VKontakte Facebook Odnoklassniki
Red discs, hand stencils and animal images in Spanish caves represent the oldest known examples of rock art in Europe
The symbols on the walls at 11 archaeological sites in Spain, including the World Heritage sites of Altamira, El Castillo and Tito Bustillo, have always been prized by scientists for their antiquity.
However, researchers have recently used improved dating techniques to obtain more accurate information about the age of the images.
The main goal of scientists was to confirm that the most ancient drawing is a pale red dot (disc) believed to be over 40,000 years old.
Hand stencils and animal images dominate the El Castillo cave in Spain. One of the stencils was dated to 37,300 years ago and the red disk to 40,800 years ago, making them the oldest cave paintings in Europe (image: Pedro Saura). Photo from msn.com
"At Cantabria, El Castillo, we discover numerous hand stencils that are formed by spraying paint around hands pressed against the cave wall," explained Dr Alistair Pike from the University of Bristol, UK, and lead author of the academic paper published in the journal Science.
“We believe one of these stencils is over 37,300 years old, and nearby there is a red disk made using a similar technique that is dated to be closer to 40,800 years old. Now we know that these are the oldest samples ancient art Europe, at least 4,000 years older than we thought,” Pike told reporters. This is perhaps the oldest reliably dated rock art in the world.
The two-metre long horse images in Tito Bustillo are superimposed on earlier red dots that date back over 29,000 years (image: Rodrigo De Balbin Behrmann). Photo from msn.com
The team determined the age of the samples by examining the calcium carbonate (calcite) plaque that had formed in the image over the years.
This material grows in the same way that stalagmites and stalactites form in caves.
During the formation process, calcite incorporates a small amount of naturally occurring radioactive uranium atoms. Based on the level of decay of these atoms into thorium and the ratio of two different elements in a sample of the material, it is possible to very accurately determine the moment when the calcite plaque formed.
Uranium/thorium dating has been used for many decades, but the technique has improved so much over the years that scientists now only need a small sample of the material to get a very accurate result.
Corredor de los Puntos is located in the El Castillo cave of Spain. Red discs here date from 34,000 to 36,000 years ago, and elsewhere in the cave to 40,800 years ago, making them examples of the earliest cave art in Europe (image: Pedro Saura). Photo from msn.com
The team took thin samples of sediment just above the paint pigments, and the images must be aged equal to or older than the calcite.
The earliest dates coincide with the first known human immigration to Europe modern look(Homo sapiens). Previously, approximately 41,000 years ago, their evolutionary cousins, the Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis), dominated the continent.
The work of Dr. Pike and his colleagues raises some intriguing questions about who is the creator of signs.
The antiquity of the paintings leads study co-author Joao Sillao, a lecturer at the University of Barcelona, to suggest that some fragments were created by Neanderthals. If images could be discovered that were even older than the red dot at El Castillo, it might confirm that the professor's "gut feeling" was correct.
“There is a chance that the authors of these images are Neanderthals,” said Professor Sillao. - But I won’t say that we proved it, because it can’t even be proven now. Now all we can do is go back and look for older examples until we are convinced that there are no drawings older than 42,000 to 44,000 years old. We will go through all the caves in Spain, Portugal and Western Europe, and in the end we will receive the necessary information."
By tracing the origin and change in the level of human thoughts and behavior in relation to time, one can understand the process of development, which is undoubtedly important in relation to the understanding of human history.
The use of symbols - the ability of one thing to stand for another in the mind - is one of those features that distinguishes our species of animals from all others. This is what keeps us going creativity and use of speech.
Rock paintings inside caves, made in prehistoric times, are the object of study by scientists around the world. This painting is considered the progenitor artistic arts, and the amazing creations look like 2D images. Today we will talk about the most impressive masterpieces left by primitive man in a cave in the south of France, in the Ardeche River valley.
Chauvet Cave closed to the public
The country's historical monument, included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, is closed to public access, since any change in air humidity will negatively affect the condition of the ancient drawings. Only a few archaeologists, strictly observing the restrictions, are allowed for a few hours inside the underground kingdom, the drawings of which tell about the life and everyday life of ancient people.
A unique find in the south of France
The unique Chauvet Cave (grotte Chauvet), exceeding 800 meters in length, was discovered in 1994 by three speleologists who discovered a half-buried entrance to an unexplored natural masterpiece. Scientists who descended using a ladder into the cave gallery, which was preserved by fragments of stones many millennia ago, were stunned by a unique sight: they discovered cave paintings, well preserved and skillfully executed. Researchers stated that this nameless creation of nature surpasses in size and number of images all previously known underground complexes of this kind.
Features of drawings and methods of applying them
Chauvet Cave (France), named after one of the scientists who discovered it for humanity, has been cut off from the outside world by fallen stones since the Ice Age, as a result of which the rock paintings are perfectly preserved. The underground world consists of three spacious halls connected by long corridors. In two grottoes the drawings are made and in the last one there are engravings and black figures.
More than 400 images were painted on the walls, and scientists were surprised by the fact that the primitive inhabitants of the cave painted not only the animals they hunted, but also formidable predators like lions and hyenas. As scientists have established, here huge amount images of rhinoceroses, not inferior in strength and power to a mammoth.
