked like in their time . Some of the ancient cave paintings are available in France and Spain. One of the paintings included two horses standing back to back, surrounded with bold dots and detailed heads. Most of the prehistoric paintings include images of animals and their well-observed features. The major reason behind humans carving paintings in the caves is their aesthetic sense of decorating their surroundings. Prehistoric cave paintings are also a representation of ceremonies performed by the contemporary people to strengthen their kinship or invite the supernatural forces. The paintings found in Lascaux, southern France were images of animals, such as horses, bulls, cows and many others, which were as old as 15000 B.C.E .
Some of the paintings found in Altamira, northern Spain are protuberances of animals colored with iron-based stone . In southwest France, archaeologists identified cave sculptures made of clay. The footprints found on the floor of the caves suggest the performance of various kinds of rituals. Some of the Neolithic paintings also indicate the representation of various rituals and ceremonies of the prehistoric times, such as burial, death, birth and many others. Some others saw images of rings, diamond shaped designs and linear designs. Since people of the Neolithic period moved from place to place, paintings of the caves were an indication for others who passed by the caves. The materials included in the cave paintings were baked clay, ceramic, yellow stone and red stone, and implied the dangerous interactions between humans and animals .
Work Cited
Stokstad, Marilyn and Michael Cothren. Art- A Brief History, Fifth Edition. Pearson Education Inc., 2012.
