Cave paintings are recognized as one of the earliest forms of art communication. These pieces of art are painted on rocks or cave walls. Most knowledge about cave paintings is purely speculated. There is not enough evidence to prove anything for certain. Although there is not an exact age, they are believed to be prehistoric. Scientists are trying to find an accurate time period through a process call radiocarbon dating. However, this is proving difficult due to contamination. Most of the paintings include animals such as bison, deer, and horses. It is rare to see a human drawn. Scientists believe that these ancient people used some form of a stone lamp as a light source. And instead of paint, they used natural supplies like yellow ochre, hematite, manganese oxide and charcoal.
The most interesting part about cave painting is the insight it gives into the lives of our early ancestors. Some believe that they were not “advanced” enough to create any form of art. Not only did these unknown people create art, but they were able to tell a story through their pictures. If the estimates in age are correct, cave paintings disprove this theory.
http://www.crystalinks.com/petroglyphs.html
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ReplyDeleteMy first thought in reading this post was the impermanence of modern communications. The communication shown in the picture may be pre-historic. But it’s here today and the message can be interpreted pretty clearly. It shows the validity of two sayings - “a picture speaks a thousand words” and “it’s written in stone.” We have insight some into their culture, environment, and technological abilities on the surface alone.
ReplyDeleteModern communication has definite advantages, but what will be left in 500 years? Photos from one or two generations ago can be restored, but much is already lost. Audio / visual communications are either on some type of film or electronic medium – how permanent is that? I have some files on floppy disks from years ago that are difficult to access because technology has already passed it by. I saw the “Book of Kells’ a few weeks ago. It’s about 1200 years old and looks old for its age. It’s not something you could sit down and read since it would probably break apart in your hands. The primitive artistic work posted here is superior to modern methods in some regards.
That is very true, I have never thought of that insightful assumption. I think of Geico cavemen, but if they made such art, worked with such color, it says something grand about the prehistoric cultures. This is an example of art by such unique ancient societies that scientific technology needs to be improved to discover. There is still so much unknown of cave painting’s artists and most importantly the dates!
ReplyDeleteI think they might be right about the cave men not being "advanced" enough the actually do the paintings themselves. I think this was their pattern of communication back in the day. In fact, it was the only form of communication. On the other hand, if cavemen were "advanced" enough to make fire, i think they would definitely be able to draw.
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