An extinct animal weighing about three tons, on whose head there was a high horn more than a meter long, was a herbivore, but very vicious, and this is precisely what the scene of the battle of rhinoceroses in the Chauvet cave testifies to. After research, this drawing is recognized as the oldest in the world.
"The Greatest Artists"
There is one more feature that experts paid attention to: before applying paint, the person carefully cleaned and leveled the wall, and the images were made so skillfully that speleologists are surprised at his skill. The correct balance of shadow and light, as well as the use of proportions, are of great interest to scientists who have established the age of the rock paintings - approximately 35-37 thousand years, however, the exact date is still a source of fierce debate.
The experts who examined it said that the primitive man who painted this can rightfully be called a great artist. Ancient images found in France are perfect works of art that show perspective and a variety of angles.
Rock painting that caused a stir in the scientific world
The rock paintings in the Chauvet Cave are excellent examples of painting from the early Paleolithic period, but they do not look simple and schematic at all, although, according to the classification of the famous scientist A. Leroy-Gourhan, the paintings in the cave should have been simple spots and lines. The French archaeologist and paleontologist, who stated that art developed from primitive to complex, did not expect such a late appearance of cave painting.
The well-explored Chauvet Cave, the drawings of which turned all theories about the development of art upside down, made scientists think about the illegality of any invented frameworks and classifications.
Primitive or high level of ancient artists?
French researchers have suggested that primitive people were familiar with perspective and chiaroscuro, and unusual angles baffle many experts. As a rule, the figures looked static, and rock finds perfectly convey the dynamics and character of animals, which is very unusual for the Paleolithic era, and radically change the idea of primitive people.
For example, the horses depicted in the Chauvet Cave are running and not standing still, lions are hunting bison, and menacing bears, just like that, will attack a person. Moreover, primitive artists very harmoniously included the drawings into the general space of the dungeon. It turns out that initially among the most ancient people artistic ability were at a high level.
Unique cave drawings
This is surprising, since the primitive people of the later era did not leave behind any traces of their presence, except for dark spots from torches. Rock paintings are also interesting because on them you can see images of unknown animals, about which history is silent. They are of incredible interest to zoologists. For example, an extinct animal here is adjacent to a relative that is completely devoid of hair. And the lions depicted on the walls do not have the usual mane.
There are practically no drawings of people in the cave, although there are strange figures that resemble not a person, but a fantastic creature with the head of a bison.
But, perhaps, the three-dimensional images made in the recess of the rock can be called the most significant. They are of great interest to specialists and are made using methods that are not used anywhere else. Scientists claim the so-called Paleolithic animation, which is an outline of images that seem to be layered on top of each other, and when the light of torches hit the image, it “came to life.”
Research by scientists
Experts interested in the age of the drawings reconstructed the history and found that the Chauvet Cave became the object of ancient human activity approximately 37 thousand years ago, and previously it was inhabited by bears that outweighed modern brown bears. Perhaps this is why a huge number of discovered bones belong to a formidable predator, although some researchers argue that it was he who was worshiped by the inhabitants who professed the cult of the animal.
By the way, the Chauvet cave, the photo of the rock art of which will not leave anyone indifferent, was not always inhabited. It was empty for about two millennia, and scientists associate this fact with geological changes on our planet, in particular, with rock collapses.
Scientists have been studying the underground halls for twenty-two years, and more than 350 studies have been conducted to date the drawings using various methods, including radiocarbon dating. However, according to experts, even these analyzes are not enough to establish the true age of the images.
Secrets of the Dungeon
Chauvet Cave, recognized as the most significant prehistoric monument in the world of art, keeps many secrets, because, as it turned out, people did not live in it, but only created paintings. And the huge stone indicates that the dungeon was used as a place of animal worship and magical rituals. Scientists interpret the findings in different ways, but cannot yet give definite answers.
Copy of the cave
Happened in 2015 important event in the cultural world: a copy of a famous cave appeared in France, the entrance to which is closed, and about 350 thousand people visited the unique structure in a year. Fifty-five million euros were spent on an artificial grotto that accurately reproduces the spacious halls, ancient paintings and even stalactites.
Became a cradle for fine arts In Europe, a cave, the images of which copy the original source down to the smallest detail, awaits everyone who wants to touch the secrets of past eras.
Speleologists around the world are finding cave drawings of ancient people in all corners globe. The rock paintings have been perfectly preserved to this day, although they were drawn many thousands of years ago. There are several types of such art, which are periodically included in the World Heritage List.
As a rule, ancient man painted the walls of caves with the same type of scenes - he depicted hunting, human hands, various battles, the sun and animals. Our ancestors gave these drawings special meaning and put sacred meaning into them.
These paintings were created using in various ways and materials. Ocher, animal blood and chalk were used for drawing. And hewn pictures were created on stone using a special cutter.
We invite you to take a mini-excursion into the mysterious world of caves with rock paintings created by ancient man BC.
Magura Cave, Bulgaria
Prehistoric pictures were found in the Bulgarian Magura cave, near Sofia, which amazes with its uniqueness and length. The underground kingdom stretches for two kilometers, and the halls of the cave are enormous: its width is 50 m and its height is 20 m.
