All over the world, speleologists in deep caves are finding 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 of human history are regularly included in 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 attached sacred meaning to paintings; they believed that they were helping themselves in the future.

Images were applied using various methods and materials. Animal blood, ocher, chalk and even bat guano were used for artistic creation. A special type of painting is ashlar painting; they were carved into 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, without finding its researchers.

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

Magura Cave, Bulgaria

It is famous not only for the hospitality of its residents and the indescribable flavor of the resorts, but also for its caves. One of them, with the sonorous name Magura, is located north of Sofia, near the town of Belogradchik. The total length of the cave galleries is more than two kilometers. The cave halls are colossal in size, each of them is about 50 meters wide and 20 meters high. The pearl of the cave is a rock painting made directly on the surface covered with bat guano. The paintings are multi-layered; there are a number of paintings from the Paleolithic, Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Bronze Age periods. The drawings of ancient homo sapiens depict figures of dancing villagers, hunters, many strange animals, and constellations. The sun, plants, and tools are also represented. Here begins the story of the festivities of the ancient era and the solar calendar, scientists assure.

Cueva de las Manos Cave, Argentina

The cave with the poetic name Cueva de las Manos (from Spanish - “Cave of Many Hands”) is located in the province of Santa Cruz, exactly one hundred miles from the nearest settlement - the city of Perito Moreno. The rock painting art in the hall, 24 meters long and 10 meters high, dates back to the 13th to 9th millennia BC. This amazing painting on limestone is a voluminous canvas decorated with hand traces. Scientists have built a theory about how the amazingly clear and clear handprints turned out. Prehistoric people took a special composition, then took it into their mouths, and blew it forcefully through a tube onto a hand placed against the wall. In addition, there are stylized images of humans, rheas, guanacos, cats, geometric figures with ornaments, the process of hunting and observations of the sun.

Bhimbetka cliff dwellings, India

Enchanting offers tourists not only the delights of oriental palaces and charming dances. In north central India there are huge rock formations of weathered sandstone with many caves. Ancient people once lived in natural shelters. About 500 dwellings with traces of human habitation remain in the state of Madhya Pradesh. The Indians named the rock dwellings Bhimbetka (after the hero of the Mahabharata epic). The art of the ancients here dates back to the Mesolithic era. Some of the paintings are insignificant, and some of the hundreds of images are very typical and striking. 15 rock masterpieces are available for contemplation by those who wish. Mainly, patterned ornaments and battle scenes are depicted here.

Serra da Capivara National Park, Brazil

Both rare animals and venerable scientists find shelter in the Serra da Capivara National Park. And 50 thousand years ago, our distant ancestors found shelter here in caves. Presumably, this is the oldest community of hominids in South America. The park is located near the town of San Raimondo Nonato, in the central part of the state of Piaui. Experts have counted more than 300 archaeological sites here. The main surviving images date back to 25-22 millennium BC. The most amazing thing is that extinct bears and other paleofauna are painted on the rocks.

Laas Gaal cave complex, Somaliland

The Republic of Somaliland recently separated from Somalia in Africa. Archaeologists in this area are interested in the Laas Gaal cave complex. Here are rock paintings from the 8th-9th and 3rd millennium BC. On the granite walls of majestic natural shelters scenes of life and everyday life of the nomadic people of Africa are depicted: the process of grazing livestock, ceremonies, playing with dogs. The local population does not attach importance to the drawings of their ancestors, and uses the caves, as in the old days, for shelter during the rain. Many of the studies have not been properly studied. In particular, problems arise with the chronological reference of masterpieces of Arab-Ethiopian ancient rock paintings.

Rock art of Tadrart Acacus, Libya

Not far from Somalia, in Libya, there are also rock paintings. They are much earlier, dating back almost to the 12th millennium BC. The last of them were applied after the birth of Christ, in the first century. It is interesting to observe, following the drawings, how the fauna and flora changed in this area of ​​the Sahara. First we see elephants, rhinoceroses and fauna typical of a rather humid climate. Also interesting is the clearly visible change in the lifestyle of the population - from hunting to sedentary cattle breeding, then to nomadism. To get to Tadrart Akakus, you need to cross the desert east of the city of Ghat.

