Physical remains studied by archeologists and others provide yet another point of entry into the history of nonliterate peoples. Among these, creative artistic representation has been especially useful, for it is as old as humankind itself, long preceding the emergence of urban civilizations. The most ancient of these artistic traditions are the rock paintings that Paleolithic people created all across the world.

Paleolithic art is found in many places, but perhaps the most well-known Paleolithic rock art comes from the Lascaux caves in southern France, discovered by several teenage boys in 1940. Dating to around 17,000 years ago, the cave walls depict various kinds of animals: numerous horses, stags, and bison; seven felines; and a single bear, rhinoceros, and bird. But no reindeer are included, although they were the main source of meat for the artists. Abstract designs consisting of dots and lines accompany many of the paintings.

Scholars have debated endlessly what insights these remarkable images might provide into the mental world of Paleolithic Europeans. Were they examples of “totemic” thinking — the belief that particular groups of men and women were associated with, or descended from, particular animals? Did they represent “hunting magic” intended to enhance the success of these early hunters? Because many of the paintings were located deep within caves, were they perhaps part of religious or ritual practices or rites of passage? Were they designed to pass on information to future generations? Were the abstract designs star charts, as one scholar has suggested? Or did these images represent the visions of shamans, as some have also suggested for the South African rock painting in Chapter 1 of the main text. No one really knows.

But beyond their uncertain meaning as archeological evidence for Paleolithic life, modern humans have recognized the artistic value of the Lascaux paintings, appreciating their graceful lines, use of color, and distinctive sense of perspective and sometimes movement. Tradition has it that the great twentieth-century artist Pablo Picasso remarked after viewing the caves that “we have learned nothing in 12,000 years.”1 Furthermore, the art of the Lascaux caves was part of a very long artistic tradition in the region that adhered over many millennia to a set of aesthetic conventions. Thus it was a conservative tradition, linked to a long-established social order and very much unlike modern art, which generally challenges contemporary society.

Click to see a virtual tour of the Lascaux caves created by the French government.

Questions to consider as you examine the source:

Lascaux Rock Art

Notes