The discovered rock painting was created using bat guano. The pictures were painted in many layers over several periods: Paleolithic, Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. The drawings depict figures of ancient people and animals.
Here you can also find a painted sun and various tools.
Cueva de las Manos cave, Argentina
In Argentina there is another ancient cave with a large number of rock paintings. Translated, it sounds like “Cave of Many Hands,” since it is dominated by the handprints of our ancestors. The rock painting is located in big hall 24 m wide and 10 m long. The approximate date of painting is 13-9 millennium BC.
Numerous hand marks are imprinted on the voluminous limestone canvas. Scientists have put forward their own version of the appearance of such clear prints - ancient people put a special composition in their mouths, and then blew through a tube onto their hand, which they placed against the wall of the cave.
There are also images of people, animals and geometric shapes.
Bhimbetka cliff dwellings, India
Many caves with rock art have been discovered in India. One of them is located in north-central India, in the state of Madhya Pradesh. Local residents gave this name to the cave in honor of the hero of the epic Mahabharata. The paintings of the ancient Indians date back to the Mesolithic era.
Here you can see both worn out, dim images and very colorful and interesting drawings. Basically, various battles and ornaments are depicted here. 
Serra da Capivara National Park, Brazil
In the Brazilian Serra da Capivara National Park there is a cave of ancient people, the walls of which have preserved drawings that were drawn 50 thousand years ago.
Scientists have discovered about 300 different works of art and architectural monuments here. The cave is dominated by drawings of animals and other representatives of the Paleolithic era. 
Laas Gaal cave complex, Somaliland
In the African republic of Somaliland, archaeologists discovered the Laas Gaal cave complex, on the walls of which pictures from the 8th-9th and 3rd millennium BC were preserved. Ancient settlers depicted here a variety of everyday and life scenes: grazing, various rituals and games.
Contemporaries who live here are not particularly interested in this rock art. And in caves, as a rule, they only provide shelter from the rain. A large number of drawings have not yet been studied and archaeologists continue to study them. 
Rock art of Tadrart-Akakus, Libya
There is a hall of Oxen and a palace hall of Cats. Unfortunately, in 1998, these masterpieces of painting were almost ruined by mold. Therefore, to avoid this, the cave was closed in 2008. 
Primitive (or, in other words, primitive) art geographically covers all continents except Antarctica, and in time - the entire era of human existence, preserved by some peoples living in remote corners of the planet to this day.
Most ancient painting found in Europe (from Spain to the Urals).
Well preserved on the walls of the caves - the entrances turned out to be tightly blocked thousands of years ago, the same temperature and humidity were maintained there.
Not only wall paintings have been preserved, but also other evidence of human activity - clear traces of the bare feet of adults and children on the damp floor of some caves.
Causes of origin creative activity and functions of primitive art. Human need for beauty and creativity.
Beliefs of the time. The man portrayed those whom he revered. People of that time believed in magic: they believed that with the help of paintings and other images they could influence nature or the outcome of the hunt. It was believed, for example, that it was necessary to hit a drawn animal with an arrow or spear in order to ensure the success of a real hunt.
Periodization
Now science is changing its opinion about the age of the earth and the time frame is changing, but we will study according to the generally accepted names of periods.1. Stone Age
1.1 Ancient Stone Age– Paleolithic. ... up to 10 thousand BC
1.2 Middle Stone Age - Mesolithic. 10 – 6 thousand BC
1.3 New Stone Age - Neolithic. From 6th to 2nd thousand BC
2. Bronze Age. 2 thousand BC
3. Age of Iron. 1 thousand BC
Paleolithic
Tools were made of stone; hence the name of the era - the Stone Age.1. Ancient or Lower Paleolithic. up to 150 thousand BC
2. Middle Paleolithic. 150 – 35 thousand BC
3. Upper or Late Paleolithic. 35 – 10 thousand BC
3.1 Aurignac-Solutrean period. 35 – 20 thousand BC
3.2. Madeleine period. 20 – 10 thousand BC The period received this name from the name of the La Madeleine cave, where paintings dating back to this time were found.
The most early works Primitive art dates back to the late Paleolithic. 35 – 10 thousand BC
Scientists are inclined to believe that naturalistic art and the depiction of schematic signs and geometric figures arose simultaneously.
Pasta drawings. Impressions of a person's hand and a random interweaving of wavy lines pressed into damp clay by the fingers of the same hand.
The first drawings from the Paleolithic period (ancient Stone Age, 35–10 thousand BC) were discovered at the end of the 19th century. Spanish amateur archaeologist Count Marcelino de Sautuola three kilometers from his family estate, in the Altamira cave.
It happened like this:
“The archaeologist decided to explore a cave in Spain and took his little daughter with him. Suddenly she shouted: “Bulls, bulls!” The father laughed, but when he raised his head, he saw huge painted figures of bison on the ceiling of the cave. Some of the bison were depicted standing still, others rushing at the enemy with inclined horns. At first, scientists did not believe that primitive people could create such works of art. It was only 20 years later that numerous works of primitive art were discovered in other places and the authenticity of cave paintings was recognized.”
