Cave paintings of primitive people

Posted by Foret Horet on April 15th, 2021

All over the world, speleologists in deep caves find confirmation of the existence of ancient people. The rock paintings have been excellently preserved for many millennia. There are several types of masterpieces - pictograms, petroglyphs, geoglyphs. Important monuments of human history are regularly entered in the World Heritage Register.

At the origins of rock art

Cro-Magnons, who lived on earth 30 thousand years ago, used simple drawings to express their feelings and emotions. But the rock paintings of primitive people cannot be called primitive, since they were created by people with outstanding artistic talents. Drawings of primitive people in caves are graphic and volumetric images, bas-reliefs on the walls. There are many such drawings known today: in France (southwestern part), Spain (northwestern part), Italy, even in Russia, Serbia and England, there are single copies.

Rock paintings and pictures of primitive people are unique and most often resemble a two-dimensional image. At the same time, techniques that help convey the volume began to be used only during the Renaissance. Rock paintings are replete with images of rhinos, bison, mammoths, deer. There are also hunting scenes in the drawings, people with arrows and spears are depicted. Occasionally there are drawings of fish, plants, insects. The paints with which the drawings are made do not fade and fully convey the original brightness. It is difficult to imagine a person who has no idea what rock paintings are (photos will help you figure it out).

Where did the first people draw?

The hard-to-reach sections of the caves, located a hundred meters from the surface, were a great place to paint. This is primarily due to the cult significance of the rock carvings, which require the performance of a certain rite. Drawing was such a ceremony. Melted and still hot fat of wild animals, bunches of moss or wool were poured into bowls. Then the artist began to work under the light of stone lamps.

What are the cave paintings called?

The rock carvings of the ancients are called petroglyphs (Greek - to cut a stone). There are drawings made in the form of symbols or symbols. The drawings contain a huge amount of valuable information about the life of the representatives of the ancient population, reveal the traditions and historical events that influenced the ancient man.

Technique and materials

What motivated people to paint? Just a desire to create beauty or the need to perform and capture a special ritual? It was not so easy to carry out a rock engraving, especially if the paint was applied in deep slots, which the ancient painter carved with a rough cutting tool. It could have been a large stone chisel. Such a tool was discovered at the site of the ancient people of Le Roc de Sère. During the Middle and Late Paleolithic, the technique of performing rock paintings of primitive people is more subtle. The contours of the engravings were carved several times with shallow lines. Even then, shading and combined painting were used. There are similar images on the tusks and bones of animals that belong to the same period.

Primitive man paint is all shades of ocher that were used as a red dye, charcoal and manganese ore. Used and chalk, bat guano. The future paint was rubbed with bone or stone. The resulting powder was mixed with animal fat. Ancient people even had prototypes of modern tubes. They stored the paints in the hollow parts of animal bones, both sides of which were sealed with a hardened lump of the same animal fat. There were no other colors, for example, green or blue.

Bones or sharp sticks, the ends of which were split, served as a brush for primitive artists. Pieces of wool were also used, which were tied to the bone. First we drew a contour, and then painted over. But there are other images as well. For example, a handprint that was splattered with paint through a reed.

Ancient people had no idea about body composition or proportions. They drew large predators and, against their background, tiny mountain goats. But this did not prevent them from creating masterpieces comparable to the modern concept of painting. The accuracy of the rendering of objects and animals is amazing, and drawings of ancient people in caves imprinted in stone ancient animals that have become extinct long ago. The visual effect was enhanced by the fact that the image was applied to the rock ledge.