PASTEXPERIENCE HISTORY

Honnō-ji. Edo. Pompeii. Where will you go?

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Around 20,000 years ago; dating remains uncertain

The paintings of Lascaux

Animals painted before writing: what the images reveal and what remains uncertain.

Lascaux

Working on a cave wall

Why paint large animals underground? Early scholarship linked arrow-like marks beside cattle with hunting wishes. Yet such signs do not appear in every cave, and food remains differ from depicted animals. One purpose alone could not explain the surviving images.

[1] フランス文化省[2] フランス文化省[3] フランス文化省

Stone, pigments and images

Rock was no flat sheet. Artists selected its contours, engraved with stone tools, applied ground pigments with tools including brushes, and sprayed color. Different methods served outlines and broad surfaces.

Aujoulat identified sequences of horses, aurochs and deer and proposed seasonal readings of their coats. Overlap, production order and seasonal meaning are different stages of argument.

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What the images reveal

Laming-Emperaire examined combinations of figures in 1957; Leroi-Gourhan studied their placement within caves. Questions expanded from individual animals to relationships across a space. Overlapping lines establish sequence, while seasonal or ritual interpretation needs further examination.

[1] フランス文化省[2] フランス文化省[3] フランス文化省

Before and after

  1. Around 20,000 years ago

    Approximate artistic period; the estimate has a range.

  2. 1957

    Laming-Emperaire studied spatial organization.

  3. 1988–1999

    Aujoulat’s investigations analyzed painting sequences.

Key terms

Superimposition
Overlapping marks that can indicate relative sequence.
Dating
Methods dating samples; the dated object and inferred image are distinct.
Hypothesis
A proposed explanation open to revision through evidence.

What supports the account?

Sequence can be investigated.

Analysis of overlap and arrangement provides evidence.

Limits of the evidence

It does not record conversations or motivations.

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Dates have a range.

Finds and comparisons inform the estimate.

Limits of the evidence

This does not prove all images were made together.

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Check your understanding

Choose an answer to reveal the explanation. Return to the article and sources when you are unsure.

1. Overlapping lines establish a sequence. What follows?

Sources

  1. Datation des figures de Lascauxフランス文化省

    Dates of bone and antler finds and uncertainty in dating the paintings.

  2. Interpretationsフランス文化省

    The arrangement of paintings and competing interpretations.

  3. Painting techniquesフランス文化省

    Pigments, flint tools, grinding stones, brushes, spraying and engraving.

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