Paleolithic painting
Altamira Cave. Spain.Late Paleolithic (Madeleine era 20 - 10 thousand years BC).
On the vault of the Altamira cave chamber there is a whole herd of large bison located close to each other.
Bison panel. Located on the ceiling of the cave. Wonderful polychrome images contain black and all shades of ocher, rich colors, applied somewhere densely and monochromatically, and somewhere with halftones and transitions from one color to another. A thick paint layer up to several cm. In total, 23 figures are depicted on the vault, if you do not take into account those of which only outlines have been preserved.
Fragment. Buffalo. Altamira Cave. Spain. Late Paleolithic. The caves were illuminated with lamps and reproduced from memory. Not primitivism, but the highest degree of stylization. When the cave was opened, it was believed that this was an imitation of hunting - the magical meaning of the image. But today there are versions that the goal was art. The beast was necessary for man, but he was terrible and difficult to catch.
Fragment. Bull. Altamira. Spain. Late Paleolithic.
Beautiful brown shades. Tense stop of the beast. They used the natural relief of the stone and depicted it on the convexity of the wall.
Fragment. Bison. Altamira. Spain. Late Paleolithic.
Transition to polychrome art, darker strokes.
Cave of Font de Gaume. France
Late Paleolithic.Silhouette images, deliberate distortion, and exaggeration of proportions are typical. On the walls and vaults of the small halls of the Font-de-Gaume cave there are at least about 80 drawings, mostly bison, two undisputed figures of mammoths and even a wolf.
Grazing deer. Font de Gaume. France. Late Paleolithic.
Perspective image of horns. Deer at this time (the end of the Madeleine era) replaced other animals.
Fragment. Buffalo. Font de Gaume. France. Late Paleolithic.
The hump and crest on the head are emphasized. The overlap of one image with another is a polypsest. Detailed study. Decorative solution for the tail. Picture of houses.
Wolf. Font de Gaume. France. Late Paleolithic.
Nio's Cave. France
Late Paleolithic.Round hall with drawings. There are no images of mammoths or other animals of glacial fauna in the cave.
Horse. Nio. France. Late Paleolithic.
Depicted already with 4 legs. The silhouette is outlined with black paint, and the inside is retouched with yellow. The character of a pony-type horse.
Stone ram. Nio. France. Late Paleolithic. Partially contoured image, the skin is drawn on top.
Deer. Nio. France. Late Paleolithic.
Buffalo. Nio. Nio. France. Late Paleolithic.
Most of the images include bison. Some of them are shown wounded, with black and red arrows.
Buffalo. Nio. France. Late Paleolithic.
Lascaux Cave
It so happened that it was the children, and quite accidentally, who found the most interesting cave paintings in Europe:“In September 1940, near the town of Montignac, in the southwest of France, four high school students set off on an archaeological expedition they had planned. In place of a tree that had long been uprooted, there was a hole in the ground that aroused their curiosity. There were rumors that this was the entrance to a dungeon leading to a nearby medieval castle.
There was another smaller hole inside. One of the guys threw a stone at it and, judging by the sound of the fall, concluded that it was quite deep. He widened the hole, crawled inside, almost fell, lit a flashlight, gasped and called others. From the walls of the cave in which they found themselves, some huge animals were looking at them, breathing such confident power, sometimes seeming ready to turn into rage, that they felt terrified. And at the same time, the power of these animal images was so majestic and convincing that they felt as if they were in some kind of magical kingdom.”
Lascaux Cave. France.
Late Paleolithic (Madeleine era, 18 - 15 thousand years BC).
Called primitive Sistine Chapel. Consists of several large rooms: rotunda; main gallery; passage; apse.
Colorful images on the calcareous white surface of the cave.
The proportions are greatly exaggerated: large necks and bellies.
Contour and silhouette drawings. Clear images without aliasing. A large number of male and female signs (rectangle and many dots).
Hunting scene. Lasko. France. Late Paleolithic.
Genre image. A bull killed by a spear gored a man with a bird's head. There’s a bird on a stick nearby—maybe his soul.
Buffalo. Lasko. France. Late Paleolithic.
Horse. Lasko. France. Late Paleolithic.
Mammoths and horses. Kapova cave. Ural.
Late Paleolithic.
KAPOVA CAVE- to the South. m Ural, on the river. White. Formed in limestones and dolomites. The corridors and grottoes are located on two floors. The total length is over 2 km. On the walls are Late Paleolithic paintings of mammoths and rhinoceroses
Paleolithic sculpture
Art of small forms or mobile art (small plastic art)An integral part of the art of the Paleolithic era consists of objects that are commonly called “small plastic”.
These are three types of objects:
1. Figurines and other three-dimensional products carved from soft stone or other materials (horn, mammoth tusk).
2. Flattened objects with engravings and paintings.
3. Reliefs in caves, grottoes and under natural canopies.
The relief was embossed with a deep outline or the background around the image was cramped.
Relief
One of the first finds, called small plastic, was a bone plate from the Chaffo grotto with images of two fallow deer:
Deer crossing the river. Fragment. Bone carving. France. Late Paleolithic (Magdalenian period).
