When you hear the term "cave drawings," what kind of images come to mind? Think for a moment...
...OK. Now, common stereotypes might cause you to visualize something like this:
These drawings are primitive to say the least. They're something you might expect from club-wielding cavemen communicating in grunts and wild hand gestures. In truth, some cave drawings have been discovered that closely resemble the images depicted above, however, the earliest known Paleolithic cave drawings paint a much different picture.
Looking at these paintings, words like "transcendent," "sublime," and "majestic" come to mind. The above image showcases one of the many works of art discovered within the Chauvet Cave, a massive 1300-foot long grotto buried deep under the rocks of the Ardeche Canyon in southern France.
The landslide that perfectly sealed the cave worked wonders. Protected from the outside air and elements, the paintings were unbelievably well preserved when they were discovered in 1994. "We're dreaming. We're dreaming," thought Jean-Marie Chauvet when he and his spelunking companions originally made the discovery.
It's as if the passing of time was halted within the cave. The stalactites and stalagmites that adorn the walls and ground are the only clues to the passing of the centuries.
Carbon dating has revealed that the paintings within the Chauvet Cave were drawn between 25,000 and 32,000 years ago, some as many as 5,000 years apart! It's difficult to wrap your head around the magnitude of this information. Human culture was in its infancy, yet the sophistication of the illustrations is staggering! This prompted documentarian Werner Herzog to question in his film The Cave of Forgotten Dreams, "Were these paintings in Chauvet Cave the beginning of human soul?"
Abstract notions aside, the Chauvet Cave paintings have allowed scientists to glean a plethora of information about our ancient ancestors and the Paleolithic Era. Scientists examined a series of palm prints within the cave and determined that one of the artists was at least six feet tall, a somewhat rare size in an era where proper nutrition could be hard to come by.
The illustrations also depict at least thirteen different animal species, including rhinoceroses, horses, cave lions, cave hyenas, bears, and reindeer. We now know for certain that these animals inhabited the region. In addition, the multitude of bear drawings and skeletons found within the cave partially confirmed suspicions that bears held a unique fascination for ancient humans. Lastly, one of the drawings solved a burning mystery for archaeozoologists: cave lions did not have manes.
...OK. Now, common stereotypes might cause you to visualize something like this:
These drawings are primitive to say the least. They're something you might expect from club-wielding cavemen communicating in grunts and wild hand gestures. In truth, some cave drawings have been discovered that closely resemble the images depicted above, however, the earliest known Paleolithic cave drawings paint a much different picture.Looking at these paintings, words like "transcendent," "sublime," and "majestic" come to mind. The above image showcases one of the many works of art discovered within the Chauvet Cave, a massive 1300-foot long grotto buried deep under the rocks of the Ardeche Canyon in southern France.The landslide that perfectly sealed the cave worked wonders. Protected from the outside air and elements, the paintings were unbelievably well preserved when they were discovered in 1994. "We're dreaming. We're dreaming," thought Jean-Marie Chauvet when he and his spelunking companions originally made the discovery.
It's as if the passing of time was halted within the cave. The stalactites and stalagmites that adorn the walls and ground are the only clues to the passing of the centuries.
Carbon dating has revealed that the paintings within the Chauvet Cave were drawn between 25,000 and 32,000 years ago, some as many as 5,000 years apart! It's difficult to wrap your head around the magnitude of this information. Human culture was in its infancy, yet the sophistication of the illustrations is staggering! This prompted documentarian Werner Herzog to question in his film The Cave of Forgotten Dreams, "Were these paintings in Chauvet Cave the beginning of human soul?"
Abstract notions aside, the Chauvet Cave paintings have allowed scientists to glean a plethora of information about our ancient ancestors and the Paleolithic Era. Scientists examined a series of palm prints within the cave and determined that one of the artists was at least six feet tall, a somewhat rare size in an era where proper nutrition could be hard to come by.
The illustrations also depict at least thirteen different animal species, including rhinoceroses, horses, cave lions, cave hyenas, bears, and reindeer. We now know for certain that these animals inhabited the region. In addition, the multitude of bear drawings and skeletons found within the cave partially confirmed suspicions that bears held a unique fascination for ancient humans. Lastly, one of the drawings solved a burning mystery for archaeozoologists: cave lions did not have manes.
Chauvet Cave was unearthed over fifteen years ago, and in order to maintain it's integrity scientists have restricted the public's already limited access. For any lucky visitor to the cave, the paintings will immediately draw an elemental gaze. But amidst the awe-inspiring artwork one can look down at the aged ground and become captivated by traces of an archaic past. There rests the remarkably preserved footprints of a young boy next to the tracks of a wolf. The imagination roars to life. As Werner Herzog remarks, "Did they walk together? Did the wolf stalk the boy? Or were they made thousands of years apart? We may never know..."
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