Drawing on the theme of primitive people. Primitive art, When did the first images created by man appear?
") drew pictures of the animals they hunted. They were the first people to paint using paints, although they probably painted their bodies long before that with a crushed type of red, the so-called ocher.
Apparently, the Cro-Magnons used these drawings for cult purposes. They believed that the drawings would protect them from evil forces and help during the hunt, on the success of which their very existence depended. So far, no drawings made by more ancient people have been found. Perhaps they drew or scratched with something sharp on pieces of wood that had long since rotted away.
Cro-Magnons painted horses, bison and deer. Often in the drawings there are also images of copies, which, according to the artist’s plan, was supposed to bring good luck during a real hunt.
One of the Cro-Magnon artists placed his palm on the rock and then sprayed paint around it through a reed. Images of people or plants are extremely rare in early drawings.
Before you is an image of a woolly mammoth carved on the cave wall, in which its long, shaggy fur is clearly visible. Rock painting often shows us what prehistoric animals looked like.
Cro-Magnons carved figures of very fat or pregnant women into stone. They also sculpted figurines from clay, after which they burned them on fire. Likely, primitive people They believed that such figures would bring them good luck.
Rock paintings
Take up rock painting
You will need plaster of paris, a box like a large matchbox, twine, duct tape and paints.
Take a 6cm piece of twine and fold it in half to make a loop. Attach this loop with duct tape to the bottom of the box from the inside.
Mix the plaster with so that you get a thin solution and pour it into the box, there should be a layer about 3 cm thick. Let the plaster harden, then tear the box away from it.
Copy one of the rock paintings on this page onto this piece of plaster. Then color it using the same colors as caveman: red, yellow, brown and black.
You can also reproduce a carved image of an animal. Transfer the outline of the mammoth shown on this page onto a piece of plaster. Then use an old fork to press lines into the plaster along the entire contour.
For many years modern civilization had no idea about any objects ancient painting, however, in 1879, the Spanish amateur archaeologist Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola, together with his 9-year-old daughter, during a walk, accidentally stumbled upon the Altamira cave, the vaults of which were decorated with many drawings of ancient people - an unprecedented find extremely shocked the researcher and motivated him to study it closely.
1. White Shaman's Rock
This 4,000-year-old ancient rock art is located in the lower Peco River in Texas. The giant image (3.5 m) shows central figure surrounded by other people performing some rituals. It is assumed that the figure of a shaman is depicted in the center, and the picture itself depicts the cult of some forgotten ancient religion.
2. Kakadu Park
National Park Cockatoo is one of the most beautiful places for tourists in Australia. It is especially valued by its rich cultural heritage— the park contains an impressive collection of local Aboriginal art. Some of the rock paintings at Kakadu (which were included in the fund world heritage UNESCO) is almost 20,000 years old.
3. Chauvet Cave
Another UNESCO World Heritage Site is located in the south of France. More than 1000 different images can be found in the Chauvet Cave, most of them are animals and anthropomorphic figures. These are some of the most ancient images known to man: their age dates back to 30,000 - 32,000 years. About 20,000 years ago, the cave was filled with stones and has remained in excellent condition to this day.
4. Cueva de El Castillo
In Spain, the “Castle Cave” or Cueva de El Castillo was recently discovered, on the walls of which they found the oldest cave paintings in Europe, their age is 4,000 years older than anyone else rock paintings, which were previously found in the Old World. Most images contain handprints and simple geometric shapes, although there are also images of strange animals. One of the drawings, a simple red disk, was made 40,800 years ago. It is assumed that these paintings were made by Neanderthals.
5. Laas Gaal
Some of the oldest and best-preserved rock paintings on the African continent can be found in Somalia, at the Laas Gaal (Camel Well) cave complex. Despite the fact that their age is “only” 5,000 - 12,000 years, these rock paintings are perfectly preserved. They depict mainly animals and people in ceremonial clothes And various decorations. Unfortunately this one is wonderful cultural site cannot receive World Heritage status because it is located in an area constantly at war.
6. Cliff dwellings Bhimbetka
The cliff dwellings at Bhimbetka represent some of the earliest traces of human life on the Indian subcontinent. In natural rock shelters on the walls there are drawings that are about 30,000 years old. These paintings represent the period of development of civilization from the Mesolithic to the end of prehistoric times. The drawings depict animals and people engaged in daily activities such as hunting, religious ceremonies and, interestingly, dancing.
7. Magura
In Bulgaria, the rock paintings found in the Magura cave are not very old - they are between 4,000 and 8,000 years old. They are interesting because of the material that was used to apply the images - guano (droppings) bat. In addition, the cave itself was formed millions of years ago and other archaeological artifacts, such as the bones of extinct animals (for example, the cave bear).
8. Cueva de las Manos
The "Cave of Hands" in Argentina is famous for its extensive collection of prints and images of human hands. This rock painting dates back to 9,000 - 13,000 years. The cave itself (more precisely, the cave system) was used by ancient people 1,500 years ago. Also in Cueva de las Manos you can find various geometric shapes and images of hunting.