Everyone knows a wonderful one French writer Prosper Merimee, the author of the fascinating novel “The Chronicle of the Reign of Charles IX,” “Carmen” and other romantic stories, but few people know that he served as an inspector for the protection of historical monuments. It was he who handed over this record in 1833 to the historical museum of Cluny, which was just being organized in the center of Paris. It is now kept in the Museum of National Antiquities (Saint-Germain en Lay).
Later, a cultural layer of the Upper Paleolithic era was discovered in the Chaffo Grotto. But then, just as it was with the painting of the Altamira cave, and with other visual monuments of the Paleolithic era, no one could believe that this art was older than ancient Egyptian. Therefore, such engravings were considered examples of Celtic art (V-IV centuries BC). Only in late XIX c., again, like cave paintings, they were recognized as the most ancient after they were found in the Paleolithic cultural layer.
The figurines of women are very interesting. Most of these figurines are small in size: from 4 to 17 cm. They were made from stone or mammoth tusks. Their most notable hallmark is an exaggerated “plumpiness”; they depict women with overweight figures.
"Venus with a Cup" Bas-relief. France. Upper (Late) Paleolithic.
Goddess of the Ice Age. The canon of the image is that the figure is inscribed in a rhombus, and the stomach and chest are in a circle.
Sculpture- mobile art.
Almost everyone who has studied Paleolithic female figurines, with varying degrees of detail, explains them as cult objects, amulets, idols, etc., reflecting the idea of motherhood and fertility.
"Venus of Willendorf". Limestone. Willendorf, Lower Austria. Late Paleolithic.
Compact composition, no facial features.
"The Hooded Lady from Brassempouy." France. Late Paleolithic. Mammoth bone.
Facial features and hairstyle have been worked out.
In Siberia, in the Baikal region, a whole series of original figurines of a completely different stylistic appearance was found. Along with the same overweight figures of naked women as in Europe, there are figurines of slender, elongated proportions and, unlike European ones, they are depicted dressed in thick, most likely fur clothes, similar to “overalls”.
These are finds from the Buret sites on the Angara and Malta rivers.
Conclusions
Rock painting.
Features of the pictorial art of the Paleolithic are realism, expression, plasticity, rhythm.
Small plastic.
The depiction of animals has the same features as in painting (realism, expression, plasticity, rhythm).
Paleolithic female figurines are cult objects, amulets, idols, etc., they reflect the idea of motherhood and fertility.
Mesolithic
(Middle Stone Age) 10 - 6 thousand BCAfter the glaciers melted, the familiar fauna disappeared. Nature becomes more pliable to humans. People become nomads.
With a change in lifestyle, a person’s view of the world becomes broader. He is not interested in an individual animal or a random discovery of cereals, but active work people, thanks to which they find whole herds of animals, and fields or forests rich in fruits.
This is how the art of multi-figure composition arose in the Mesolithic, in which it was no longer the beast, but man, who played the dominant role.
Changes in the field of art:
The main characters of the image are not an individual animal, but people in some action.
The task is not in a believable, accurate depiction of individual figures, but in conveying action and movement.
Multi-figure hunts are often depicted, scenes of honey collection, and cult dances appear.
The character of the image changes - instead of realistic and polychrome, it becomes schematic and silhouetted. Local colors are used - red or black.
A honey collector from a hive, surrounded by a swarm of bees. Spain. Mesolithic.
Almost everywhere where planar or three-dimensional images of the Upper Paleolithic era were discovered, in artistic activity people of the subsequent Mesolithic era seemed to be experiencing a pause. Perhaps this period is still poorly studied, perhaps the images made not in caves, but in the open air, were washed away by rain and snow over time. Perhaps among the petroglyphs that are very difficult to accurately date, there are some that date back to this time, but we do not yet know how to recognize them. It is significant that small plastic objects are extremely rare during excavations of Mesolithic settlements.
Of the Mesolithic monuments, literally a few can be named: Stone Tomb in Ukraine, Kobystan in Azerbaijan, Zaraut-Sai in Uzbekistan, Shakhty in Tajikistan and Bhimpetka in India.
In addition to rock paintings, petroglyphs appeared in the Mesolithic era.
Petroglyphs are carved, carved, or scratched rock images.
When carving a design, ancient artists used a sharp tool to knock down the upper, darker part of the rock, and therefore the images stand out noticeably against the background of the rock.
In the south of Ukraine, in the steppe there is a rocky hill made of sandstone rocks. As a result of severe weathering, several grottoes and canopies were formed on its slopes. In these grottoes and on other planes of the hill, numerous carved and scratched images have been known for a long time. In most cases they are difficult to read. Sometimes images of animals are guessed - bulls, goats. Scientists attribute these images of bulls to the Mesolithic era.
Stone grave. South of Ukraine. General view and petroglyphs. Mesolithic.
South of Baku, between the southeastern slope of the Greater Caucasus Range and the Caspian coast, there is a small Gobustan plain (country of ravines) with hills in the form of table mountains composed of limestone and other sedimentary rocks. On the rocks of these mountains there are many petroglyphs of different times. Most of them were discovered in 1939. Large (more than 1 m) images of female and male figures made with deep carved lines received the greatest interest and fame.
