1. Prehistoric Art

Some notes taken from the BBC documentary How Art Made the World, with Dr. Nigel Spivey

1. People have a great ability to see and understand pictures and symbols, even crude ones. Why? And when did this start? And, what role did art play in the formation of the first civilizations? This is one of the great mysteries of mankind.

2. Homo sapiens have lived for about 200,000 years, but for over 100,000 years we didn’t paint anything. Then, about 35,000-40,000 years ago we changed. We began painting in caves, carving stone figurines, carving flutes from bones, and making jewellery from shells. This new trend is what first separated humans from all the other animals on Earth.

3. One theory is that prehistoric artists wanted to represent the world around them, like we do today. But today, we draw everything. Why did cave artists only paint animals, and why only certain animals, like horses, bison, oxen, and reindeer?

 

4. Or was it? We have to remember, these are people who lived as far back as 35,000 years ago. Much of what they created is lost. We know of only a handful of caves in the world with their art, but at their time, art might have been everywhere, like graffiti is today.

5. A second theory is that cave artists painted animals they hunted, to improve their luck. But, the bones we find in ancient caves show little correlation between prehistoric art and diet. They would paint one animal, but eat another.

6. Another mystery: why did cave artists travel so deep into caves before painting? Some areas are very difficult to reach. Possibly these cave artists wanted to hide what they created. Possibly the rest of the caves were already full of paintings.

7. Even more puzzling, why are some cave paintings abstract, with dots, squares, grids, and patterns? A third theory explores the visual effects of cave artists working with little light. Apparently, this sensory deprivation created hallucinations, which the painters recreated. But this is just one theory. It’s still a mystery.

8. Still another mystery, people all over the world painted in caves, and it all looks fairly similar, even when separated by 1000's of years. Why?  Is this evidence of one enduring culture, or do they reflect universal needs and desires, that repeat themselves throughout history?

9. The final mystery, around 12,000 years ago, cave art stopped. Why? Is it a coincidence that this is when the earliest known stone circles were built in Göbekli Tepe, in Turkey? Such large monoliths (large stone pillars) weighed 10-50 tons, and would require hundreds of people to craft and move. Why did early people switch from caves to stone circles? Did it signify a change in the social order? And what kind of change? This is still a mystery.