Types and features of the art of primitive society. Rock painting. Ancient petroglyphs. Six masterpieces of rock art. Red-hot drawings of primitive man.

") drew pictures of the animals they hunted. They were the first people to paint using paints, although they probably painted their bodies long before that with a crushed type of red, the so-called ocher.

Apparently, the Cro-Magnons used these drawings for cult purposes. They believed that the drawings would protect against evil forces and will help during the hunt, on the success of which their very existence depended. So far, no drawings made by more ancient people have been found. Perhaps they drew or scratched with something sharp on pieces of wood that had long since rotted away.

Cro-Magnons painted horses, bison and deer. Often in the drawings there are also images of copies, which, according to the artist’s plan, was supposed to bring good luck during a real hunt.

One of the Cro-Magnon artists placed his palm on the rock and then sprayed paint around it through a reed. Images of people or plants are found on early drawings rarely.

Before you is an image of a woolly mammoth carved on the cave wall, in which its long, shaggy fur is clearly visible. Rock art often shows us what prehistoric animals looked like.

Cro-Magnons carved figures of very fat or pregnant women into stone. They also sculpted figurines from clay, after which they burned them on fire. Probably, primitive people believed that such figurines would bring them good luck.

Cave drawings

Take up rock painting

You will need plaster of paris, a box like a large matchbox, twine, duct tape and paints.

Take a 6cm piece of twine and fold it in half to make a loop. Attach this loop with duct tape to the bottom of the box from the inside.

Mix the plaster with so that you get a thin solution, and pour it into the box, there should be a layer about 3 cm thick. Let the plaster harden, then tear the box away from it.

Copy one of the rock paintings on this page onto this piece of plaster. Then color it using the same colors as the caveman: red, yellow, brown and black.

You can also reproduce a carved image of an animal. Transfer the outline of the mammoth shown on this page onto a piece of plaster. Then use an old fork to press lines into the plaster along the entire contour.

Speleologists around the world are finding cave drawings of ancient people in all corners globe. The rock paintings have been perfectly preserved to this day, although they were drawn many thousands of years ago. There are several types of such art, which are periodically included in the World Heritage List.

Usually, ancient man painted the walls of caves with the same type of scenes - he depicted hunting, human hands, various battles, the sun and animals. Our ancestors attached special significance to these drawings and invested them with sacred meaning.

These paintings were created using various methods and materials. Ocher, animal blood and chalk were used for drawing. And hewn pictures were created on stone using a special cutter.

We invite you to take a mini-tour to mysterious world caves with rock paintings created by ancient man BC.

Magura Cave, Bulgaria

Prehistoric pictures were found in the Bulgarian Magura cave, near Sofia, which amazes with its uniqueness and length. Underworld stretches for two kilometers, and the halls of the cave are enormous: its width is 50 m and its height is 20 m.

The discovered rock painting was created using bat guano. Pictures were applied in many layers over several periods: Paleolithic, Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. The drawings depict figures of ancient people and animals.

Here you can also find a painted sun and various tools.

Cueva de las Manos cave, Argentina

In Argentina there is another ancient cave with big amount rock paintings. Translated, it sounds like “Cave of Many Hands,” since it is dominated by the handprints of our ancestors. The rock painting is located in big hall 24 m wide and 10 m long. The approximate date of painting is 13-9 millennium BC.

Numerous hand marks are imprinted on the voluminous limestone canvas. Scientists have put forward their own version of the appearance of such clear prints - ancient people put a special composition in their mouths, and then blew through a tube onto their hand, which they placed against the wall of the cave.

There are also images of people, animals and geometric shapes.

Bhimbetka cliff dwellings, India

Many caves with rock art have been discovered in India. One of them is located in north-central India, in the state of Madhya Pradesh. Locals They gave this name to the cave in honor of the hero of the epic “Mahabharata”. The paintings of the ancient Indians date back to the Mesolithic era.

Here you can see both worn out, dim images and very colorful and interesting drawings. Basically, various battles and ornaments are depicted here.

