Caveman drawing. Primitive rock painting

Around the world, speleologists deep caves find confirmation of the existence of ancient people. Rock paintings have been perfectly preserved for many millennia. There are several types of masterpieces - pictograms, petroglyphs, geoglyphs. Important monuments human history is regularly entered into the register World Heritage.

Usually on the walls of caves there are common subjects, such as hunting, battle, images of the sun, animals, human hands. People in ancient times gave paintings sacred meaning, they believed they were helping themselves in the future.

Images were applied using various methods and materials. For artistic creativity animal blood, ocher, chalk and even guano were used bats. Special view paintings - hewn paintings, they were knocked out in stone using a special chisel.

Many caves have not been sufficiently studied and are limited in visiting, while others, on the contrary, are open to tourists. However, most of the precious cultural heritage disappears unattended, unable to find her researchers.

Below is a short excursion into the world of the most interesting caves with prehistoric rock paintings.

Ancient rock paintings.

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More than three million years ago, the process of formation of the modern species of people began. Parking lots primitive man found in the most different countries peace. Our ancient ancestors, exploring new territories, encountered unfamiliar natural phenomena and formed the first centers of primitive culture.

Among the ancient hunters, people with extraordinary artistic talents stood out, who left many expressive works. There are no corrections to be found in the drawings made on the walls of the caves, since unique masters there was a very steady hand.

Primitive thinking

Origin problem primitive art, reflecting the lifestyle of ancient hunters, has been exciting the minds of scientists for several centuries. Despite its simplicity, it is of great importance in the history of mankind. It reflects the religious and social spheres of life in that society. Consciousness primitive people represents a very complex interweaving of two principles - illusory and realistic. It is believed that this combination had precisely the effect on the character creative activity the first artists had a decisive influence.

Unlike modern art, the art of past eras is always connected with the everyday aspects of human life and seems more earthly. It fully reflects primitive thinking, which does not always have a realistic coloring. And the point here is not the low level of skill of the artists, but the special goals of their work.

The emergence of art

IN mid-19th century, archaeologist E. Larte discovered an image of a mammoth in the La Madeleine cave. Thus, for the first time, the involvement of hunters in painting was proven. As a result of discoveries, it was established that monuments of art appeared much later than tools.

Representatives of homo sapiens made stone knives and spearheads, and this technique was passed on from generation to generation. Later people used bones, wood, stone and clay to create their first works. It turns out that primitive art arose when a person had free time. When the problem of survival was solved, people began to leave a huge number of monuments of the same type.

Kinds of art

Primitive art that appeared in the era Late Paleolithic(more than 33 thousand years ago), developed in several directions. The first is represented by rock paintings and megaliths, and the second by small sculpture and carvings on bone, stone and wood. Unfortunately, wooden artifacts are extremely rare in archaeological excavations. However, the man-made objects that have come down to us are very expressive and silently tell the story of the skill of ancient hunters.

It must be admitted that in the minds of our ancestors, art was not identified as a separate sphere of activity, and not all people had the ability to create images. The artists of that era had such a powerful talent that it burst out on its own, splashing out on the walls and roof of the cave with bright and expressive images that overwhelmed the human consciousness.

The Old Stone Age (Paleolithic) represents the earliest but longest period, at the end of which all types of art appeared, which are characterized by external simplicity and realism. People did not connect the events taking place with nature or themselves, and did not feel space.

The most outstanding monuments Paleolithic paintings on cave walls are considered the first type of primitive art. They are very primitive and represent wavy lines, prints of human hands, images of animal heads. These are clear attempts to feel part of the world and the first glimpses of consciousness among our ancestors.

Paintings on rocks were done with a stone cutter or paint (red ocher, black charcoal, white lime). Scientists claim that along with the emerging art, the first rudiments of a primitive society (society) arose.

During the Paleolithic era, carvings on stone, wood and bone developed. The figurines of animals and birds found by archaeologists are distinguished by accurate reproduction of all volumes. Researchers say that they were created as amulets that protected cave dwellers from evil spirits. The most ancient masterpieces had magical meaning and guided man in nature.

Various tasks facing artists

Main feature primitive art in the Paleolithic era - its primitivism. Ancient people did not know how to convey space and give natural phenomena human qualities. The visual image of animals was initially presented as a schematic, almost conventional, image. And only after several centuries do colorful images appear that reliably show all the details appearance wild animals. Scientists believe that this is not due to the level of skill of the first artists, but to the various tasks that were set before them.

