7 Cave Paintings From the Prehistoric Period You Should Know About If You Are An Art Connosieur

What are Cave Paintings?

Paintings on cave or rock walls and ceilings, frequently going back to ancient periods, are known as cave or rock paintings. The paintings are usually assumed to be the work of renowned elders or shamans. 

Large wild creatures, such as bison, horses, aurochs, and deer, and tracings of human hands, which were thought to be the artist signature, as well as abstract patterns, are the most prominent motifs in cave paintings.


What was the purpose of Cave Paintings?

The purpose of cave art, especially Upper Paleolithic cave art, is a hot topic of
discussion. The work of shamans-religious specialists who may have painted the cave walls in recollection of past hunting excursions or in support of future hunting journeys is most typically connected with cave art. Cave art was originally thought to be proof of a creative explosion when ancient people minds reached their full potential.


7 prehistoric Cave Paintings

• Magura Cave - Magura Cave, in the northwest of Bulgaria, houses a series of cave paintings made with bat feces dating from 8000 to 4000 years ago. In the enormous cave, over 700 paintings have been unearthed, representing humans dancing and hunting, as well as a variety of animals.

• Cueva de las Manos - The Cueva de las Manos is a cave painting site in Patagonia, Argentina's southernmost province, that dates back between 13,000 and 9,000 years. The cave name roughly translates to Cave of Hands and it was given that name because of the hundreds of stenciled hands that were painted on the cave walls. The era of the paintings was determined by the remnants of bone-made paint spraying pipes.

• Bhimbetka Rock Shelters - A group of rock shelters in central India that include around 600 paintings dating from the prehistoric Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods, the oldest of which is at least 12,000 years old. The paintings represent the lifestyles of the cave dwellers, as well as an assortment of creatures like as tigers, lions, and crocodiles.

• Serra da Capivara - Serra da Capivara is a Brazilian national park with the world's biggest and oldest concentration of ancient paintings. Ancient murals portraying animals and hunting have been discovered in rock shelters across the park. Stone tools discovered in Serra do Capivara date back to 22,000 years ago.

• Laas Gaal - The Laas Gaal cave formations are located in the vicinity of Hargeisa, Somaliland, in the Woqooyi Galbeed area. They house some of the oldest cave paintings ever discovered in the Horn of Africa. The paintings, which depict cows in ceremonial costumes, humans, domesticated dogs, and giraffes, are in excellent condition. The rock art at Laas Gaal is said to have been created between 5,000 and 7,000 years ago.

• Tadrart Acacus - Tadrart Acacus is a mountain range in Western Libya's Sahara Desert that houses rock art going back 14,000 years. Animals such as giraffes, elephants, ostriches, and camels, as well as men and horses, are shown in paintings and sculptures.

• Cave of Chauvet - The Chauvet-Pont Arc Cave, located in the Ardèche region of southern France, houses some of the world's best-preserved figurative cave paintings. Hundreds of animal paintings have been catalogued, with at least 13 distinct species shown, including several that are seldom or never seen in other ice period paintings.

Rather than displaying simply the common herbivores seen in Paleolithic cave art,
such as horses, aurochs, and mammoths, the artist chose to show a variety of animals. Many predatory creatures, such as cave lions, leopards, bears, and cave hyenas, may be seen on the Chauvet Caves walls.



Written By - Andria Morais

Edited By - Vanshu Verma