The Paleolithic Period, commonly known as the Ancient Stone Age, was the beginning of human civilization. The Lower Paleolithic existed in 40,000 BC, and the Upper Paleolithic, between 40,000 BC to 8,000 BC periods comprised the Paleolithic Period (Porterfield, 2020). The caveman of the Paleolithic era hunted and foraged for nourishment. The simple flint tools of the crushed and diced form were utilized by humankind for hunting and other pursuits such as cave painting. Due to their unawareness of either cultivation or land settlement, societies were not adequately organized. The interest of this study is cave art during the prehistoric period as a form of representational art.
In Southern France, there is a magnificent specimen of a European Paleolithic cave painting called the Lascaux Cave. Lascaux is the most prolific location of cave art, even though it was not the earliest or ancient to be found. It has almost 1,000 paintings, and it was preserved when it was discovered in September 1940, appearing just as it had some 14,000 years earlier (Porterfield, 2020). Paintings from the cave show horses, mammoths, musky oxen, antelopes, deer, aurochs, owls, and jaguars, among other enormous animals.
Similar cave art exists in the Bhimbetka rock shelters region of India. The rocky caves in Bhimbetka date to around 8,000 BC (Trawell.in, 2020). The illustrations, primarily red and white with a small quantity of green and yellow sprinkled in, portray the lifestyles and periods of the inhabitants who once resided in the caves (Trawell.in, 2020). They include depictions of childbearing, collective dancing and drinking, religious rites and graves, and native animals. In cave paintings, these depictions of animals and some humans are surprisingly expressive and use a sophisticated blend of naturalism and imagination.
The cave painting resonates with me by connecting us, modern artists, with a primitive worldview. This assists me in organizing the complexity of our current existence and survival. The art shows data movement from the auditory to the visual perceptions. It seems that the Paleolithic inhabitants were making a conscious effort, either through mysticism or rituals, to exert specific authority over their surroundings. This era’s art illustrates a significant advance in human comprehension known as abstract reasoning.
Reference
Porterfield, M. (2020).Lesson 03: Prehistory – our connection to the history of humankind before text. Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University.
Trawell.in. (2020). Bhimbetka rock shelters & cave paintings, Bhimbetka – timings, history, best time to visit. Trawell.in.