Introduction and Objective
The cave art at Lascaux has been carefully designed to convey some kind of story or message.
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As we’ve discussed, there are two types of art that predominate in Paleolithic cave art: drawing and engraving. At Lascaux, however, it is painting that dominates—a comparably rare situation in French prehistoric caves.
The 2,000 or so images divide into two main categories: animals and symbols. The animals consist of species that Magdalenian cavemen would have hunted and eaten as well as dangerous predators.
Let’s explore how and why the art at Lascaux Cave was developed.
Today’s lesson objective is: The student will analyze the images found within the Lascaux Cave, identify …show more content…
Here are some things you might not know about this fairly simplistic artistic subject.
First, the hand image would have been created in a variety of ways. The artist may have used the hand on the rock as a stencil, spraying paint from the mouth or charcoal powder through a reed. The outline of the hand may have been painted around by brush. The artist may have simply painted the hand and then placed it on the rock
Next, the hand paintings were created by men, women, and children— not just one artist or one subject. Whatever the method, and whatever the style of accompanying art, hand paintings are one of the most common elements of rock art. But what did the hands MEAN? Were these the signatures of the artists?
We may never really know, but some researchers think that the hands may be depictions of healing energy that channels through the ancient practice of Reiki. AR6_SA_1_10_ACT_2
So why were the cave paintings created in the first place?
The most convincing explanation for the cave paintings at Lascaux is that they were created as part of some spiritual ritual. According to scholars, Lascaux was a religious sanctuary used for initiation