650 animal paintings: most common are cows, bulls, horses, and deer. Animals placed deep in the caves Bodies are seen in PROFILE Horns, eyes, and hooves in FRONTAL Some animals appear pregnant Many overlapping figures
-Caves were not dwellings because prehistoric people led migratory lives following herds of animals; some evidence suggests that people sought shelter at the mouths of caves.
Theories: Traditional View: to ensure a successful hunt Ancestral Worship Shamanism: a religion based on the idea that the forces of nature can be contacted by shamans.
A few teenage boys accidentally discovered the cave
-How/Innovations --Natural products used to make paint: charcoal, iron ore, and plants --Paint colors were bound with animal fat --Lamps light the interior of the caves --Flat rocks were used as palettes --Evidence of scaffolding --Walls were scraped flat(ish) -2,000 figures in the cave: animals, humans, and abstract symbols in the chamber. However, no landscape or vegetation is shown. -Bodies of the bulls are shown in profile view with all 4 legs present. -Bull's heads are shown in frontal view of their horns -Because a full profile would not show the whole animal, artists wanted to show the whole anatomy by drawing some in profile and some in frontal. -Twisted perspective: bodies in profile while horns are in frontal