Serra da Capivara National Park, Brazil

In Brazilian national park Serra da Capivara is a cave of ancient people, the walls of which have preserved drawings that were drawn 50 thousand years ago.

Scientists have discovered about 300 different works of art and architectural monuments here. The cave is dominated by drawings of animals and other representatives of the Paleolithic era.

Laas Gaal cave complex, Somaliland

IN african republic Somaliland archaeologists have discovered the Laas Gaal cave complex, on the walls of which there are pictures from the 8th-9th and 3rd millennium BC. Ancient settlers depicted here a variety of everyday and life scenes: grazing, various rituals and games.

Contemporaries who live here are not particularly interested in this rock art. And in caves, as a rule, they only provide shelter from the rain. A large number of drawings have not yet been studied and archaeologists continue to study them.

Rock art of Tadrart-Akakus, Libya

There is a hall of Oxen and a palace hall of Cats. Unfortunately, in 1998, these masterpieces of painting were almost ruined by mold. Therefore, to avoid this, the cave was closed in 2008.

Human civilization has passed long haul development and achieved impressive results. Modern Art- one of them. But everything has its beginning. How did painting arise and who were they - the first artists of the world?

The beginning of prehistoric art - types and forms

In the Paleolithic, primitive art first appeared. It had different forms. These included rituals, music, dances and songs, as well as painting images on various surfaces - rock paintings primitive people. The creation of the first man-made structures - megaliths, dolmens and menhirs, the purpose of which is still unknown, dates back to this period. The most famous of them is Stonehenge in Salisbury, consisting of cromlechs (vertical stones).

Household items, such as jewelry, children's toys, also belong to the art of primitive people.

Periodization

Scientists have no doubt about the time of origin primitive art. It began to form in the middle of the Paleolithic era, during the period of the late Neanderthals. The culture of that time is called Mousterian.

Neanderthals knew how to process stone, creating tools. On some objects, scientists found indentations and notches in the form of crosses, forming a primitive ornament. In that era they could not yet paint, but ocher was already in use. Pieces of it were found ground down, like a pencil that had been used.

Primitive rock art - definition

This is one of the types. It is an image painted on the surface of a cave wall by an ancient man. Most of such objects were found in Europe, but drawings of ancient people are also found in Asia. The main area of ​​distribution of rock art is the territory of modern Spain and France.

Doubts of scientists

For a long time modern science it was not known that art primitive man reached such a high level. Drawings were not found in caves until the 19th century. Therefore, when they were first discovered, they were mistaken for fraud.

The story of one discovery

The ancient cave painting was discovered by an amateur archaeologist, Spanish lawyer Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola.

This discovery is associated with dramatic events. In the Spanish province of Cantabria in 1868, a hunter discovered a cave. The entrance to it was littered with fragments of crumbled rock. In 1875 she was examined by de Sautuola. That time he found only tools. The find was the most ordinary. Four years later, the amateur archaeologist again visited the Altamira cave. He was accompanied on the trip by his 9-year-old daughter, who discovered the drawings. Together with his friend, archaeologist Juan Vilanova y Piera, de Sautuola began excavating the cave. Not long before, at an exhibition of Stone Age objects, he saw images of bison, surprisingly reminiscent of the cave painting of an ancient man that his daughter Maria saw. Sautuola suggested that the animal images found in the Altamira cave belong to the Paleolithic. Vilanov-i-Pierre supported him in this.

Scientists have published the shocking results of their excavations. And they were immediately accused scientific world in falsification. Leading experts in the field of archeology categorically rejected the possibility of finding paintings from Paleolithic times. Marcelino de Sautuola was accused that the drawings of ancient people, allegedly found by him, were drawn by a friend of the archaeologist, who was visiting him in those days.

Only 15 years later, after the death of the man who had revealed to the world beautiful examples of painting by ancient people, his opponents admitted that Marcelino de Sautuola was right. By that time, similar drawings in the caves of ancient people had been found in Fonts-de-Gaume, Trois-Freres, Combarel and Rouffignac in France, Tuc d'Auduber in the Pyrenees and other regions. All of them were attributed to the Paleolithic era. Thus, the honest name of the Spanish scientist, who made one of the notable discoveries in archeology, was restored.

