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ART AND MEDICINE

THE CAVE MAN’S ART

N
ews of the discovery of magnificent cave paintings in the Ardeche Valley of southeast France
in 1994 caused great shock waves around the world, not only because the paintings
were remarkably powerful and astonishingly sophisticated works of art, but because
radiocarbon tests established them to be over 30,000 years old. Named after one of the discoverers,
Chauvet, the Chauvet cave paintings are the oldest known paintings in the world (Figures1, 2, 3, 4, 5).
Several other caves containing ancient paintings (Figures 6, 7, 8), dating as far back as 10,000 – 15,000
years ago, have been discovered such as Lascaux cave in France and Altamira cave in Spain. Referred
to as Prehistoric art or Stone Age art, the universal motif of the paintings is the depiction of animals and
geometric signs.

Fig.1. Four aurochs [ox] and three rhinoceroses. (Chauvet Cave, France).

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The Cave Man's Art

Fig.2. Detail horses’ head. A rhinoceros is depicted below. (Chauvet Cave, France).

Fig.3. A bison with multiple outlines was endowed with seven or eight legs to give it an effect of
perspective or to indicate movement. (Chauvet Cave, France).

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The Cave Man's Art

Fig.4. A rhinoceros
with an enormous
horn drawn in a
niche. Its horn
follows the curve of
the wall. (Chauvet
Cave, France).

Fig.5. Detail of the


lions.(Chauvet Cave,
France).

Fig.6. Bison. (Covaciella cave, Asturias, Spain).

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The Cave Man's Art

Fig.7. Bison. (Niaux cave, France).

recreated details of shape and form that would do


credit to artists of any epoch in the history of
painting. The beautiful paintings they left behind
have raised several questions. What motivated our
primitive hunter ancestors to depict the animals
that inhabited their world and why did they do so
with such flair and artistry? Why did they create
works of art that went far beyond the merely
functional? Why were they made in the very depths
of caves?
The meanings of the pictures have been the
subject of much speculation and debate among
experts. Interpretations range from the sacred and
mysterious, the spiritual or religious to games or
a celebration of life or an attempt to communicate
with spirits. The art may have had a wide range of
significance including tribal stories, myths of
creation or renewal, sacred beings, rites of
passage such as puberty, and death and rebirth.
We are too far removed in time to truly understand
what the pictures may have meant to those ancient
Fig.8. Close-up of a bull. (Lascaux cave, France).
people. Art, after all, is part of a complex structure
of beliefs and rituals, morals and social codes, a
The technique used to present perspective and structure in which magic and science, myth and
motion in cave paintings has impressed both history, are indistinct.
experts and laymen. Laboring away in the dimly Since art must always be seen within the
lit recesses of their caves, prehistoric man ecological and social aspects of each period and

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The Cave Man's Art

culture, most prehistoric art research can only deal But over and above our need to understand or
in probabilities. The most recent explanation interpret their significance, the cave paintings bring
however, is that Stone Age art was essentially home an important truth: the esthetic urge in man
shamanic (1). In primitive societies around the is not a recent refinement of civilization but part of
world, people in need have sought to contact the an ancient deep-seated need at creative
spirit world to obtain assistance with the difficulties expression that is unique to the human psyche.
of daily life. Their need to exercise some sort of
control over their environment, health, and destiny Rachel Hajar, MD
(foretell the future, restore health, change the E-mail:rachel@hmc.org.qa
weather, control the movement of animals, Reference:
converse with spirits and spirit animals) made 1. Clottes J, Lewis-Williams D. The shamans of prehistory. Trance and
magic in the painted caves. New York, Harry N Abrams, Inc., 1998.
them turn to shamans. They believe the shaman
has the unique ability to enter into a trance, travel Photo sources: Chauvet JM, Deschamps EB, Hillaire C. Dawn of Art:
The Cauvet Cave. New York, Harry N. Abrams, Inc.,1996.
into the spirit world, and accomplish the task Clottes J, Lewis-Williams D. The Shamans of Prehistory. Trance and
desired. magic in the painted caves. New York, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1998.

“A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.”


Chinese Proverb

374 HEART VIEWS VOL. 1 NO. 9 SEPTEMBER - NOVEMBER 2000: 370-374

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