Prehistoric Cave Paintings-What did people want to tell us?

Early cave art

In 2018, the oldest cave paintings in history, made by Neanderthals 64,000 years ago, were found in the caves of La Pasiega, Maltravieso and Ardales in Spain. Like some other early drawings it was abstract in art. Archaeologists examining the caves; they saw ladder-like drawings, hand molds and drawings of vertical structures. Head of archeology at the University of Southampton, W.G. Pike says Neanderthals made this art in places they considered special. Most of the drawings are seen in the hardest-to-reach areas of the caves. This shows that the person who made them prepared pigment and found a light source before entering the cave to find the desired spot. The signs in the pictures are also quite interesting. Because each of them shows symbolic thought. Professor Pike says the important thing is not that Neanderthals painted, but that they were preoccupied with symbolism. Because the symbols show the Neanderthals' ability to have a language.

Telling stories with human and animal figures

The most basic figures of cave art are humans and animals. Sulawesi pigs are seen in a 45,500-year-old cave art. The image is located in the Leang Tedongnge cave on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. It is also home to a painting depicting the world's first hunting scene believed to be 43,900 years old. On the other hand, most of the paintings in the famous Lascaux cave in France depict easily recognizable animals such as horses, bulls and deer. Another unique image depicts a hunting scene with a bison and two men. The men died during the hunt. However, the artist seems to have paid particular attention to making the human figure anatomically male.

Cave and rock art in America

Some of America's oldest cave paintings were made about 7,000 years ago. Many of these paintings were discovered on the Cumberland plateau, which stretches into Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and parts of Georgia. Indigenous peoples also continued to create cave art in this area until the 19th century. It is seen that some of the paintings are grouped in the cave paintings discovered in this region. There is a narrative, but archaeologists can't quite decipher what the story is. This is also true for many cave art. Although archaeologists cannot fully grasp what an ancient artist said or wanted to convey, they claim that the artists wanted to create a narrative for themselves and others, and that they consciously used these images.