Figures of ancient people. Ancient rock carvings

Human civilization has come a long way of development and has achieved impressive results. Modern art is one of them. But everything has its beginning. How did the painting originate and who were they - the first artists of the world?

The Beginning of Prehistoric Art - Types and Forms

In the Stone Age, the Paleolithic, primitive art first appears. It had different forms. These were rituals, music, dances and songs, as well as drawing images on a different surface - rock paintings of primitive people. This period includes the creation of the first man-made structures - megaliths, dolmens and menhirs, whose purpose is still unknown. The most famous of them is Stonehenge in Salisbury, consisting of cromlech (vertical stones).

Household items, such as jewelry, children's toys, also refer to the art of primitive people.

Periodization

Scientists have no doubts about the time of origin of primitive art. It began to form in the middle of the Paleolithic era, during the period of the late Neanderthals. The culture of that time is called Mousterian.

Neanderthals knew how to work stone, creating tools. On some subjects, scientists have found indentations and incisions in the form of crosses that form a primitive ornament. In that era, they could not draw yet, but the ocher was already used. Were found her pieces, like a pencil, used.

Primitive rock painting - definition

This is one of the types of primitive art. It is an image painted on the surface of a cave wall by an ancient person. Most of these objects are found in Europe, but there are drawings of ancient people in Asia. The main area of the spread of rock art is the territory of modern Spain and France.

Doubts of scientists

For a long time, modern science was not aware of the fact that the art of primitive man reached such a high level. Figures in the caves of ancient people were not found until the XIX century. Therefore, when they were first discovered, they were mistaken for falsification.

The history of one discovery

Ancient rock art was found by an amateur archaeologist, the Spanish lawyer Marcelino Saens de Southuola.

This discovery is associated with dramatic events. In the Spanish province of Cantabria in 1868, the hunter discovered a cave. The entrance to it was littered with debris of crumbling rock. In 1875, she examined De Southuola. At that time he found only tools. The find was the most usual one. Four years later, the amateur archaeologist again visited the Altamir cave. On the trip he was accompanied by a 9-year-old daughter, who discovered the drawings. Together with his friend, archaeologist Juan Vilanova-i-Pierre, de Soutuola, began digging a cave. Shortly before that, at an exhibition of Stone Age items, he saw images of bison, surprisingly reminiscent of that rock drawing of an ancient man, who saw his daughter Maria. Southuola suggested that the images of animals found in the Altamir cave belong to the Paleolithic. This was supported by Vilanov-i-Pierre.

Scientists have published shocking results of their excavations. And immediately they were accused of falsification by the scientific world. Leading experts in the field of archeology categorically rejected the possibility of finding a painting of Paleolithic time. Marcelino de Soutuolu was accused that the drawings of the ancient people, allegedly found by him, were drawn by another archaeologist who visited him in those days.

Only after 15 years, after the death of a man who opened the world wonderful examples of ancient painting, his opponents recognized the rightness of Marcelino de Southuola. By that time, similar drawings in the caves of ancient people were found in Font de Gom, Troyes-Frere, Combarel and Ruffinjac in France, Tuc d'Oduber in the Pyrenees and other regions. All of them were attributed to the Paleolithic era. Thus, the honest name of the Spanish scientist, who made one of the notable discoveries in archeology, was restored.

Mastery of ancient artists

Rock art, the photo of which is presented below, consists of many images of different animals. Among them are the bison figures. Those who first saw the drawings of ancient people found in the cave of Altamira, are amazed at how professionally they are performed. This magnificent craftsmanship of ancient artists and made in due time to doubt the scientists in their authenticity.

Ancient people did not immediately learn to create accurate images of animals. Pictures were found on which the contours are hardly outlined, so it is almost impossible to know who the artist wanted to portray. Gradually, the skill of drawing became better, and it was already possible to accurately convey the face of the animal.

The first drawings of ancient people can also include handprints found in many caves.

