• Carbon dating of the charcoal used in the pigment (C14) — first done in 1991
• Evaluation of wear or erosion, using a magnifying glass
•   Examination of the engraved lines:
• fresh lines are clean, white, and neat
• older engravings are filled in with microscopic crystallizations
•   Examination of the setting for signs of disturbance.

Most of the paintings found in Altamira depict bison, but there are also two wild boars, some horses, and some other figures in a simpler style. They are lively, naturalistic, renderings.  In addition, there are also several engraved anthropomorphic figures (animals that appear to have human traits), various hand prints, and hand outlines.

The caves at Altamira were early discoveries and are now famous, but it should be noted that many other Paleolithic cave paintings have been found over the past century. Typically, the subject matter of these paintings is animals — though the types of animals vary according to period and region. Most often, horses and bison are depicted, but some sites focus on mammoth or deer.  All of these animals appear to be adult. Occasionally, there are some fish and birds. Some of the creatures may be imaginary.  For example, one of the animals at Lascaux has been interpreted as a unicorn.  Some others are difficult to decipher.Some animals depicted are obviously living, while others are clearly dead.The art is vivid and suggests that the artist observed these animals in nature.

For many years, the Altamira caves could be visited. Today, however, the Altamira caves are closed to the public because they began to deteriorate because of the carbon dioxide exhaled. A nearby artificial reproduction opened in 2000. 

Pech-Merle, Lot, France, Spotted horses and negative hand imprints, ca. 22,000 B.C.

This cave is located in Pech-Merle, France. This particular painting is about 11 feet long.Although it is rendered in a flat, two-dimensional way, it does appear that the artist considered the natural surface of the cave in creating the illusion of three-dimensional form. These appear to be spotted horses with small heads (and one of my former students pointed out that descents of these horse can be seen in this area of France even today). It has been suggested that the spots are actually remnants from painted rocks that were hurled at the image -- however, the precise placement of these spots suggests that this hypothesis does not seem reasonable, at least for this particular example.

There are two points that I would like to emphasize here.

Where are these paintings found?  They are generally located deep within the cave and require illumination in order to be seen.Archaeologists have found tiny stone oil lamps, but not that many. It is therefore assumed that torches were also used to provide light. In some cases there are cuts in the interior stone that suggest that scaffolding was erected. These paintings appear on the sides and upper surfaces of the cave interior.

How were these paintings made?  Not surprisingly, these artists used naturally-occurring pigments.  Red and yellow ocher are pigments made from clay that has been colored with iron oxide (or rust).Black pigment is made from manganese or charcoal (note: scientists can carbon date the charcoal, but not the other pigments). Unlike modern chemical dyes, these pigments do not loose their colors (i.e. they are not fugitive). These were ground into powders and mixed with talc or feldspar and animal or plant oils to create paint. Then, these paints were applied to the walls with brushes (reed or bristle). The paints could also be thinned with water and blown through a blowpipe (reeds or hollow bones).  That's how the negative hand prints were made. 

The hand prints were always confined to specific areas, indicating, perhaps, that these places were considered more important, or more powerful, than others.These may also have represented “signatures” of sorts.

Lascaux, France, Cave Paintings, ca. 13,000 B.C. — Illustration

The Lascaux Caves are among the most famous of these Paleolithic paintings today. They paintings were discovered in 1940 by four children. Three days later, a retired school teacher was the first adult to verify their discovery.The caves soon became a large tourist attraction — and then began to deteriorate owing to the growth of algae.In 1967, the caves were closed.Penicillin was used to kill the microbes in the cave, and now these are open only for scholarly research.Tourists can see reproductions of these paintings.  

The illustration above presents plan of the Lascaux Caves.  The entrance is at the top.  Note the Hall of the Bulls, the Main Gallery, and the Shaft of the Dead Man.

Lascaux, France, Cave Paintings, Hall of the Bulls, ca. 15,000-13,000 B.C.

Several hundred animals were painted on the cave walls at Lascaux.The size of these images varies enormously — the largest are about 6 ½ feet long. However, small figures are mixed with the large figures. Often, there is no ground line. Also, there are no landscape elements. 

