Paleolithic Era-Cro-Magnons and Art

Between 20,000 and 10,000 years ago during the Upper Paleolithic era, the Magdalenian culture expanded throughout Spain and France. About 17,000 and 12,000 years ago artistic skill rose and the Cro-Magnons began using paints and wall space. The Magdalenian cave painters were also skilled in tool making, therefore they provided themselves with painting tools to help them create marvelous art on the cave walls.

I believe art is a way of expressing how you feel or a way of telling your own story. Cave art may have had some religious significance to the prehistoric people. As stated in the article, cave art might have also been some form of hunting magic. I have to agree with this theory on the account of most cave art having some form of an animal painted on the walls. In southern France and northern Spain there are skillfully drawn deer, horses and other animals and symbols. In northern Australia, rock paintings present pictures of crocs and kangaroos. Since the common factor in cave and rock paintings around the world is animals, I believe the paintings could be hunting magic to attempt in getting the number of prey to increase.

Cro-Magnons are the most advanced form of human beings, having a large frontal lobe that Neanderthals were not equipped with. This lobe provided the Cro-Magnons with the ability to use and understand symbols, which is the reason I believe cave art started to appear during the Magdalenian culture. Why cave art began to disappear was a reason unknown to me. However I did know that cave art began to vanish as the ice started melting for the second time around 10,000 years ago. I took this into my reasoning that as the glaciers receded and the climate grew warmer, the number of animals would be coming up on their own. Once the Cro-Magnons felt safe enough with their food supply, they were no longer in need of their hunting magic, thus the ending of cave art. Cave art did not end the first time the climate rose due to the fact that the animals were most likely not adapted yet. By the time the climate cooled and rose again the animals were well adapted to the weather conditions and were able to survive.

Source(s):

http://www.classzone.com/net_explorations/U1/U1_article1.cfm

http://www.classzone.com/net_explorations/U1/U1_article2.cfm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_painting