Painted hand applied to the wall, the resulting print was outlined with a different color along the contour and was enclosed in a circle. According to the researchers, this action was of great ritual significance for an ancient person.

Themes of painting of the first artists

The rock drawing of the ancient man reflected the reality that surrounded him. He displayed what worried him most. In the Paleolithic, hunting was the main occupation and way of food production. Therefore, animals are the main motif of the drawings of that period. As already mentioned, in Europe were found in a variety of images of bison, deer, horses, goats, bears. They are not transmitted static, but in motion. Animals run, jump, frolic and die, pierced by a spear of a hunter.

In the cave of Lascaux, located on the territory of France, is the largest ancient image of a bull. Its size is more than five meters. In other countries, ancient artists also painted those animals that lived next to them. In Somalia, images of giraffes were found, in India - tigers and crocodiles, in the caves of the Sahara there are drawings of ostriches and elephants. In addition to animals, the first artists painted hunting scenes and people, but very rarely.

Assignment of rock carvings

Why did the ancient man depict animals and people on the walls of caves and other objects, exactly unknown. Since by that time the religion was already beginning to form, they most likely had a profound ritual significance. Figure "Hunting" of ancient people, according to some researchers, symbolized a successful outcome of the struggle with the beast. Others believe that they were created by shamans of the tribe, who were in a trance and who tried to gain special power through the image. Ancient artists lived a very long time, and therefore the motives for creating drawings by modern scientists are unknown.

Paints and tools

To create drawings, primitive artists used special techniques. First they scratched the image of the animal with a cutter on the surface of a rock or a stone, and then applied a paint on it. It was made from natural materials - ocher of different colors and black pigment, which was extracted from charcoal. For the fixation of the paint used the organics of animals (blood, fat, brain substance) and water. The flowers at the disposal of the ancient artists were few: yellow, red, black, brown.

Figures of ancient people had several features. Sometimes they layered on each other. Often artists depicted a large number of animals. In this case, the figures in the foreground were carefully depicted, and the rest - schematically. Primitive people did not create compositions, in the overwhelming majority of their drawings - a chaotic conglomeration of images. To date, there have been found only a few "paintings" that have a single composition.

During the Paleolithic period, the first tools of painting were created. They were sticks and primitive brushes made of animal fur. Ancient artists also took care of covering their "canvases". Lamps were found, which they made in the form of stone pots. They poured fat and put a wick.

Cave Shove

It was found in 1994 in France, and her collection of paintings is recognized as the oldest. Laboratory studies helped determine the age of the drawings - the very first of them were made 36 thousand years ago. Here images of animals living in the ice age were found. It is a woolly rhinoceros, cave lion, bison, panther, tarpan (the ancestor of a modern horse). Figures are beautifully preserved due to the fact that a millennium ago the entrance to the cave was filled up.

Now it is closed for visiting. The microclimate in which the images are located can disrupt the presence of a person. A few hours in it can only be carried out by its researchers. To visit the audience, it was decided to open a replica of the cave not far from it.

Lascaux Cave

This is another famous place where drawings of ancient people were found. The cave was discovered by four teenagers in 1940. Now her collection of paintings of ancient artists of the Paleolithic era has 1900 images.

The place has become very popular with visitors. A huge flow of tourists led to damage to the drawings. This was due to the overabundance of carbon dioxide exhaled by humans. In 1963, it was decided to close the cave for visits. But problems with the preservation of ancient images exist to this day. The microclimate of Lasko was irreversibly broken, and now the drawings are under constant control.

Conclusion

Figures of ancient people admire us with their realism and skill of execution. The artists of that time were able to convey not only the true appearance of the animal, but also its movement and habits. In addition to aesthetic and artistic value, the painting of primitive artists is an important material for studying the animal kingdom of that period. Thanks to the drawings found in the grotto Shova, the scientists made an astonishing discovery: it turned out that lions and rhinoceroses, the original inhabitants of the hot southern countries, lived in Europe during the Stone Age.