9. Altamira Cave
Paintings found in the Altamira cave in Spain are considered a masterpiece ancient culture. Stone painting era Upper Paleolithic(14,000 - 20,000 years old) is in exceptional condition. As in Chauvet Cave, a collapse tightly sealed the entrance to this cave about 13,000 years ago, so the images remained in their original form. In fact, these drawings are so well preserved that when they were first discovered in the 19th century, scientists thought they were fakes. It took a long time until technology made it possible to confirm the authenticity of rock art. Since then, the cave has proved so popular among tourists that it had to be closed in the late 1970s because large number Carbon dioxide from the breath of visitors began to lead to the destruction of the painting.
10. Lascaux Cave
This is by far the best known and most significant collection rock art in the world. Some of the most beautiful 17,000-year-old paintings in the world can be found in this cave system in France. They are very complex, very carefully made and at the same time perfectly preserved. Unfortunately, the cave was closed more than 50 years ago due to the fact that, under the influence of carbon dioxide exhaled by visitors, the unique images began to collapse. In 1983, a reproduction of part of the cave called Lascaux 2 was discovered.
After visiting the Altamira cave in northern Spain, Pablo Picasso exclaimed: “After the work in Altamira, all art began to decline.” He wasn't joking. The art in this cave and in many other caves that are found in France, Spain and other countries is among the greatest artistic treasures that have ever been created.
Magura Cave
Magura Cave is one of the largest caves in Bulgaria. It is located in the northwestern part of the country. The cave walls are decorated with prehistoric cave paintings created approximately 8,000 to 4,000 years ago. More than 700 drawings were discovered. The pictures depict hunters, dancing people and many animals.
Cueva de las Manos
Cueva de las Manos is located in Southern Argentina. The name can be literally translated as “Cave of Hands”. Most of the images in the cave are left hands, but there are also hunting scenes and images of animals. The paintings are believed to have been created between 13,000 and 9,500 years ago.
Bhimbetka
Located in central India, Bhimbetka contains over 600 prehistoric rock art. The drawings depict people living in the cave at that time. The animals were also given a lot of space. Images of bison, tigers, lions and crocodiles were found. It is believed that the most old picture 12,000 years.
Serra da Capivara
Serra da Capivara is a national park in northeastern Brazil. This place is home to many stone shelters, which are decorated with rock paintings that represent ritual scenes, hunting, trees, animals. Some scientists believe that the oldest rock art in this park is from 25,000 years ago.
Laas Gaal
Laas Gaal is a complex of caves in northwestern Somalia that contain some of the earliest known art on African continent. Prehistoric cave paintings are estimated by scientists to be between 11,000 and 5,000 years old. They show cows, ceremonially dressed people, domestic dogs and even giraffes.
Tadrart Akakus
Tadrart Akakus forms a mountain range in the Sahara Desert, in western Libya. The area is famous for its rock art dating back to 12,000 BC. up to 100 years. The paintings reflect the changing conditions of the Sahara Desert. 9,000 years ago, the surrounding area was full of greenery and lakes, forests and wild animals, as evidenced by rock paintings depicting giraffes, elephants and ostriches.
Chauvet Cave
Chauvet Cave, in the south of France, contains some of the earliest known prehistoric cave paintings in the world. The images preserved in this cave may be about 32,000 years old. The cave was discovered in 1994 by Jean Marie Chauvet and his team of speleologists. The paintings found in the cave represent images of animals: mountain goats, mammoths, horses, lions, bears, rhinoceroses, lions.
Rock art of Kakadu
Located in Australia's Northern Territory, Kakadu National Park contains one of the largest concentrations of Aboriginal art. The oldest works are believed to be 20,000 years old.
Altamira Cave
Discovered in the late 19th century, Altamira Cave is located in northern Spain. Surprisingly, the paintings found on the rocks were like this high quality that scientists have long doubted their authenticity and even accused the discoverer, Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola, of forging the painting. Many people do not believe in the intellectual potential of primitive people. Unfortunately, the discoverer did not live to see 1902. In this mountain the paintings were recognized as authentic. The images were made with charcoal and ocher.
Paintings of Lascaux
The Lascaux Caves, located in southwest France, are decorated with impressive and famous cave paintings. Some of the images are 17,000 years old. Most of the rock paintings are depicted far from the entrance. The most famous images This cave contains images of bulls, horses and deer. The largest rock painting in the world is a bull in the Lascaux cave, which is 5.2 meters long.
A long time ago, it was not the tires of cars and bicycles, nor even human feet shod in comfortable shoes that plowed the earth - a long time ago, the earth was the place of residence of ancient people. And although primitive man was not the rightful ruler of the prehistoric planet, in the distant future he was destined to take the main place on it. How to draw primitive man in a few steps - we'll look at it in this lesson.
- To begin with, let’s designate the figure of our thug. Let's draw the outline of the head - it looks like a triangle with rounded edges. Let's draw the axes of the torso, arms and legs, not forgetting about the lines of the shoulders and hips.
Advice: notice that the right leg is in the front and slightly bent at the knee. This means that the axis with this leg will be larger (longer) and have a bend approximately in the middle.