The skill of ancient artists

The rock art, photos of which are presented below, consists of many images of different animals. Among them, bison figurines predominate. Those who first saw the drawings of ancient people found in are amazed at how professionally they were made. This magnificent skill of ancient artists made scientists at one time doubt their authenticity.

Ancient people did not immediately learn to create accurate images of animals. Drawings have been found in which the outlines are barely outlined, so it is almost impossible to find out who the artist wanted to depict. Gradually, the drawing skill became better and better, and it was already possible to quite accurately convey the appearance of the animal.

The first drawings of ancient people can also include handprints found in many caves.

A hand smeared with paint was applied to the wall, the resulting print was outlined in a different color and enclosed in a circle. According to researchers, this action had important ritual significance for ancient man.

Themes of painting by the first artists

The rock painting of an ancient man reflected the reality that surrounded him. It reflected what worried him most. In the Paleolithic, the main occupation and method of obtaining food was hunting. Therefore, animals are the main motif of the drawings of that period. As already mentioned, numerous images of bison, deer, horses, goats, and bears were discovered in Europe. They are conveyed not statically, but in motion. Animals run, jump, frolic and die, pierced by a hunter's spear.

Located in France, there is the largest ancient image of a bull. Its size is more than five meters. In other countries, ancient artists also painted those animals that lived next to them. In Somalia, images of giraffes were found, in India - tigers and crocodiles, in the caves of the Sahara there are drawings of ostriches and elephants. In addition to animals, the first artists painted scenes of hunting and people, but extremely rarely.

Purpose of rock paintings

It is not known exactly why ancient man depicted animals and people on the walls of caves and other objects. Since by that time a religion had already begun to take shape, they most likely had deep ritual significance. The “Hunting” drawing of ancient people, according to some researchers, symbolized the successful outcome of the fight against the beast. Others believe that they were created by tribal shamans who went into a trance and tried to gain special power through the image. Ancient artists lived a very long time ago, and therefore the motives for creating their drawings are unknown to modern scientists.

Paints and tools

To create drawings, primitive artists used a special technique. First, they scratched an image of an animal on the surface of a rock or stone with a chisel, and then applied paint to it. It was made from natural materials- ocher different colors and black pigment, which was extracted from charcoal. Animal organic matter (blood, fat, brain matter) and water were used to fix the paint. Ancient artists had few colors at their disposal: yellow, red, black, brown.

The drawings of ancient people had several features. Sometimes they overlapped each other. Artists often depicted a large number of animals. In this case, the figures on foreground were depicted carefully, and the rest - schematically. Primitive people did not create compositions; the vast majority of their drawings were a chaotic jumble of images. To date, only a few “paintings” have been found that have a single composition.

During the Paleolithic period, the first painting tools were already created. These were sticks and primitive brushes made from animal fur. Ancient artists also took care of lighting their “canvases.” Lamps were discovered that were made in the form of stone bowls. Fat was poured into them and a wick was placed.

Chauvet Cave

She was found in 1994 in France, and her collection of paintings is recognized as the oldest. Laboratory studies helped determine the age of the drawings - the very first of them were made 36 thousand years ago. Here were found images of animals that lived in glacial period. These are the woolly rhinoceros, bison, panther, tarpan (ancestor of the modern horse). The drawings are perfectly preserved due to the fact that thousands of years ago the entrance to the cave was blocked.

It is now closed to the public. The microclimate in which the images are located may disturb human presence. Only its researchers can spend several hours in it. It was decided to open a replica of the cave nearby for visiting spectators.

Lascaux Cave

This is another one famous place, where drawings of ancient people were found. The cave was discovered by four teenagers in 1940. Now her collection of paintings by ancient Paleolithic artists includes 1,900 images.

The place has become very popular with visitors. The huge influx of tourists led to damage to the drawings. This happened due to an excess of carbon dioxide exhaled by people. In 1963, it was decided to close the cave to visitors. But problems with the preservation of ancient images still exist today. The microclimate of Lascaux has been irreversibly disrupted, and the drawings are now under constant control.

