Name of Reporters: Damasing, Dorato, Guangco, Ilano, Quitiol, Tan, Trazona, Yu

English 41 B
Group #1
Chauvet Cave
Pre-historic humans
Basic Information
Year / Period it was made or completed: 30,00032,000 years ago
Dimensions: 400 meters in width
Medium used: Visual Art, Two-Dimensional Art, Cave Paintings, Charcoal
Present location: Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc Cave, 07150 Vallon-Pont-d'Arc, France
Interpretation/Analysis
The Chauvet Cave is the earliest known and best-preserved figurative cave
paintings in the world. It is said that humans used this cave during two distinct
periods: the Aurignacian period and the Gravettian period. It is a stone art in which
you can see images painted or carved on the walls or stones. It emphasizes the
earliest form of art created by humans and serves as proof of human talents and
skills. The cave was discovered in 1994. It was preserved due to a landslide that
happened a long time ago and as a consequence, the cave was untouched and was
never seen. Fossils of some extinct animals were found in this particular cave and
even some earliest footprints of human life were left untouched. This is why the
cave is very historical and spectacular. It contains a total of 300 paintings and
engravings and mostly animals and some other symbolic images are found. There
are only two colors used in the paintings, namely, red and black. The most
recognizable animals are lions, mammoths, rhinoceroses, horses, and some other
rare animals like panthers, a spotted leopard, owls, red deer, musk-oxen, ibex, and
bison. Others are unidentified, presumably because of their extinction.
Basically, the cave is like a record of animals that early humans saw in their
daily lives. But they said that in the paintings carved were images of dangerous
animals being hunted during that time. Accordingly, we can say that the cave is also
a record of animals that early humans hunted or encountered before. Also, the
Chauvet paintings indicate the discovery of human talents and skills in painting and
carving. They also indicate some figurative pictures an abundance of abstract art
in the form of geometric symbols like marks that cannot be easily read or
understood and many forms of hand stencils and handprints. The workmanship of
the artist/s is excellent. Basic shadings were skillfully used, the figures of the
animals are very natural and proportional to the original forms, and some images
are painted or carved in detail. The artist also used engraved techniques to
emphasize the lines of the body of the animals, which form a 3D effect to the eyes.
The materials used are charcoal, mixed floor clay and might even be blood of
animals.
Scholars believe that the Chauvet Caves purpose is still unknown. Most
archeologists say that its basic purpose is not habitation; rather it functions as a
place for ritual or magical ceremony. That is to say, the images were intended
essentially for the spirits that prehistoric humans believe in. For us, the purpose of
art in the prehistoric times was not for public display.
Insights

The paintings in the Chauvet Cave are considered part and parcel of what we
call the prehistoric art. The images in the Chauvet Cave were either carved or
painted on the walls of the cave by the early humans. The dominant features of the
paintings are figures of lions, mammoth and rhinoceroses. Hence, it can be implied
that this cave was used as shelter for the prehistoric people who tried to capture
the images of what they saw in their environment by painting or carving them on
the walls. In other words, the paintings served as an attempt to recreate scenarios
or events, which they saw or which happened throughout their lifetime. The
paintings and carvings of animals on the wall reflected their own depiction of
animals found in their natural surroundings. Paintings might have been the
cavemens mode of communication. Paintings might have also helped them to hunt
wild animals by visualizing their plan on the wall. Today, people appreciate the
Chauvet Cave as an art.
References
Collins, Neil. "Chauvet Cave Paintings (c.30,000 BCE)." Chauvet Cave Paintings:
Earliest Prehistoric Murals: Discovery, Layout. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.
<http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/prehistoric/chauvet-cavepaintings.htm#paintings>.
Gardner, Helen. Art through the Ages. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1959. Print.
Hartt, Frederick. Art: A History of Painting, Sculpture, Architecture. Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1989. Print.
"Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History." Chauvet Cave (ca. 30,000 B.C.). Ed. Teresa
Lai. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.
<http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/chav/hd_chav.htm>.