Chauvet Cave, France

In 1994, while walking, by chance, Jean-Marie Chauvet discovered the cave that later became famous. She was named after the speleologist. In the Chauvet cave, in addition to traces of the life activity of ancient people, hundreds of wonderful frescoes were discovered. The most amazing and beautiful of them depict mammoths. In 1995, the cave became a state monument, and in 1997, 24-hour surveillance was introduced here to prevent damage to the magnificent heritage. Today, in order to take a look at the incomparable rock art of the Cro-Magnons, you need to obtain special permission. In addition to mammoths, there is something to admire; here on the walls there are handprints and fingerprints of representatives of the Aurignacian culture (34-32 thousand years BC)

Kakadu National Park, Australia

In fact, the name of the Australian national park has nothing to do with the famous Cockatoo parrots. The Europeans simply mispronounced the name of the Gaagudju tribe. This nation is now extinct, and there is no one to correct the ignorant. The park is home to Aboriginal people who have not changed their way of life since the Stone Age. For thousands of years, Indigenous Australians have been involved in rock painting. Pictures were painted here already 40 thousand years ago. In addition to religious scenes and hunting, there are stylized stories in drawings about useful skills (educational) and magic (entertaining). Extinct animals are depicted marsupial tigers, catfish, barramundi. All the wonders of the Arnhem Land plateau, Colpignac and the southern hills are located 171 km from the city of Darwin. in the 35th millennium BC, it was the early Paleolithic. They left strange rock paintings in the Altamira cave. Artistic artifacts on the walls of the huge cave date back to both the 18th and 13th millennia. In the last period, polychrome figures, a peculiar combination of engraving and painting, and the acquisition of realistic details became interesting. The famous bison, deer and horses, or rather, their beautiful images on the walls of Altamira, often end up in textbooks for middle school students. The Altamira Cave is located in the Cantabria region.

Lascaux Cave, France

Lascaux is not just a cave, but a whole complex of small and large cave halls located in the south of France. Not far from the caves is the legendary village of Montignac. The paintings on the cave walls were painted 17 thousand years ago. And they still amaze with their amazing forms, akin to modern graffiti art. Scholars especially value the Hall of the Bulls and the Palace Hall of the Cats. It’s easy to guess what prehistoric creators left there. In 1998, the rock masterpieces were almost destroyed by mold caused by an improperly installed air conditioning system. And in 2008, Lascaux was closed to preserve more than 2,000 unique drawings.

More than three million years ago, the process of formation of the modern species of people began. Prehistoric man sites have been 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 the unique masters had a very steady hand.

Primitive thinking

The problem of the origin of primitive art, reflecting the lifestyle of ancient hunters, has worried 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. The consciousness of primitive people is 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 the middle of the 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, which appeared in the late Paleolithic era (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 in bone, stone and wood. Unfortunately, wooden artifacts are extremely rare in archaeological sites. 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 of the Paleolithic are considered to be drawings on the walls of caves, which are recognized as 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

The main feature of primitive art in the Paleolithic era is its primitivism. Ancient people did not know how to convey space and endow natural phenomena with human qualities. The visual image of animals was initially presented as a schematic, almost conventional, image. And only after several centuries colorful images appear, reliably showing all the details of the external appearance of 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 detailed, very accurate images appear during the 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 receive 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"

It is curious that even in the middle of the 19th 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 of the Stone Age”. In the rock paintings one can see the confident hand of ancient artists, who made the outlines of animals without any corrections, using single lines. In the light of the torch, which creates a stunning play of shadows, it seems that three-dimensional images are 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 of animals made in 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. Magical powers were attributed to the drawings. The found figurines of naked and clothed women indicate a very high level of skill of ancient hunters and convey the main idea of ​​​​the 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 the activity of a collective, and visual creativity is represented by rock paintings, stone, ceramic and wooden sculpture, and clay sculpture.

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 testifies to the spiritual heritage of 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 increases, and geometric patterns spread. 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, with the help of which a variety of concepts and feelings are conveyed, 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 the vivid expressiveness of 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.

