The Mysteries of
Cave Art
Synopsis
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 paintings are in vivid red, yellow, black and
violet – colors obtained from iron oxide and
manganese. The painting techniques used 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.
Questions to ask before viewing
1. Discuss the use of symbols in our
society to tell a story or communicate
ideas. Think about religious symbols,
sports mascots, product logos, etc.
2. In advance, ask students to research the
European Pleistocene Age and bring in
their findings. How far had humans
developed at that period? How did they
get food? What tools did they use?
3. Review the geography of the Pyrenees
Mountains.
Questions to ask after viewing
1. What kind of humans do scientists
believe the cavemen were? (CroMagnon man)
2. How did the cave artists make stencils
of the human hand? (They placed the
hand on the cave wall and blew red
ochre [iron oxide] all around it through a
hollow bone.)
3. What do the dots placed among the
animals in the paintings probably
represent? (stars)
4. Of what was the cave artists’ paint
composed? (Iron oxide and manganese
mixed with water and animal fat)
5. What may have been the purpose of the
cave paintings? (to tell the story of an
especially good hunt, to preserve images
of animals that were becoming extinct
due to the approaching ice age, religious
worship involving the stars in relation to
animals and humans)
6. What constellation might the cave artists
have named long before the first known
stargazers, the Chaldeans (part of the
Babylonian civilization)? (the bull)
7. In what way did the cave artists use the
contours and irregularities of the cave
walls? (for a three dimensional effect,
for features of the animals, such as a
bear’s paw or a horse’s eye)
8. Activity: Most of the ideas expressed in
the program about the purpose of the
paintings were speculation. Individually
or in groups, create your own story
about what meaning one of the cave
paintings you saw might have.
9. Activity: Students or teacher will bring
in a number of rocks about the size of a
fist or larger. Individually or in groups
have students paint an animal on the
rock, using its contours as the animal’s
shape. Display the rock paintings in the
classroom.
Annotation
Three sites of Cro-Magnon cave paintings –
Chauvet and Lascaux in France, and Altamira in
Spain are featured in this video. The painting
techniques used in these works are remarkably
sophisticated and include perspective and the
use of the contours of the cave wall for a basrelief effect. Scattered among the many animal
subjects are dots thought to represent stars that
may have had a spiritual significance.
Length
Discussion Guide
17 Minutes
Subject Areas
Art, Art History, Humanities
Audience Level
Grades 6-12
Catalog Number
Objectives
2976-EN-VIDP
Related titles in the AIMS collection
8593-EN-VIDP: The Tomb of Tutankhamun
2970-EN-VIDP: Art History Legends Series:
Salvador Dali
2971-EN-VIDP: Art History Legends
Series: Leonardo da Vinci
2972-EN-VIDP: Art History Legends
Series: Michelangelo
9710 DeSoto Avenue
Chatsworth, California
91311-4409 USA
The Mysteries of
Cave Art
Tel: 800-367-2467
Tel: 818-773-4300
Fax: 818-341-6700
•
•
•
To explain how people in earlier times
used art as a way to record stories and
events
To discuss possible spiritual
meanings of the animals and other
subjects of the cave paintings
To understand the need for
preservation of caves and
conservation of natural resources