Conclusion

The drawings of ancient people delight us with their realism and skillful execution. Artists of that time were able to convey not only the authentic appearance of the animal, but also its movement and habits. In addition to aesthetic and artistic value, the paintings of primitive artists are important material for studying the animal world of that period. Thanks to what was found in the drawings, scientists made an astonishing discovery: it turned out that lions and rhinoceroses, the original inhabitants of hot southern countries, lived in Europe during the Stone Age.

For many years, modern civilization had no idea about any objects ancient painting, however, in 1879, amateur archaeologist Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola, together with his 9-year-old daughter, during a walk, accidentally stumbled upon the Altamira cave, the arches of which were decorated with many drawings of ancient people - the unparalleled find greatly shocked the researcher and prompted him to pay close attention to it studying. A year later, Sautuola, together with his friend Juan Vilanova y Pierre from the University of Madrid, published the results of their research, which dated the execution of the drawings to the Paleolithic era. Many scientists perceived this message extremely ambiguously; Sautuola was accused of falsifying the finds, but later similar caves were discovered in many other parts of the planet.

Rock paintings in the Altamira cave

Pablo Picasso, visiting the Altamira cave, exclaimed: “after the work in Altamira, all art began to decline.” He wasn't joking. The art in this cave and in many other caves that are found in France, Spain and other countries is among the greatest artistic treasures that have ever been created.

Magura Cave

Magura Cave is one of the largest caves In Bulgaria. It is located in the northwestern part of the country. The cave walls are decorated with prehistoric cave paintings created approximately 8,000 to 4,000 years ago. More than 700 drawings were discovered. The pictures depict hunters, dancing people and many animals.

Cueva de las Manos - "Cave of Hands".

Cueva de las Manos is located in Southern Argentina. The name can be literally translated as “Cave of Hands”. Most of the images in the cave are left hands, but there are also hunting scenes and images of animals. The paintings are believed to have been created between 13,000 and 9,500 years ago.

Bhimbetka.

Bhimbetka is located in central India and contains over 600 prehistoric rock paintings. The drawings depict people living in the cave at that time. The animals were also given a lot of space. Images of bison, tigers, lions and crocodiles were found. The oldest painting is believed to be 12,000 years old.

Serra da Capivara

Serra da Capivara is a national park in northeastern Brazil. This place is home to many rock shelters, which are decorated with rock paintings that represent ritual scenes, hunting, trees, animals. Some scientists believe that the oldest cave drawings in this park were created 25,000 years ago.

Prehistoric rock art in Laas Gaal

Laas Gaal is a complex of caves in northwestern Somalia that contain some of the earliest known art on the African continent. Prehistoric cave paintings are estimated by scientists to be between 11,000 and 5,000 years old. They show cows, ceremonially dressed people, domestic dogs and even giraffes.

Drawing of a giraffe in Tadrart Akakus.

Tadrart Akakus forms a mountain range in the Sahara Desert, in western Libya. The area is famous for its rock art dating back to 12,000 BC. up to 100 years. The paintings reflect the changing conditions of the Sahara Desert. 9,000 years ago, the surrounding area was full of greenery and lakes, forests and wild animals, as evidenced by rock paintings depicting giraffes, elephants and ostriches.

Drawing of a bear in Chauvet Cave

Chauvet Cave, in the south of France, contains some of the earliest known prehistoric cave paintings in the world. The images preserved in this cave may be about 32,000 years old. The cave was discovered in 1994 by Jean Marie Chauvet and his team of speleologists. The paintings found in the cave represent images of animals: mountain goats, mammoths, horses, lions, bears, rhinoceroses, lions.

Rock art of Kakadu.

Located on northern territory Australia, National Park Kakadu contains one of the largest concentrations of Aboriginal art. The oldest works are believed to be 20,000 years old.

Drawing of a bison in the Altamira cave.