Traditionally, rock paintings are called petroglyphs, this is the name given to all images on stone from ancient times (Paleolithic) up to the Middle Ages, both primitive cave hewn paintings and later ones, for example, on specially installed stones, megaliths or “wild” rocks.

Such monuments are not concentrated somewhere in one place, but are widely scattered across the face of our planet. They were found in Kazakhstan (Tamgaly), in Karelia, in Spain (Altamira cave), in France (Fond-de-Gaume, Montespan caves, etc.), in Siberia, on the Don (Kostenki), in Italy, England, Germany, in Algeria, where gigantic multicolor paintings of the Tassilin-Ajjer mountain plateau in the Sahara, among the desert sands, were recently discovered and created a sensation throughout the world.

Despite the fact that cave paintings have been studied for about 200 years, they still remain a mystery.

According to the generally accepted theory of evolution, primitive man remained a primitive hunter-gatherer for many tens of thousands of years. And then he suddenly had a real insight, and he began to draw and carve mysterious symbols and images on the walls of his caves, rocks and mountain crevices.

Oswald O. Tobisch, a man of generous and varied talents, spent 30 years studying more than 6,000 cave paintings, trying to reconstruct some logical system that unites them. When you get acquainted with the conclusions of his research and numerous comparative tables, it literally takes your breath away. Tobish traces the similarities of a variety of rock paintings, so that it seems as if in ancient times there was a single proto-culture and universal knowledge associated with it.

Of course, millions and millions of cave paintings did not appear at the same time; very often (but not always) they are separated by many millennia. In other cases, drawings were created on the same rocks over several millennia.

Nevertheless, it is a striking fact that many rock paintings in various parts of the world arose almost simultaneously. Everywhere, be it Toro Muerto (Peru), where tens of thousands of rock paintings were found, Val Carmonica (Italy), the vicinity of the Karakoram Highway (Pakistan), the Colorado Plateau (USA), the Paraibo region (Brazil) or southern Japan, almost identical symbols and figures. Of course, I cannot help but note that each individual place has its own, strictly localized types of images that cannot be found anywhere else, but this in no way clears up the mystery of the striking similarity of the remaining drawings.

If you consider all these images with all their attributes and symbols, you get the amazing impression that the sound of the same trumpet suddenly rang out across all continents: “Remember: the gods are those who are surrounded by rays!” These “gods” are in most cases depicted as much larger than other little men. Their heads are almost always surrounded or crowned with a halo or halo, as if shining rays are emanating from them. Besides, ordinary people always depicted at a respectful distance from the “gods”; they kneel before them, prostrate themselves on the ground, or raise their hands to them.

Oswald Tobisch, a specialist in rock paintings who has traveled all over the world, with his tireless efforts has come even closer to solving this ancient mystery: “Perhaps this striking similarity in the images of deities is explained by “internationalism”, incredible by our standards today, and the humanity of that era, quite perhaps still remained in the powerful force field of the “primordial revelation” of the one and all-powerful Creator?

Rock paintings of the Hopi Indians in Arizona, USA

Similar examples of the creativity of ancient peoples can be found all over the world. In Altai there are rock portraits of humanoid creatures in spacesuits, created 4 - 5 thousand years ago. In Central America - starting " spaceships" They are depicted on some Mayan tombs dating back about 1,300 years. In Japan, bronze figurines from the 4th century BC are found dressed in helmets and overalls. In the mountains of Tibet are “flying saucers” drawn 3000 years ago. Entire galleries of monsters with antennas on their heads, tentacles instead of arms and mysterious weapons are “exhibited” for us, our descendants, to see in caves, on plateaus and in the mountains in Peru, the Sahara, Zimbabwe, Australia, France, Italy.
Huge figures and small people next to them.

The history textbook says that primitive man wanted to somehow express himself and realize his primitive creativity with what was at hand. This is how rock paintings appeared on rocks in deep caves.

But just how primitive were our ancestors? And was everything really as simple a few thousand years ago as we imagine? The drawings from primitive art collected in this article may make you think about something.