Note the use of strong lines.Usually, the animals are depicted in a two-dimensional, profile view — no matter where on the surface of the cave they are placed.Sometimes the artists used the natural formation of the cave to create the a sense of volume. In other words, they were also sensitive to the natural contours of the cave surface and used these to define some of the animals — akin to reading the clouds. 

There is also the use of twisted perspective, where the two horns of an animal are shown frontally, even through the rest of the animal is depicted in profile.This approach is descriptive rather than optical. In most cases, the animals do not appear to interact with each other.

What is the meaning of all of this cave art?  We have theories, but no definitive answers.

The pregnant state of the so-called Chinese Horse from Lascaux suggests that there was the wish for increasing the fertility of the animals. Maybe — but rarely is the sex of the animal indicated and copulation occurs in only one or two questionable examples.

Lascaux, France, Cave Paintings, so-called "Chinese Horse," ca. 15,000-13,000 B.C.

Lascaux, France, Cave Paintings, Painted Gallery, ca. 15,000-13,000 B.C.

These paintings could be purely decorative, but probably not; even “pure decoration” often has associations and meanings. The incredible vitality seen in these animals is probably the result of the sharp visual skills needed by the hunters to survive. The animals were depicted naturalistically, using fluid contours, in an attempt to capture the essence of the animals, and sometimes forms were modeled to indicate the mass of the creature.

The animals of the great friezes were not conceived as unified compositions. Animals were added at different times over a period of many thousands of years. Because they were often superimposed one upon the other (while much more accessible space was left bare), the location seems to have had some significance. 

Remember — these were painted deep inside the caves in places that were often almost inaccessible.  Paleolithic families did not live deep in these caves, for no remains of hearths or the garbage dumps associated with early habitations have been found in them. The caves, therefore, appear to have been reserved for ceremonials most likely related to the hunt (which would be appropriate for a hunter-gatherer society). 

Most of the animals portrayed in the cave paintings are large game animals. Some were shown pierced by arrows or small throw-spears could indicate that these representations might have had some magical ritual or ceremonial attached to them. Possibly these murals served as an aid to the hunter in successfully providing for the group. 

Newer, revised theories emphasize the fact that these paintings appear to have been repainted over time.Perhaps this was a symbolic gesture intended to ensure that the hunted species would renew themselves each spring.So these would not be fertility images based on the depiction of sex, but fertility images created through the process of artistic renewal.

Others have suggested that these animals are not portraits, so to speak, but symbols — perhaps representing the general duality of male and female. 

There are also some geometric symbols painted on the caves, which may have part of a ritual or perhaps symbols of a common language.

Finally, some researchers have noted that the most richly decorated areas were located in caves with good acoustics.  They suggest that sound may have also been an important factor in their use.

Lascaux, France, Rhinoceros, wounded man, and disemboweled bison, Shaft (or Well), ca. 13,000 B.C., 

Paleolithic murals are not rich in human representation. One of the few murals in which a human form appears is this painting from Lascaux. We see three figures -- a rhinoceros, a wounded man, and a disemboweled bison. 

The animals are rendered naturalistically, but the man is simply a stick figure.The man's small, birdlike head may indicate that he wears a bird mask. The totemic bird on the stick lends credence to the view that this disguised man is participating in some sort of ancient ritual. 

Joseph Campbell, an historian with a specialty in comparative mythology, believes that the male figure represents a shaman in a trance. In many tribal cultures the shaman acts out the role of the animal, participating in its power. In one of the traditional Mexican dances, the principal dancer wears the head of a stag, thus, like his Paleolithic forebears, associating himself with its powerful magic. Shamans in many cultures served as intermediaries between the human and the spirit world, and many assumed an animal alter ego who could communicate with the animals. They commonly went into a state of trance in which they experienced visions of flying and crossing long distances. They would come back with reports of where animals could be found. Such a ritual may be represented here.

Another interpretation suggests that this depiction could be the death of the “top man” of the group and the bird-staff represents the totemic identifier of the group and the individual. 

The primitive quality of the rendering lends itself to the belief that proper depiction could, in fact, steal the soul or essence of the individual rendered.  Thus, these Paleolithic humans may have feared the power that they believed was associated with the production of living images and so avoided making images in their own likeness.