The First Artists. How art can be traced back to the very dawn of mankind. Click here for full picture set

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1 The First Artists How art can be traced back to the very dawn of mankind Click here for full picture set

2 Science Photo Library - Features Long before the dawn of civilisation, humans have been leaving their mark in the form of painted or carved works of art. Some of the earliest discoveries are estimated to be at least 100,000 years old a date that coincides with the appearance of modern humans. While the materials used were crude, a remarkable number of these artistic efforts have remained intact right to the present day. But who were these first artists and what was the meaning behind their amazing creations? Cave Art In the 1990 s at Blombos cave in South Africa, archaeologist Christopher S. Henshilwood made a remarkable discovery. Among the many thousands of Stone Age artifacts uncovered were tiny pieces of ochre (an iron-rich mineral). Etched onto the surface of these ochre lumps were mysterious lines carefully carved into a criss-cross pattern. They are thought to be the oldest example of a manmade design ever discovered. Also discovered at the site were dozens of tools used to grind the ochre to produce yellow and red pigment paints. It is likely the pigments were used to decorate cave walls, tools or even people. These 100,000-70,000 year old pieces pre-date previous ancient artworks in Europe by several tens of thousands of years. In 1994 a group of cave hunters exploring the Vallon-Pont-d Arc, in the Ardèche Valley, France, chanced upon an unknown cave that had been sealed off by a landslide. When they got inside they couldn t believe their eyes. The cave walls were decorated with hundreds

3 Science Photo Library - Features of beautifully preserved and exquisitely painted prehistoric drawings. Many of the drawings featured extinct animals, such as mammoth, aurochs, cave bears, cave hyenas, rhinos and lions, which were not seen in other caves. In addition to the depictions of animals were many abstract symbols dots and lines. Also unusual was the level of complexity. Several panels featured scenes where animals interacted with each other - again, something not previously seen before. Radiocarbon dating of the charcoal used to paint the black lines and the red from ochre used to paint the colours have revealed that they were created between 30,000 and 32,000 years ago. It was the oldest cave art known to exist at that time and can be attributed to a culture known as the Aurignacian. Prehistoric art continued to prosper after the Aurignacian culture all over Europe. A particularly prolific era of art making can be found at sites dated around 17,000 to 12,000 years ago. The artifacts and remains of the people who lived during this period are known as the Magdalenian. They lived across a wide area of Europe from Poland in the east to Portugal in the west. Their remains showed evidence of great skill in tool making and complex artistic detail. The most famous example of their work is the Lascaux Cave in France. Discovered in 1940 by a group of teenagers, the Lascaux caves feature some of the most well documented depictions of Palaeolithic art. Dated at 17,300 years old, the art includes hundreds of paintings of prehistoric animals, humans, geometric symbols and some rock wall etchings. Unwisely, the cave was open to the public and for two decades until its closure in 1963, the exhalations from thousands of visitors altered the cave conditions. This allowed moss, lichen and fungi to grow on the walls. Several failed attempts to add air conditioning and apply fungicides have failed and much of the precious art has been irreparably damaged. Why did these Stone Age people create such stunning works of art? A clue might come from the rock art created by people many thousands of kilometres away.

4 Science Photo Library - Features Magical beliefs The San people (also referred to as bushmen) in southern Africa are among the oldest people in the world. Today most San are farmers but their ancestors were expert hunter gathers, living off the land with tools and weapons that had not changed for tens of thousands of years. Their art, some of which dates back to around 10,000 years ago or more, can be found on rocks throughout southern Africa. But the bestpreserved and most spectacular example of Stone Age San art is found at Twyfelfontein in Namibia. The many thousands of paintings and rock carvings (petroglyphs) found at Twyfelfontein depict recognisable humans and animals. But there are also some half human, half animal depictions and abstract symbols. For the San people, the paintings were deeply connected to their religious beliefs and in particular, to the community figures known as the shaman. These were spiritual healers who could experience visions while in hallucinatory or trance-like states induced by ritual dancing. It is thought that many of the San paintings and carvings are references to the spiritual visions experienced by the shaman while in a trance. Due to the similarity of some of the images, experts think that the older European cave art may also have been a result of shamanism. The rock art of the indigenous people of Australia, the Aborigines, may predate even the oldest sites in Africa and Europe. Most of the art was painted onto temporary surfaces like leaves, sand or bodies. But some rock and cave art and petroglyphs suggest that they may be up to 40-50,000 years old a time in prehistory when humans first migrated to Australia from Asia. Some of the finest, and most numerous, can be observed at the Kakadu National Park. The distinctive dot style paintings and rock engravings cover subjects from Aborigine religion, culture and mythologies. Animals are often seen in x-ray with skeletons and organs revealed and geometric symbols are used extensively.

5 This art form is still practiced today and represents the longest continuous art style in the world. Prehistoric Aborigine art depicts many animals that are now extinct and also shows the arrival of European settlers. A new world The Americas were the most recent continents to be populated by humans. When this occurred is subject to debate but the land bridge called Beringia that existed between Siberia and Alaska at various points in the last few glacial periods would have contributed greatly to the migration of humans through North America, and then subsequently to Central and South America. These early hunter-gatherers, known as Palaeo-Indians, left behind tantalising fragments of their existence. The Cueva de las Manos in Argentina, for example, has a spectacular wall of stencilled hand paintings that are dated to 13,000 to 9,000 years ago. The artists used a pipe to blow mineral pigments over their own hands placed flat against the cave wall. It s the same technique found in many ancient sites in Europe and Asia. As with European and African rock art, early Native Americans depicted people and indigenous wildlife heavily in their art. Various sites in Utah, collectively known as Barrier Canyon style, include many well-preserved paintings and petroglyphs. One, a magical figure holding a snake, is believed by experts to be the figure of a shaman another clue to the inspiration and reason for creating such art. The ancient cultures of Central and South America are wellknown for the spectacular Maya, Inca, and Aztec civilisations that left behind epic works of art and architecture. But humans occupied these regions long before their time. Some examples can be seen on the petroglyphs of the Rainbow Valley in the Atacama Desert of Chile. Created by the Atacameño people some 3,000 years ago, they reveal the importance of the alpaca and llama as a source of

6 meat, milk and wool. Throughout the Americas, archaeologists unearth new sites that reveal more insight into the fascinating lives of the first Americans. In Ventarron, Peru, a 4,000-year-old ancient temple decorated with colourful mural walls was excavated as recently as It is the oldest painting found in the New World and features a deer caught in a net. Modern humans evolved about 100,000 years ago. The evidence from the Blombos cave in South Africa shows that our ancestors began to create art at the same time. So art appears to be an essential part of being human. The first artists were able to adapt abstract thoughts into symbolic pictures and could render exquisite detail using only the simplest of natural resources. So what was once thought to be simply the work of primitive people depicting their daily lives is now seen as the product of complex and sophisticated cultures influenced by ritual and religion. ENDS 1400 WDS SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY 2013

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