There are many images of animals: bulls, predators and even reptiles and insects.
Kobystan (Gobustan). Azerbaijan (territory of the former USSR). Mesolithic.
Grotto Zaraout-Qamar
In the mountains of Uzbekistan, at an altitude of about 2000 m above sea level, there is a monument widely known not only among archaeological specialists - the Zaraut-Kamar grotto. The painted images were discovered in 1939 by local hunter I.F. Lamaev.
The painting in the grotto is made with ocher different shades(from red-brown to lilac) and represents four groups of images, which involve anthropomorphic figures and bulls. 
Here is the group in which most researchers see bull hunting. Among the anthropomorphic figures surrounding the bull, i.e. There are two types of “hunters”: figures in clothes that flare out at the bottom, without bows, and “tailed” figures with raised and drawn bows. This scene can be interpreted as a real hunt by disguised hunters, and as a kind of myth.
The painting in the Shakhty grotto is probably the oldest in Central Asia.
“I don’t know what the word Shakhty means,” writes V.A. Ranov. “Perhaps it comes from the Pamir word “shakht,” which means rock.”
In the northern part of Central India, huge cliffs with many caves, grottoes and canopies stretch along river valleys. A lot of rock carvings have been preserved in these natural shelters. Among them, the location of Bhimbetka (Bhimpetka) stands out. Apparently these picturesque images date back to the Mesolithic. True, we should not forget about the unevenness in the development of cultures different regions. The Mesolithic of India may be 2-3 millennia older than in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Some scenes of driven hunts with archers in the paintings of the Spanish and African cycles are, as it were, the embodiment of the movement itself, taken to the limit, concentrated in a stormy whirlwind.
Neolithic
(New Stone Age) from 6 to 2 thousand BC.Neolithic- New Stone Age, the last stage of the Stone Age.
Periodization. The entry into the Neolithic coincides with the transition of culture from the appropriating (hunters and gatherers) to the producing (farming and/or cattle breeding) type of economy. This transition is called the Neolithic Revolution. The end of the Neolithic dates back to the time of the appearance of metal tools and weapons, that is, the beginning of the Copper, Bronze or Iron Age.
Different cultures entered this period of development in different times. In the Middle East, the Neolithic began around 9.5 thousand years ago. BC e. In Denmark, the Neolithic dates back to the 18th century. BC, and among the indigenous population of New Zealand - the Maori - the Neolithic existed back in the 18th century. AD: Before the arrival of Europeans, Maori used polished stone axes. Some peoples of America and Oceania have still not completely transitioned from the Stone Age to the Iron Age.
The Neolithic, like other periods of the primitive era, is not a specific chronological period in the history of mankind as a whole, but characterizes only cultural characteristics of certain peoples.
Achievements and activities
1.
New features public life people:
- The transition from matriarchy to patriarchy.
- At the end of the era, in some places (Foreign Asia, Egypt, India), a new formation of class society took shape, that is, social stratification began, the transition from a clan-communal system to a class society.
- At this time, cities begin to be built. Jericho is considered one of the most ancient cities.
- Some cities were well fortified, which indicates the existence of organized wars at that time.
- Armies and professional warriors began to appear.
- We can quite say that the beginning of the formation of ancient civilizations is associated with the Neolithic era.
2.
The division of labor and the formation of technologies began:
- The main thing is that simple gathering and hunting as the main sources of food are gradually being replaced by agriculture and cattle breeding.
The Neolithic is called the “age of polished stone.” In this era, stone tools were not just chipped, but already sawed, ground, drilled, and sharpened.
- Among the most important tools in the Neolithic is the ax, previously unknown.
spinning and weaving developed.
Images of animals begin to appear in the design of household utensils.
Ax in the shape of a moose head. Polished stone. Neolithic. Historical Museum. Stockholm.
A wooden ladle from the Gorbunovsky peat bog near Nizhny Tagil. Neolithic. State Historical Museum.
For the Neolithic forest zone, fishing became one of the leading types of economy. Active fishing contributed to the creation of certain reserves, which, combined with hunting animals, made it possible to live in one place all year round.
The transition to a sedentary lifestyle led to the appearance of ceramics.
The appearance of ceramics is one of the main signs of the Neolithic era.
The village of Catal Huyuk (Eastern Türkiye) is one of the places where the most ancient examples of ceramics were found.
Cup from Ledce (Czech Republic). Clay. Bell Beaker culture. Chalcolithic (Copper-Stone Age).
Monuments of Neolithic painting and petroglyphs are extremely numerous and scattered over vast territories.
Clusters of them are found almost everywhere in Africa, eastern Spain, in the territory former USSR- in Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, on Lake Onega, near the White Sea and in Siberia.
Neolithic rock art is similar to Mesolithic, but the subject matter becomes more varied.
"Hunters". Rock painting. Neolithic (?). Southern Rhodesia.
For approximately three hundred years, the attention of scientists has been captivated by a rock known as the Tomsk Pisanitsa.
