Video: The Mysteries of Cave Art

Summary:

Description: The earliest discovered human works of art, Pleistocene Cave Paintings, were created just as the last Ice Age was approaching. Three of these cave art sites - Chauvet and Lascaux in France, and Altamira in Spain are featured in this video. The painting techniques are remarkably sophisticated and include perspective and the use of the contours of the cave wall for a bas-relief effect. The subjects are mostly animals and some of the pictures are thought to represent stories of great hunts. Scattered among the images of various, largely extinct, creatures are dots thought to represent stars, along with stencils of hands. These remarkable works of Cro-Magnon humans are both instructive and mysterious. Written by Paul Foster. © 2004 Arts4All Grades: 6-8     

Comprehension Questions Assignment

Segments:

Age of Cave Art - The Pleistocene Age (04:47)
The Artists of Cave Art - Cro-Magnon humans (06:44)
The Subjects of Cave Art - Animals (05:34)