Rock paintings of ancient people

Ancient civilizations were not very developed in terms of their knowledge of chemistry and physics. Perhaps because of this, many mystical theories appeared, the deification of natural phenomena; great importance was attached to the death of a person, his departure to another world. Cave paintings of ancient people can tell us about much of what happened in their lives. On the walls they depicted agricultural activities, military rituals, gods, and priests. In a word, everything that their world consisted of and depended on.

IN Ancient Egypt The tombs and pyramids are full of rock paintings. In the tombs of the pharaohs, for example, it was customary to depict their entire life path from birth to death. With all the details, the rock paintings describe the funeral celebrations, etc.

The most primitive drawings show that man, from his very appearance, was drawn to art; he wanted to forever remember some moments of life. In hunting, primitive people saw a special beauty; they sought to portray the grace and strength of animals.

Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome also left a lot of rock evidence reminding us of their existence. The thing is that they already had a developed written language - their drawings are much more interesting, from the point of view of studying everyday life, than ancient graffiti.

The Greeks loved to write down wise sayings, or cases that seemed instructive or funny to them. The Romans noted in rock paintings the valor of soldiers and the beauty of women, despite the fact that Roman civilization was practically a copy of Greek, Roman graffiti is not distinguished by either the sharpness of thought or the dexterity of its transmission.

With the development of society, wall art also developed, moving from civilization to civilization, and giving it a unique flavor. Each society and civilization leaves its mark in history, similar to the one that leaves an inscription on a clean wall.

On September 12, 1940, cave paintings were found in the famous Lascaux cave in France, which is called the Sistine Chapel of prehistoric painting. There are several other places where you can find impressive art of primitive people.

Lascaux Cave, France

This is one of the largest and most important paleontological monuments on the planet. There are so many rock paintings in no other cave. In addition to the impressive number of inscriptions, what is also surprising is how well they are preserved. The subjects of the cave are standard for painting of that period: these are drawings of animals, people, and tools.

The cave is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List and is closed to tourists. The fact is that due to the presence of people in Lascaux, the fragile natural balance was disrupted, which allowed these inscriptions to exist for many millennia. Now scientists process the walls of the cave every few weeks, eliminating constantly multiplying bacteria and algae from the rock. For tourists to visit, the Lascaux 2 cave has been created, located two hundred meters from the original cave and consisting of reproductions.

Kapova Cave, Russia

The cave is located on the territory of the Republic of Bashkortostan in the Shulgan-Tash nature reserve and has a length of about three kilometers. It was formed in limestone, in a karst massif. A small lake flows into the cave, the water in which is undrinkable and is used exclusively for healing baths.

The drawings on the walls of Kapova Cave were discovered in the mid-fifties by the Soviet zoologist Ryumin. They were applied using ocher and are about eighteen thousand years old. This colossal number is difficult to imagine: creativity and the desire to create something new forced a person to draw even before the existence of civilization, religion, science, and language. The place, unlike the Lascaux Cave, is completely accessible to tourists.

Altamira Cave, Spain

This cave, discovered in 1789, is also quite famous for the fact that, like Lascaux, it uses the technique of polychrome painting: that is, the drawings have color. An interesting nuance is that the natural contours of the walls are used to create a three-dimensional effect.

By the way, you can find drawings not only on the walls, but also on the ceiling. After several closures of the cave due to the fact that mold had appeared in the drawings from dampness, visits were resumed again in 2011.

Tamgaly tract, Kazakhstan

In this place in the Anrakai mountains, 170 kilometers from Almaty, there was once a sanctuary of ancient people. Here you can see images of deities, animals and people: married couples, warriors, hunters.

There are about two thousand drawings in total. Scientists attribute most of the inscriptions to the Bronze Age. Another UNESCO World Heritage Site is located in the open air and is open to the public.

Newspaper Rock, USA

This place is located in the southeast of Utah; its name literally translates as “newspaper stone.” Its special feature is the collection of petroglyphs, which were created by the Indians in the prehistoric period. It still remains unclear why such a large number of petroglyphs were painted on such a small area.