Contour primitive drawings were used in rituals and created for magical purposes. But very detailed exact images appear during a period when animals turned into objects of veneration, and ancient people thus emphasized their mystical connection with them.

The Rise of Art

According to archaeologists, the highest flowering of the art of primitive society occurred in the Magdalenian period (25-12 thousand years BC). At this time, animals are depicted in motion, and a simple contour drawing takes on three-dimensional forms.

The spiritual powers of hunters, who have studied the habits of predators to the smallest detail, are aimed at comprehending the laws of nature. Ancient artists convincingly draw images of animals, but man himself does not use special attention in art. In addition, not a single image of the landscape has ever been discovered. It is believed that ancient hunters simply admired nature, and feared and worshiped predators.

The most famous examples of rock art of this period were found in the caves of Lascaux (France), Altamira (Spain), Shulgan-Tash (Urals).

"The Sistine Chapel of the Stone Age"

Curious what's still in the middle XIX century cave painting was not known to scientists. And only in 1877, a famous archaeologist who found himself in the Almamira cave discovered rock paintings, which were subsequently included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. It is no coincidence that the underground grotto received the name " Sistine Chapel Stone Age." In the rock paintings one can see the confident hand of ancient artists, who made the outlines of animals without any corrections, single lines. In the light of a torch, creating a stunning play of shadows, it seems that volumetric images moving.

Later, more than a hundred underground grottoes with traces of primitive people were found in France.

In the Kapova Cave (Shulgan-Tash), located in the Southern Urals, images of animals were found relatively recently - in 1959. 14 silhouette and contour drawings animals are made with red ocher. In addition, various geometric signs were discovered.

The first humanoid images

One of the main themes of primitive art is the image of a woman. It was caused by the special specificity of the thinking of ancient people. The drawings were attributed Magic force. Found figurines of naked and clothed women indicate very high level skills of ancient hunters and pass on main idea image - the keeper of the hearth.

These figures are very overweight women, the so-called Venus. Such sculptures are the first humanoid images symbolizing fertility and motherhood.

Changes that occurred during the Mesolithic and Neolithic eras

During the Mesolithic era, primitive art underwent changes. Rock paintings are multi-figure compositions in which one can trace various episodes from people’s lives. Most often scenes of battles and hunting are depicted.

But the main changes in primitive society occur during the Neolithic period. A person learns to build new types of housing and erects structures on stilts made of brick. The main topic art becomes a collective activity, and fine arts represented by rock paintings, stone, ceramic and wooden sculpture, clay plastic.

Ancient petroglyphs

It is impossible not to mention multi-plot and multi-figure compositions in which the main attention is paid to animals and humans. Petroglyphs (rock carvings that are carved or painted), painted in secluded places, attract the attention of scientists from all over the world. Some experts believe that they are ordinary sketches of everyday scenes. And others see in them a kind of writing, which is based on symbols and signs, and indicates spiritual heritage our ancestors.

In Russia, petroglyphs are called “pisanits”, and most often they are found not in caves, but in open areas. Made with ocher, they are perfectly preserved, since the paint is perfectly absorbed into the rocks. The themes of the drawings are very wide and varied: the heroes are animals, symbols, signs and people. Even schematic images of stars have been found solar system. Despite their very respectable age, the petroglyphs, made in a realistic manner, speak of the great skill of the people who created them.

And now research is ongoing to get closer to deciphering the unique messages left by our distant ancestors.

Bronze Age

During the Bronze Age, with which the main milestones in the history of primitive art and humanity in general are associated, new technical inventions, metal development is taking place, people are engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding.

The themes of art are enriched with new subjects, the role of figurative symbolism, distributed by geometric ornament. You can see scenes that are associated with mythology, and the images become a special symbolic system that is understandable to certain groups of the population. Zoomorphic and atropomorphic sculpture appears, as well as mysterious structures - megaliths.

Symbols that convey the most different concepts and feelings carry a great aesthetic load.

Conclusion

At the earliest stages of its development, art does not stand out as an independent sphere of human spiritual life. In primitive society there is only nameless creativity, closely intertwined with ancient beliefs. It reflected the ideas of the ancient “artists” about nature and the surrounding world, and thanks to it, people communicated with each other.