“Pisanitsa” are images painted with mineral paint or carved on the smooth surface of walls in Siberia.
Back in 1675, one of the brave Russian travelers, whose name, unfortunately, remained unknown, wrote down:
“Before reaching the fortress (Verkhnetomsk fortress), on the edges of the Tom River there lies a large and high stone, and on it are written animals, and cattle, and birds, and all sorts of similar things...”
Real scientific interest in this monument arose already in the 18th century, when, by order of Peter I, an expedition was sent to Siberia to study its history and geography. The result of the expedition was the first images of Tomsk writing published in Europe by the Swedish captain Stralenberg, who participated in the trip. These images were not an exact copy Tomsk pisanitsa, and conveyed only the most general outlines of the rocks and the placement of drawings on it, but their value lies in the fact that on them you can see drawings that have not survived to this day.
Images of Tomsk writing made by the Swedish boy K. Shulman, who traveled with Stralenberg across Siberia.
For hunters, the main source of subsistence was deer and elk. Gradually, these animals began to acquire mythical features - the elk was the “master of the taiga” along with the bear.
The image of a moose belongs to the Tomsk Pisanitsa main role: Shapes are repeated many times.
The proportions and shapes of the animal’s body are absolutely faithfully conveyed: its long massive body, a hump on the back, a heavy large head, a characteristic protrusion on the forehead, a swollen upper lip, bulging nostrils, thin legs with cloven hooves.
Some drawings show transverse stripes on the neck and body of moose.
On the border between the Sahara and Fezzan, on the territory of Algeria, in a mountainous area called Tassili-Ajjer, bare rocks rise in rows. Now this region is dried up by the desert wind, scorched by the sun and almost nothing grows in it. However, the Sahara used to have green meadows...
- Sharpness and precision of drawing, grace and elegance.
- Harmonious combination of shapes and tones, the beauty of people and animals depicted with a good knowledge of anatomy.
- Swiftness of gestures and movements.
The small plastic arts of the Neolithic, like painting, acquire new subjects.
"The Man Playing the Lute." Marble (from Keros, Cyclades, Greece). Neolithic. National Archaeological Museum. Athens.
The schematism inherent in Neolithic painting, which replaced Paleolithic realism, also penetrated into small plastic art.
Schematic image of a woman. Cave relief. Neolithic. Croisard. Department of the Marne. France.
Relief with a symbolic image from Castelluccio (Sicily). Limestone. OK. 1800-1400 BC National Archaeological Museum. Syracuse.
Conclusions
Mesolithic and Neolithic rock paintingsIt is not always possible to draw a precise line between them.
But this art is very different from typically Paleolithic:
- Realism, accurately capturing the image of the beast as a target, as a cherished goal, is replaced by a broader view of the world, the image of multi-figure compositions.
- There appears a desire for harmonious generalization, stylization and, most importantly, for the transmission of movement, for dynamism.
- In the Paleolithic there was monumentality and inviolability of the image. Here there is liveliness, free imagination.
- In human images, a desire for grace appears (for example, if you compare the Paleolithic “Venuses” and the Mesolithic image of a woman collecting honey, or Neolithic Bushman dancers).
Small plastic:
- New stories appear.
- Greater mastery of execution and mastery of craft and material.
Achievements
Paleolithic- Lower Paleolithic
> > taming fire, stone tools
- Middle Paleolithic
>> exit from Africa
- Upper Paleolithic
> > sling
Mesolithic
- microliths, bow, canoe
Neolithic
- Early Neolithic
> > agriculture, cattle breeding
- Late Neolithic
>> ceramics
Chalcolithic (Copper Age)
- metallurgy, horse, wheel
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is characterized by the leading role of bronze products, which was associated with improved processing of metals such as copper and tin obtained from ore deposits, and the subsequent production of bronze from them.The Bronze Age replaced the Copper Age and preceded the Iron Age. In general, the chronological framework of the Bronze Age: 35/33 - 13/11 centuries. BC e., but they differ among different cultures.
Art is becoming more diverse and spreading geographically.
Bronze was much easier to process than stone; it could be cast into molds and polished. Therefore, in the Bronze Age, all kinds of household items were made, richly decorated with ornaments and having a high artistic value. Ornamental decorations consisted mostly from circles, spirals, wavy lines and similar motifs. Special attention paid attention to jewelry - they were large in size and immediately caught the eye.
Megalithic architecture
In 3 - 2 thousand BC. unique, huge structures made of stone blocks appeared. This ancient architecture called megalithic.The term “megalith” comes from the Greek words “megas” - “large”; and "lithos" - "stone".
Megalithic architecture owes its appearance to primitive beliefs. Megalithic architecture is usually divided into several types:
1.
A menhir is a single vertical stone, more than two meters high.
On the Brittany Peninsula in France, the so-called fields stretch for kilometers. menhirov. In the language of the Celts, the later inhabitants of the peninsula, the name of these stone pillars several meters high means “long stone”.
2.
Trilith is a structure consisting of two vertically placed stones and covered with a third.
3.
A dolmen is a structure whose walls are made of huge stone slabs and covered with a roof made of the same monolithic stone block.
Initially, dolmens served for burials.