- In the contour of the head we will draw a rounded line, dividing the face from the mane of primitive man. Let's highlight the protruding places on the man's body with ovals; with their help, it will be easier for us to draw the figure of a Neanderthal. Let us denote the boundaries of the body with two vertical lines.
Advice: The far leg is further away from the main figure, so its knee and foot will be positioned higher than the leg in the foreground.
- And now - the most interesting part. Let's sculpt the figure of our ancient warrior, based on the previously made outlines and looking at the photo of the original. Primitive man has a massive figure - strong hands and legs, slightly sagging belly and overhanging chest, sloping cries. Moreover, his arms are longer than his modern man– and they remind us of the hands of a monkey. For now we draw the feet in the form of trapezoids, expanding towards the toes.
On the Neanderthal’s face, we’ll use a line to indicate the overhanging forehead, draw the eyes, and outline the nose and mouth.
- Let's erase everything auxiliary lines and let's start drawing the face of a Neanderthal. The narrow forehead hangs over big face, the arched shaggy eyebrow gives the face a menacing expression. Let's designate a high cheekbone. Under the big nose we draw a mustache and beard with strokes. We draw the hair on top - I ended up with something between Igor Nikolaev and Dzhigurda.
In the left hand we outline the axis of the large club. We will divide the tips of the feet with four lines - for drawing the fingers.
Let's warm the primitive man and put a loincloth on him. On the elbows, knees and stomach, we will outline the folds of the skin with strokes - to make the picture more realistic.
We remove unnecessary leg lines from the loincloth. Draw the toes on the feet. We “dress” primitive man with body hair using light, small strokes. We also decorate the bear skin with hairs. Draw the baton along the previously drawn axis. The drawing of a primitive man is ready!
Rock painting - images in caves made by people of the Paleolithic era, one of the types of primitive art. Most of these objects were found in Europe, since it was there that ancient people were forced to live in caves and grottoes to escape the cold. But there are also such caves in Asia, for example, Niah Caves in Malaysia.
For many years, modern civilization had no idea about any objects of ancient painting, but in 1879, the Spanish amateur archaeologist Marcelino-Sans de Sautuola, together with his 9-year-old daughter, during a walk, accidentally came across the Altamira cave, the vaults of which were decorated many drawings of ancient people - this unprecedented find greatly shocked the researcher and prompted him to study it closely. A year later, Sautuola, together with his friend Juan Vilanova y Pierre from the University of Madrid, published the results of their research, which dated the execution of the drawings to the Paleolithic era. Many scientists perceived this message extremely ambiguously; Sautuola was accused of falsifying the finds, but later similar caves were discovered in many other parts of the planet.
Rock art was the object of great interest from outside world scientists since its discovery in the 19th century. The first discoveries were made in Spain, but later cave paintings were discovered in different corners world, from Europe and Africa to Malaysia and Australia, as well as in North and South America.
Cave paintings are a source of valuable information for many scientific disciplines related to the study of antiquity - from anthropology to zoology.
It is customary to distinguish between single-color, or monochrome, and multi-color, or polychrome images. Developing over time, by the 12th millennium BC. e. Cave painting began to be carried out taking into account volume, perspective, color and proportion of figures, and took into account movement. Later, cave painting became more stylized.
To create the drawings, dyes of various origins were used: mineral (hematite, clay, manganese oxide), animal, plant ( charcoal). Dyes were mixed, if necessary, with binders such as tree resin or animal fat, and applied directly to the surface with the fingers; Tools were also used, such as hollow tubes through which dyes were applied, as well as reeds and primitive brushes. Sometimes, to achieve greater clarity of the contours, scraping or cutting out the contours of figures on the walls was used.
Since the caves in which most of the rock paintings are located are practically not penetrated sunlight, when creating drawings, torches and primitive lamps were used for lighting.
Cave painting of the Paleolithic era consisted of lines and was dedicated mainly to animals. Over time, cave painting evolved as primitive communities developed; In the painting of the Mesolithic and Neolithic eras, there are both animals and handprints and images of people, their interactions with animals and with each other, as well as the deities of primitive cults and their rituals. A significant proportion of Neolithic paintings are depictions of ungulates, such as bison, deer, elk and horses, as well as mammoths; a large share also make up handprints. Animals were often depicted as wounded, with arrows sticking out of them. Later rock paintings also depict domesticated animals and other contemporary authors stories. There are known images of the ships of the seafarers of ancient Phenicia, noticed by the more primitive communities of the Iberian Peninsula.
Cave painting was widely practiced primitive societies who hunted and gathered and found shelter in caves or lived next to them. The lifestyle of primitive people changed little over thousands of years, and therefore both the dyes and the subjects of rock paintings practically did not change and were common to populations of people living thousands of kilometers from each other.
However, the differences between cave painting different time periods and regions exist. Thus, the caves of Europe mainly depict animals, while African cave paintings pay equal attention to both humans and fauna. The technique of creating drawings also underwent certain changes; later painting is often less crude and shows more high level cultural development.