If we talk about the features of primitive art, then it is impossible not to mention that it has always been associated with the labor activity of people. Only labor allowed ancient masters to create real works that excite descendants with their vivid expressiveness. artistic images. Primitive man expanded his ideas about the world around him, enriching his spiritual world. In the course of their work, people developed aesthetic feelings and an understanding of beauty. From the very moment of its inception, art had a magical meaning, and later it existed with other forms of not only spiritual, but also material activity.

When man learned to create images, he gained power over time. Therefore, without exaggeration, we can say that the turn of ancient people to art is one of the most important events in the history of mankind.

The oldest cave paintings of primitive people were amazing images that were mainly painted on stone walls. It is worth noting that in general, cave painting is unique. Today, perhaps, every person has identified from a video or photo that the rock paintings are deer, people with arrows, mammoths and much more. At that time, artists did not know such a thing as composition. Experts say that the animals that are depicted on rocks or other foundations are sacred animals, the ancestors of a clan, or one of the objects of veneration of a particular tribe.

There is an opinion that the cave paintings of primitive people are animals that were hunted by people of that time. IN in this case These drawings served as magical rituals, with the help of which hunters wanted to attract real animals during the hunt.

The main part of such paintings is located in the depths of caves - places that were considered a kind of sanctuary. If we talk about the Madeleine era, then this period became quite bright in the development of Paleolithic art. Most of Such finds are found in the southwestern part of France, in the regions of the Pyrenees, as well as in the northwestern part of Spain.

Changes in the life of primitive people

After the disappearance of certain species of animals, as well as due to climate change, the nature of the activities of people of that time changed significantly. For example, people
They stopped hunting and collecting food in the area less; they began to pay more attention to agriculture and cattle breeding. Changes also affected magical images, that is, the cave paintings of primitive people became different. People began to make rock paintings not in the depths of caves, but, on the contrary, closer to the exits and, in some cases, outside.

If we talk about the Paleolithic era, then it was almost impossible to find images of people here. Now the person is the main thing actor in the depicted space. The domestication of animals led to the fact that they began to be depicted next to people. For example, they were used to depict hunting scenes. In addition, people began to use a completely different technique of painting on rocks.

Basically, figures were depicted schematically using triangles and also straight lines. In addition, the images were monochrome. For example, artists of that time used black, red, orange, or white mineral paint. In addition to scenes of hunting, scenes of various ritual dances and battles began to appear on the rocks. And also scenes of grazing cattle. Murals of this type can be seen throughout Spain.

The first examples of sculpture

If we talk about the first examples of Neolithic sculpture, they were associated with the funeral cult: skulls, both human and animal, and much more. Images of naked women with big breasts and hips. Rarely, pregnant women were also depicted.

First monumental sculptures appeared in southern Europe. Also at that time, ceramic products appeared. The first products were wicker bottles, as well as baskets, which were decorated with various ornaments.

It should be noted that historians, as well as archaeologists, are still actively searching for rock art, of which, according to experts, there are still many. The most common rock carvings are images of deer, tigers, mammoths, and horses. It is no secret that today the cave paintings of primitive people raise a large number of controversial issues among a large number of historians and archaeologists.

Video: Cave paintings of ancient people

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A person's desire to capture the world, events that inspire fear, hope to be successful in hunting, life, struggle with other tribes, nature, demonstrated in drawings. They are found all over the world from South America to Siberia. The rock art of primitive people is also called cave art, since mountain, underground shelters were often used by them as shelters, reliably sheltering them from bad weather and predators. In Russia they are called “pisanitsa”. The scientific name of the drawings is petroglyphs. After discovery, scientists sometimes paint them over for better visibility and preservation.

Rock Art Themes

Drawings carved on the walls of caves, open, vertical surfaces of rocks, free-standing stones, drawn with coal from a fire, chalk, mineral or plant substances, essentially represent objects of art - engravings, paintings of ancient people. They usually depict:

1. Figures of large animals (mammoths, elephants, bulls, deer, bison), birds, fish, which were coveted prey, as well as dangerous predators - bears, lions, wolves, crocodiles.
2. Scenes of hunting, dancing, sacrifices, war, boating, fishing.
3. Images of pregnant women, leaders, shamans in ritual clothes, spirits, deities, etc. mythical creatures, sometimes attributed by sensationalists to aliens.

