The Creative RevolutionPaleolithic Cave Art35,000 BC – 14,000 BC
Western Europe
• 200+ sites• Famous sites:• Chauvet , France• Lascaux, France• Altamira, Spain
Chauvet Cave, France32,000 B.C.
Carbon 14 dating of charcoal and animal bones established age of Cave Art sites.
Paint made out of charcoal , rocks and minerals mixed with animal fat.
Black made from charcoal or Black Hemalite
White made from chalk. Yellow , red and brown made from Ocher
Why did Paleolithic Man make Cave Art? The paintings are believed to
have a religious purpose.
Religious leaders known as Shamans were painted at Les Trois Friers and Lascaux.
The paintings may have been visions the Shamans had during trances they entered into trying to contact the spirit world during religious ceremonies.
The animals they painted were the largest in their world and NOT their main sources of food.
Ice Age Southern Europe
Ice Age: 100,000 BC – 10,000 BC
Ice Age (The earth was colder)
Muskox: Chauvet Cave
Horses: Chauvet cave
Cave Bear and Leopard Chauvet Cave
Cave Lions: Chauvet Cave
Wooly Rhino, Bison, MammothChauvet Cave
Running Bison and Fighting RhinosChauvet Cave
Aurochs: Ancestor of all Cattle
Roufignac, France 22,000 B.C. Mammoths
Lascaux, France 17,000 B.C.
Hall Of Bulls
Altamira, Spain14,000 BC
European Bison
Altamira: High Point of Cave Art
Highly Detailed Dramatic Action
“In 20,000 years, we have learned nothing!”Pablo Picasso
Why were the Cave Art sites abandoned Circa 14,000 B.C.?
Humans began building stone temples.
The archaeological dig at Gobekli Tepli in Turkey has unearthed stone structures filled with carvings of animals.
Gobekli Tepli has been dated to 11,000 B.C. The Neolithic Age had begun.
Saharan Rock Art8,000 BC to 4,000 BC
Saharan Desert 2010 AD
The Saharan 8,000 BC
The Saharan was a Steppe (Savannah) in the Ice Age.
Neolithic Rock Art8,000 BC- 2,000 BC
People and domestic animals appear
Hippos: Tassili d’ AjjerSaharan Desert
Elephant: Libya
Giraffes and ElephantsTassili d’ Ajjer
Herding Domestic CattleTassili d’ Ajjer
African villagersTassili d’ Ajjer
Tassili d’ Ajjer: Villagers, Jellyfish, Domestic Goat, Man riding Camel
Cave of Swimmers, Egypt
Tassili d’ Ajjer: Herding Domestic Camels