Primeval cave art looks like a two-dimensional image of an object. The technique of transferring the volume of a picture arose only in the Renaissance. The main character of Paleolithic art was a bison, as well as other large animals. Found many images of rhinos, mammoths and wild tours, as well as a variety of hunting scenes. Images of plants and people are extremely rare, which indicates a cult, rather than aesthetic, purpose of the drawings. The most amazing thing is that, despite his considerable age, many paints have retained their original brightness.
The cave art of primitive people is quite diverse in terms of technique. Proportions, as a rule, were not observed - a huge lion could be depicted next to a tiny mountain goat. Often, drawings of ancient people can be used to judge how extinct animals, such as mammoths, looked like. The movement in the cave drawings was conveyed by the position of the legs, turning the head or tilting the body. It is assumed that cave paintings performed a cult function - animals were worshiped, they were wary. Primitive people probably believed that animal images protect against evil forces and help during the hunt, on the outcome of which the very existence of the tribe depended. Often, spears are depicted in the drawings, which, according to the artist’s plan, was to bring good luck on the hunt.
Many tribes still believe that their genus began from some kind of animal - an eagle, snake or bear. In addition to images of animals, there are not quite clear drawings - geometric shapes of various shapes and clusters of colored spots and dots.
Cave art, because of its ritual significance, is often located in inaccessible sections of caves, at a depth of hundreds of meters. The drawing was a kind of rite, in which the artist worked under the light of plates filled with burning fat of wild animals, or bundles of moss and wool. Images were scratched with stone or painted. Many
caves with drawings by primitive artists attract many tourists and
scientists from around the world. So the Altamira cave in Spain is called
"Sistine Chapel" of primitive art. Rock painting stretched out
here at 300 meters. Some drawings reach a height of two meters.
Paleolithic rock art
Often, artists of this period used ledges of rocks when applying drawings, which enhanced the visual effect. Oxides of various metals and natural dyes were used, which were mixed with animal fat or water. Rock carvings were applied using fingers or special
"Brushes" made of tubular bones of animals. Sometimes the dye is just
blown through the tube onto the wet surface of the rock, and the entire image was completely painted over.
Often on the rocks find handprints of prehistoric people. The ancient artist pressed his hand to the surface of the stone, and then poured paint on it. The same prints are characteristic of Australian Aboriginal art, although this continent is located thousands of kilometers from Europe.
Used by ancient artists and massive stone incisors for deep study of the contour. Such stone tools are often found in the parking lots of ancient people. In the era of the Middle and Late Paleolithic, the contouring of drawings becomes more thorough, images appear on stone tiles, tusks and horns of animals. Perhaps the drawings were applied to the surface of the tree, but to this day such samples have not been preserved for obvious reasons. Paleolithic art is presented in all main forms: sculpture, bone and stone carving, painting, graphics and bas-reliefs.