Discovered at the end of the 19th century, Altamira Cave is located in northern Spain. Surprisingly, the paintings found on the rocks were of such high quality that scientists for a long time doubted their authenticity and even accused the discoverer Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola of forging the painting. Many people do not believe in the intellectual potential of primitive people. Unfortunately, the discoverer did not live to see 1902. This year the paintings were recognized as authentic. The images were made with charcoal and ocher.

Paintings by Lascaux.

The Lascaux Caves, located in southwest France, are decorated with impressive and famous cave paintings. Some of the images are 17,000 years old. Most of the rock paintings are depicted far from the entrance. The most famous images This cave contains images of bulls, horses and deer. The largest rock painting in the world is a bull in the Lascaux cave, which is 5.2 meters long.

Rock painting - images in caves made by people of the Paleolithic era, one of the types of primitive art. Most of these objects were found in Europe, since it was there that ancient people were forced to live in caves and grottoes to escape the cold. But there are also such caves in Asia, for example, Niah Caves in Malaysia.

For many years, modern civilization had no idea about any objects of ancient painting, but in 1879, the Spanish amateur archaeologist Marcelino-Sans de Sautuola, along with his 9-year-old daughter, during a walk, accidentally stumbled upon the Altamira cave, the vaults of which were decorated many drawings of ancient people - this unprecedented find greatly shocked the researcher and prompted him to study it closely. A year later, Sautuola, together with his friend Juan Vilanova y Pierre from the University of Madrid, published the results of their research, which dated the execution of the drawings to the Paleolithic era. Many scientists perceived this message extremely ambiguously; Sautuola was accused of falsifying the finds, but later similar caves were discovered in many other parts of the planet.

Rock art was the object of great interest from outside world scientists since its discovery in the 19th century. The first discoveries were made in Spain, but subsequently cave paintings were discovered in different parts of the world, from Europe and Africa to Malaysia and Australia, as well as in North and South America.

Cave paintings are a source of valuable information for many scientific disciplines related to the study of antiquity - from anthropology to zoology.

It is customary to distinguish between single-color, or monochrome, and multi-color, or polychrome images. Developing over time, by the 12th millennium BC. e. Cave painting began to be carried out taking into account volume, perspective, color and proportion of figures, and took into account movement. Later, cave painting became more stylized.

To create the designs, dyes of various origins were used: mineral (hematite, clay, manganese oxide), animal, vegetable (charcoal). Dyes were mixed, if necessary, with binders such as tree resin or animal fat, and applied directly to the surface with the fingers; Tools were also used, such as hollow tubes through which dyes were applied, as well as reeds and primitive brushes. Sometimes, to achieve greater clarity of the contours, scraping or cutting out the contours of figures on the walls was used.

Since the caves in which most of the rock paintings are located are practically not penetrated sunlight, when creating drawings, torches and primitive lamps were used for lighting.

Cave painting of the Paleolithic era consisted of lines and was dedicated mainly to animals. Over time, cave painting evolved as primitive communities developed; In the painting of the Mesolithic and Neolithic eras, there are both animals and handprints and images of people, their interactions with animals and with each other, as well as the deities of primitive cults and their rituals. A significant proportion of Neolithic paintings are depictions of ungulates, such as bison, deer, elk and horses, as well as mammoths; a large proportion is also made up of handprints. Animals were often depicted as wounded, with arrows sticking out of them. Later rock paintings also depict domesticated animals and other contemporary authors stories. There are known images of the ships of the seafarers of ancient Phenicia, noticed by the more primitive communities of the Iberian Peninsula.

Cave painting was widely practiced by primitive hunter-gatherer societies who took refuge in or lived near caves. The lifestyle of primitive people changed little over thousands of years, and therefore both the dyes and the subjects of rock paintings practically did not change and were common to populations of people living thousands of kilometers from each other.

However, differences exist between cave paintings from different time periods and regions. Thus, the caves of Europe mainly depict animals, while African cave paintings pay equal attention to both humans and fauna. The technique of creating drawings also underwent certain changes; later painting is often less crude and shows more high level cultural development.