The Creative RevolutionPaleolithic Cave Art35,000 BC – 14,000 BC

Western Europe

• 200+ sites• Famous sites:• Chauvet , France• Lascaux, France• Altamira, Spain

Chauvet Cave, France32,000 B.C.

Carbon 14 dating of charcoal and animal bones established age of Cave Art sites.

Paint made out of charcoal , rocks and minerals mixed with animal fat.

Black made from charcoal or Black Hemalite

White made from chalk. Yellow , red and brown made from Ocher

Why did Paleolithic Man make Cave Art? The paintings are believed to

have a religious purpose.

Religious leaders known as Shamans were painted at Les Trois Friers and Lascaux.

The paintings may have been visions the Shamans had during trances they entered into trying to contact the spirit world during religious ceremonies.

The animals they painted were the largest in their world and NOT their main sources of food.

Ice Age Southern Europe

Ice Age: 100,000 BC – 10,000 BC

Ice Age (The earth was colder)

Muskox: Chauvet Cave

Horses: Chauvet cave

Cave Bear and Leopard Chauvet Cave

Cave Lions: Chauvet Cave

Wooly Rhino, Bison, MammothChauvet Cave

Running Bison and Fighting RhinosChauvet Cave

Aurochs: Ancestor of all Cattle

Roufignac, France 22,000 B.C. Mammoths

Lascaux, France 17,000 B.C.

Hall Of Bulls

Altamira, Spain14,000 BC

European Bison

Altamira: High Point of Cave Art

Highly Detailed Dramatic Action

“In 20,000 years, we have learned nothing!”Pablo Picasso

Why were the Cave Art sites abandoned Circa 14,000 B.C.?

Humans began building stone temples.

The archaeological dig at Gobekli Tepli in Turkey has unearthed stone structures filled with carvings of animals.

Gobekli Tepli has been dated to 11,000 B.C. The Neolithic Age had begun.

Saharan Rock Art8,000 BC to 4,000 BC

Saharan Desert 2010 AD

The Saharan 8,000 BC

The Saharan was a Steppe (Savannah) in the Ice Age.

Neolithic Rock Art8,000 BC- 2,000 BC

People and domestic animals appear

Hippos: Tassili d’ AjjerSaharan Desert

Elephant: Libya

Giraffes and ElephantsTassili d’ Ajjer

Herding Domestic CattleTassili d’ Ajjer

African villagersTassili d’ Ajjer

Tassili d’ Ajjer: Villagers, Jellyfish, Domestic Goat, Man riding Camel

Cave of Swimmers, Egypt

Tassili d’ Ajjer: Herding Domestic Camels