These paintings gave scientists a lot to understand the history of the development of society, the animal world, and changes in the Earth’s climate over thousands of years, because early petroglyphs date back to the late Paleolithic, Neolithic eras, and later ones to Bronze Age. For example, this is how the periods of domestication of the buffalo, wild bull, horse, and camel in the history of the use of animals by humans were determined. Unexpected discoveries was confirmation of the existence of bison in Spain, woolly rhinoceroses in Siberia, prehistoric animals on the great plain, which today represents a huge desert - the Central Sahara.

History of discovery

This discovery is often attributed to the Spanish amateur archaeologist Marcelino de Sautuole, who found in late XIX centuries of magnificent paintings in the Altamira cave in his homeland. There, the rock paintings, made with charcoal and ocher, available to primitive people, were so good that they were long considered a fake and a hoax.

In fact, by that time such drawings had long been known throughout the world, with the exception of Antarctica. Thus, rock paintings along the banks of Siberian rivers, Far East known since the 17th century and described by famous travelers: scientists Spafari, Stallenberg, Miller. Therefore, the discovery in the Altamira cave and the subsequent hype is just an example of successful, albeit unintentional, propaganda in the scientific world.

Famous drawings

Art galleries, “photo exhibitions” of ancient people, amazing plot, variety, quality of details:

1. Magura Cave (Bulgaria). Animals, hunters, ritual dances are depicted.
2. Cueva de las Manos (Argentina). The “Cave of Hands” depicts the left hands of the ancient inhabitants of this place, hunting scenes, painted in red, white and black.
3. Bhimbetka (India). People, horses, crocodiles, tigers and lions “mixed” here.
4. Serra da Capivara (Brazil). Many caves depict hunting and scenes of rituals. The oldest drawings are at least 25 thousand years old.
5. Laas Gaal (Somalia) – cows, dogs, giraffes, people in ceremonial clothes.
6. Chauvet Cave (France). Opened in 1994. The age of some of the drawings, including mammoths, lions, and rhinoceroses, is about 32 thousand years.
7. Kakadu National Park (Australia) with images made by the ancient Aborigines of the mainland.
8. Newspaper Rock (USA, Utah). Native American heritage, with an unusually high concentration of paintings on a flat rocky cliff.

Rock art in Russia has a geography from the White Sea to the banks of the Amur and Ussuri. Here are a few of them:

1. White Sea petroglyphs (Karelia). More than 2 thousand drawings - hunting, battles, ritual processions, people on skis.
2. Shishkinsky writings on rocks in the upper reaches of the Lena River ( Irkutsk region). More than 3 thousand different drawings were described in the middle of the 20th century by Academician Okladnikov. A convenient path leads to them. Although climbing there is prohibited, this does not stop those who want to see the drawings up close.
3. Petroglyphs of Sikachi-Alyan ( Khabarovsk region). At this place there was an ancient camp of the Nanais. The drawings show scenes of fishing, hunting, and shamanic masks.

It must be said that the rock paintings of primitive people different places differs significantly in preservation, plot scenes, and quality of execution by ancient authors. But to see them at least, and if you’re lucky in reality, is like looking into the distant past.

Cro-Magnons, who lived on earth 30 thousand years ago, used to express their feelings and emotions simple drawings. But the cave paintings of primitive people cannot be called primitive, since they were created by people with extraordinary artistic talents. Drawings of primitive people in caves are graphic and three-dimensional images, bas-reliefs on the walls. Many such drawings are 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 volume began to be used only during the Renaissance. Rock art is replete with images of rhinoceroses, bison, mammoths, and deer. Also in the drawings there are scenes of hunting, people with arrows and spears are depicted. Occasionally there are drawings of fish, plants, and insects. The colors used to make the drawings do not fade and fully convey their original brightness. It is difficult to imagine a person who has no idea what rock paintings are (photos will help you understand this).

Where did the first people draw?

Hard-to-reach areas of the caves, located hundreds of meters from the surface, were an excellent place for drawing. This is explained primarily by the cult significance of rock carvings, which require the performance of a certain ritual. Drawing was such a ritual. Melted and still hot fat from wild animals, tufts of moss or wool were poured into the bowls. Then the artist began to work in the light of stone lamps.

What are the rock paintings called?

The rock paintings of the ancients are called petroglyphs (Greek - to carve 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 ancient population, reveal traditions and historical events that influenced ancient man.