Trilith can be called the simplest dolmen.
Numerous menhirs, trilithons and dolmens were located in places that were considered sacred.
4.
Cromlech is a group of menhirs and trilithes.
Stone grave. South of Ukraine. Anthropomorphic menhirs. Bronze Age.
Stonehenge. Cromlech. England. Bronze Age. 3 – 2 thousand BC Its diameter is 90 m, it consists of stone blocks, each of which weighs approx. 25 tons. It is curious that the mountains from where these stones were delivered are located 280 km from Stonehenge.
It consists of trilithons arranged in a circle, inside a horseshoe of trilithons, in the middle there are blue stones, and in the very center there is a heel stone (on the day of the summer solstice the luminary is exactly above it). It is assumed that Stonehenge was a temple dedicated to the sun.
Age of Iron (Iron Age)
1 thousand BCIn the steppes Eastern Europe and Asia, pastoral tribes created the so-called animal style at the end of the Bronze and beginning of the Iron Age.
"Deer" plaque. 6th century BC Gold. Hermitage. 35.1x22.5 cm. From the mound in the Kuban region. The relief plate was found attached to a round iron shield in the chief's burial. An example of zoomorphic art ("animal style"). The deer's hooves are made in the form of a "big-beaked bird."
There is nothing accidental or superfluous - a complete, thoughtful composition. Everything in the figure is conditional and extremely truthful and realistic.
The feeling of monumentality is achieved not by size, but by the generality of the form.
Panther. Badge, decoration of a shield. From a mound near the village of Kelermesskaya. Gold. Hermitage.
Age of Iron.
Served as a decoration for the shield. The tail and paws are decorated with figures of curled up predators.
Iron Age
Age of Iron. The balance between realism and stylization is broken in favor of stylization.
Cultural connections with Ancient Greece, countries ancient East and China contributed to the emergence of new subjects, images and visual means in artistic culture tribes of southern Eurasia.
Scenes of a battle between barbarians and Greeks are depicted. Found in the Chertomlyk mound, near Nikopol.
Zaporozhye region Hermitage.
Conclusions
Scythian art – “animal style”. Amazing sharpness and intensity of images. Generalization, monumentality. Stylization and realism.Cave or rock paintings are drawings that are found on the walls and ceilings of caves and rock surfaces. Made during the prehistoric period, the images date back to the Paleolithic era, approximately 40,000 years ago. Some scientists believe that rock paintings primitive people- a way of communicating with the outside world. According to another theory, the drawings were applied for ceremonial or religious purposes.
| http://mydetionline.ru |
History of discovery
In southwestern France and northern Spain, archaeologists have discovered more than 340 caves containing images from prehistoric times. Initially, the age of the paintings was a controversial issue, since the radiocarbon dating method could be inaccurate due to the dirty surfaces that were examined. But further development of technology made it possible to establish the exact period of drawing images on the walls.
| http://allkomp.ru/ |
The chronology can also be determined by the themes of the drawings. Thus, the reindeer depicted in the Cueva de Las cave, which is located in Spain, dates back to the end Ice Age. The earliest drawings in Europe were discovered in the Chauvet Cave in France. They appeared 30,000 BC. The surprise for scientists was that the images had been altered many times over thousands of years, which caused confusion in the subsidization of the drawings.
Painting in three stages
There are monochrome and polychrome cave paintings. Polychrome rock painting was created in three stages and depended entirely on the experience and cultural maturity of the artist, lighting, type of surface and available raw materials. At the first stage, the contours of the depicted animal were outlined using charcoal, manganese or hematite. The second stage involved completing the drawing and applying red ocher or another pigment to the image. At the third stage, contours were drawn in black to visually enlarge the image.
Subjects and themes
The most common subject in cave paintings of primitive people is the image of large wild animals. At the beginning of the Stone Age, artists painted:
- Lviv;
- rhinoceroses;
- saber-toothed tigers;
- bears.
Images of animals hunted by people appear during the Late Paleolithic period. The image of a person is a very rare phenomenon and the pictures are less realistic than painted figures of animals. In primitive art there are no images of landscapes and landscapes.
Work of ancient artists
Prehistoric inhabitants of the planet discovered that paint made from animals and plants was not as stable as paint extracted from the earth. Over time, people have determined the property of iron oxides in the ground not to lose their original appearance. Therefore, they looked for hematite deposits and could walk tens of kilometers a day to bring the dye home. Modern scientists have discovered paths leading to deposits along which ancient craftsmen plied.
Using sea shells as a reservoir for paint, working by candlelight or weak daylight, prehistoric painters used a variety of painting techniques and techniques. At first they painted with their fingers, and then moved on to crayons, moss pads, animal hair brushes, and plant fibers. They used a more advanced method of spraying paint using reeds or bones with special holes.
Holes were made in the bird's bones and filled with red ocher. By studying the cave paintings of ancient people, scientists have determined that such devices were used 16,000 BC. In the Stone Age, artists also used the techniques of chiaroscuro and foreshortening. In each era, new painting methods appear and the caves are replenished with drawings made in new styles over many centuries. The ingenious works of prehistoric artists have inspired many modern masters to create beautiful works.
