Cave PaintingsCave Paintings

 

In this activity, students learn about types of cave art and create paintings similar to those found in the caves at Lascaux.

Materials

  • computer with internet connection
  • brown kraft paper (approx. 18"x 24")
  • brushes
  • Tempera paint in black and earth tones (red, orange, brown, gold)

Directions

Introduction to the Era of Cave Painting

  1. These web sites contain not only specific information about the featured caves in France, but a range of helpful background information about prehistoric humans and their art
  2. Begin by asking students to think about where they have seen pictures that communicate specific information to people, such as directions. Guide the discussion to include international symbols frequently seen, such as: no smoking, handicapped, man, woman, no parking, airport, etc. Ask students to think about why these pictures work well (e.g., people who can't read the language can still understand what is being communicated). You can also invite students to think about how they might tell someone who isn't here about something important, if the student can't write and the person they want to communicate with doesn't have a telephone or email. What if the student was moving to another area, and wanted to leave behind information about his or her house and neighborhood for a family moving into the house who didn't speak English? How can you give information or tell a story without using words? What story might a picture tell? After students have the opportunity to talk about how to communicate when written and spoken language are unavailable, discuss how every picture tells us something, and that some pictures' meanings are more obvious than others.

  3. Ask students what they know about or have heard about cave people:
    • What do they know about the life of these people?
    • When and where did they live?
    • What animals lived when the cave people lived?
    • What did cave people use animals for?
    • What tools did they have?
    • Why do we call them cave people?
    • How are their lives similar to and different from our lives today?

Explore the Cave of Lascaux

  1. Invite students to explore the cave paintings at Cave of Lascaux. In this website, students will take a virtual tour of the Cave of Lascaux, the site of some of the earliest known art recorded by humans. Discovered in 1940 by four teenagers on an excursion into the French hillside, the cave is a series of spaces which displays vast amounts of imagery painted by Paleolithic (Stone Age) humans. There are more than 600 animals depicted in Lascaux; of these the horse is the most predominant, followed by bison, ibex, aurochs (an extinct type of ox), stags, mammoths, reindeer, bears, felines, rhinoceros, and a few birds and fish. These animals represent the types of fauna that was known to Paleolithic humans. In addition to the animal figures there are signs depicted (which are associated with the animals), and one lone human figure, drawn with animal characteristics (the man's head resembles a bird's). These images give us a glimpse into the minds and lives of early humans of prehistory.

    2. The area in southwestern France where the Cave of Lascaux is located and the slopes of the Pyrenees Mountains are known for their many Paleolithic caves. These rock shelters and natural limestone caverns provide an ideal environment for preserving the prehistoric art. Of the more than 130 caves in the area, the Cave of Lascaux is the most famous -- but all the caves stand testament to the fact that that early humans had complete mastery of the artistic elements we know today: engraving, sculpture, painting, and drawing.

    Today, the caves are not open to the public; they were closed in 1963 after it was determined that carbon dioxide from visitors' breath was causing the artwork to deteriorate. But the marvelous art of the caves can still be enjoyed in The Cave at Lascaux Web site.

  2. Explain that entering the web site captures the experience of the French students who were a few years older than your students are now when they discovered the cave in 1940. With this Web site from the French Ministry of Culture, your students can feel the same thrill of discovery the four French teenagers felt. Point out that the cave and its paintings had existed for 17,000 years, and that it was remarkable to find them in such excellent condition.
  3. As a class or at individual computer stations, students can take the virtual tour of the cave and identify animals they discover. Record their findings and other images they note or observations regarding cave painting. For more background on the Caves of Lascaux, click the "Discover" and "Learn" buttons on the main page.
  4. Prompt a discussion by asking the class what they see in the various pictures. After they respond, point out that these paintings show bison, deer, and other animals that the cave people were familiar with in their everyday lives. Tell them that these images give us a peek into what life was like for people thousands of years ago. Have students think about why the cave people made these paintings. Consider the following questions:
    • What were the cave artists trying to say?
    • Why do you think that there were so many animals and not as many people in the paintings?
    • What can the paintings tell us about other aspects of the life of cave dwellers or Paleolithic people?
    • How did they make these pictures if there were no stores to buy paint and brushes or tools for carving?
    • What colors are prominent in the paintings, and what natural sources might provide these pigments if they didn't have crayons or markers?
  5. Record answers and then guide students in checking the Web site under the sections title "Techniques," "Archeological Artefacts," and "Dating Methods" and explain to students what the text says.
  6. Ask students about other challenges cave people might have encountered in painting on cave walls and ceilings. Record their answers and add elements they may leave out: pitch-black darkness, irregular surface of the rocky walls, steepness and height, adherence of the pigment to the surface, etc. You might remind students of what happens when they draw with chalk on the sidewalk. Elicit speculation about how the Paleolithic people overcame some of these challenges. If there were no electricity, flashlights, or matches, what did they use for lighting? What would the objects for lighting look like? Instruct them to look at the lamps and other tools on the site.

How Did the Flintstones Really Live?

  1. To give students a broader understanding of cave paintings and Paleolithic humans, students can explore other caves in France and compare their findings from several caves. They can then describe what is common to all the cave art they saw, and note some of the unique aspects of art in different caves.

  2. The Cosquer Cave--This Web site describes the Cosquer Cave located at Cape Morgiou, near Marseilles on the Mediterranean Sea. The unique feature of this cave is that it contains several dozen works painted and engraved between 27,000 and 19,000 years ago. It is decorated with a variety of land animals, but also with seals and auks, fifty-five hand stencils, and numerous digital markings, dozens of geometric symbols, as well as the extraordinary representation of a "slain man." Like the Cave at Lascaux, the Cosquer Cave is closed to the general public in order to keep it protected, but a virtual tour of the cave is available at this Web site.
  3. The Cosquer Cave tells us a bit more about human activities during the Paleolithic period. Students should see stencils and positive and negative impressions of human hands. Point out that some fingers are shortened or missing. Ask students what they think the significance of this evidence is. (Scholars speculate that it could indicate deliberate [ritual] or accidental mutilation, or perhaps a form of coded communication, similar to sign language for hunting rituals or instructions, according to information on the Web site.)
  4. The Cave of Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc-- This cave Web site has general background information on the evidence for Aurignacian peoples found in Germany, Austria, France, Spain, and Slovakia. Click on "Time and Space," "Archaeological Context," and, for climate and environmental conditions, click on "Geographic Context." According to the information found on the Web site, this archaeological site is a particularly important find for the Upper Paleolithic period because the cave was found in the Ardeche region of France, not the area generally associated with a proliferation of cave art sites. Not only are there animals here rarely depicted in cave art-for example, lions-but also the dynamic and sophisticated quality of their representation is extraordinary.

The Art Project

  1. Prepare the surface of the kraft paper so that it has a rough and worn appearance, like that of a cave wall. Crinkle the paper, spray it with water in the sink (don't soak), then let it dry completely.

  2. Using a pencil and scratch paper, make a few preliminary sketches of the animals to include in the painting. Remind students that they need not include every detail but can make the creatures from simple shapes, such as circles, triangles and rectangles.

  3. Once the students are happy with a sketch, they are ready to draw on the brown paper. Make a rough pencil sketch on the bag, and then go over the pencil marks with black paint, marker or charcoal, making sure the lines are thick and strong. Finally, add details, such as eyes, ears, horns, tails or antlers. When the black lines have dried, paint the figure and background with the earth-tone paints.