Later drawings were made in the form of symbols or symbols. Man initially sought to express thoughts through signs and writing. Painting brought the onset of this moment closer, becoming a transition period between graphic drawings and writing. The images are called pictograms. For example, on the territory of Armenia, archaeologists discovered designs reminiscent of all known ancient alphabets. The oldest images found here were created more than 9,000 years ago. Prehistoric rock paintings are pictures created by the first people.

Technique and materials

What motivated people to draw? Just the desire to create beauty or the need to perform and capture a special ritual? Making a rock engraving was not so easy, especially if the paint was applied into deep slits, 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 Serre. During the Middle and Late Paleolithic period, the technique of performing rock paintings of primitive people was more subtle. The outlines 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.

Rock paintings, photo in Altamira Cave

The paint of primitive man was all shades of ocher, which were used as a red dye, charcoal and manganese ore. Chalk and bat guano were also used. The future paint was ground using bone or stone. The resulting powder was mixed with animal fat. Ancient people even had prototypes of modern tubes. They stored paints in 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, such as green or blue.

Primitive artists used bones or sharp sticks as brushes, the ends of which were split. They also used pieces of wool that were tied to bones. First we drew the outline and then painted it in. But there are other images as well. For example, a handprint that has been splattered with paint through a reed.

Ancient people had no idea about the composition or proportions of the body. They painted large predators and, against their background, tiny mountain goats. But this did not stop them from creating masterpieces comparable to the modern idea of ​​painting. The accuracy of the representation of objects and animals is amazing, and the drawings of ancient people in caves captured in stone ancient animals that had long since become extinct. Visual effect was enhanced by the fact that the image was applied to a rock ledge.

What did primitive people draw?

Rock paintings of ancient people are a manifestation of emotional and vivid imaginative thinking. Not everyone could create such masterpieces, but only those in whose subconscious visual images arose. Those who were overwhelmed vivid images, transferred them to the plane of the rocks.

There is an assumption that with the help of cave paintings visions were transmitted, a person expressed himself and passed on what he received life experience. But most scientists adhere to the version about cult significance drawings: they were probably created before the hunt. Thus, the person tried to influence the result, to attract the preferred animal during the hunt.

The disappearance of some animals and climate change have led to a serious change in human activity. Now he spent more time raising animals and cultivating the land. There was less time left for hunting. This was also reflected in rock art. The drawings were no longer done deep in the cave, but outside. Images of humans were now becoming more common. Animals that were domesticated were also depicted in cave engravings (fox hunting scenes). Schematic drawings have spread: triangles, straight lines or winding lines, a pile of colored spots.

If earlier hunting scenes were most often depicted, now they also included ritual dances, battles, and grazing. There are many such drawings in Spain.

Where can you see rock art?

In France, in the caves of Lascaux and Chauvet, drawings were discovered that date back to approximately the 18th-15th millennia BC. e. They depict horses, cows, bulls, and bears. In Spain, in the Altamira cave, hunting scenes were depicted by ancient artists so skillfully that if you look at them with a blazing fire, you get the impression of objects moving. In Africa there is a whole complex of caves with rock paintings. These are Laas Gaal in Somaliland and Tassilien Adjer in Algeria. Rock paintings have also been discovered in Egypt (Swimmers Cave), Bulgaria, Bashkiria, Argentina (Cueva de las Manos Cave) and many others.

Objects of art or primitive reflection of reality?

It is impossible to put an equal sign between primitive “art” and modern one. But when considering ancient images, modern art historians rely on familiar formulations, going far beyond the specifics of primitive art. Today in the art world there is an author of a work, and there is a consumer. Ancient artists created their creations only because they had the ability to draw and felt the need to depict the reality around them or significant events. They had no ideas about art or were blurry, but the images that filled their consciousness found a way out into the world through their creator, who, most likely, was considered by their fellow tribesmen to be endowed with supernatural power.

So what is the difference between rock art and ordinary modern art? The only difference is that the first drawings were made by artists of the Paleolithic era, and rock was used as a canvas. Of course, the phenomenon of creativity is associated with the interaction of all spiritual forces and the release in a special way emotions. A person could create something new and important for himself, but the awareness of this phenomenon occurred gradually. The Cro-Magnon man lived in such cultural environment, in which there was no division into separate areas of activity. But the ancient people did not have leisure in our understanding, since their life was not divided into strict work and rest. The time when a person was not fighting for existence, he devoted to performing rituals and other actions important for the well-being of the tribe.