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A WKNC podcast that explores some of Earth's ancient treasures and uncovers the stories they have to tell.
Scrimble 0:05
Hello everybody, I'm Scrimble and welcome to the second episode of my podcast fossil frontier, a paleontology podcast brought to you by WKNC 88.1. This show will be dedicated to talking about my favorite fossils and prehistoric phenomena. We're going to explore some of Earth's ancient treasures and uncover the stories they have to tell. So, if that's something you're into, lock in, because this week we're going to be talking about cave paintings. Were our ancestors artists, what did they draw? And how can these paintings help us understand our distant past and who we are today?
Okay, So picture this. It's September 1940. In Montignac-Lascaux in France, an 18 year old boy, Marcel Ravidat was exploring the woods with his dog robot, when suddenly, robot found the hole of a previously uprooted tree. As Marcel peered into the hole, he quickly realized that he made the discovery of a lifetime.
He returned with three friends and as they entered the Lascaux cave, they soon discovered the walls and ceiling were adorned with an astonishing array of prehistoric art meticulously painted in ocre and charcoal. There were vibrant depictions of animals ranging from majestic bulls to graceful horses, and notably, surrounded by the hundreds of equines and other four legged creatures was a depiction of a single Bird-man hybrid, lying dead next to a rhinoceros. These paintings offered a captivating glimpse into the lives and beliefs of our ancient ancestors some 17,000 years ago.
But the Lascaux caves were not the oldest cave paintings ever found. For that, we turn to Caceres Spain in the Maltravieso cave, inside among the rocks and vast caverns deep within the cave, there are a few red drawings, there was a ladder like shape, some fragments of animals, some patterned dots, and a single hand stencil.
While at first these rudimentary drawings may seem underwhelming, as compared to bigger, more colorful and detailed paintings in caves close by, they're actually very historically significant. Through uranium-thorium dating, these drawings were found to be over 64,000 years old, the oldest cave drawings ever discovered. These simple markings in a cave would go on to change the way we see ourselves and other species forever. Because while this fossil is from 64,000 years ago, humans, or homo sapiens only entered the Iberian Peninsula around 40,000 years ago. This means that the paintings were not done by humans at all. Rather, it was Neanderthals or homo Neanderthalis that created this fossil
wall. Today, there's only one member of genus Homo, humans. They used to be many more, including homo neanderthalis, Homo erectus, and Homo Habilis. Each of these species were human like, but carried their own distinct characteristics, such as the Homo floresiensis who were substantially short, standing at just three foot seven inches tall and residing on the Flores island of Indonesia. species like this one and the Neandertals. Because they're now extinct, Were always seen as less intelligent humans only concerned with their next meal, or where to find shelter. But these paintings discovered in Spain re-characterize them as more like us than we ever thought. They were capable of not only abstract thought, but also enjoyed artwork and were able to recreate the image of things they saw in their daily lives. Over the next few thousand years, more cave paintings were created across all continents and regions were early human settled, the first of which were very rudimentary, mostly including geometric shapes and hand stencils, which are formed by placing the hand on the cave wall and covering the surrounding area with pigment. Many animals were also depicted in these cave drawings, such as the ones found in the Lascaux cave, as well as other examples across the eastern hemisphere. Interestingly, the only animals usually depicted were large wild animals, often hunted by humans, such as the bear, hog or bull. However, these were not typical prey animals of humans. For example, many reindeer bones were found in the Lascaux cave, presumably hunted and eaten by the humans who would have
inhabited the space, but not a single reindeer depiction was found in the cave. Few prey animals ever found themselves in these cave paintings. And when they did, they were very sparse and usually surrounded by larger greater beasts. Humans were also not typically found at these paintings. And when they were, it was more to tell a story or emphasize the animals present. Like the dead Birdman killed by the rhino in the Lascaux cave, or in the caves in the Maros-Pangkep karst in Indonesia, were the first scene of humans hunting animals found. In this drawing, humans are taking on a giant pig. However, when you look closer, you notice the hunters are portrayed as human animal-hybrids, or therianthropes, they have tails and a few have bird like heads.
So the natural question is, why would ancient humans depict themselves this way? Why do they portray almost only animals? And why did they make this art to begin with?
through the lens of modern science, we can glimpse into the minds of these ancient artists. There are a few theories as to why these drawings were made, the first being for religious or ceremonial purposes. Because of how expertly crafted and detailed many of the figures are drawn, it led researchers to assume that they had much significance to the artists and their communities. The intricate scenes found in these caves could be retelling long forgotten myths or legends that founded ancient religions. Perhaps the animals themselves were worshipped. Or more recent discoveries have revealed that many of these cave drawings were strategically placed in areas of the cave, where natural acoustics amplified sound, suggesting that they were used in conjunction with chants and rituals to invoke the spirits of the hunt. Other drawings are found in areas deep within the caves that are hard to access, which suggests that shamans could have used the areas to meditate and perform rituals. Of course, another very plausible explanation is that these cave drawings were created just for fun. Artists could have created these pieces, honestly just to make art. And while the figures could have been drawn in many places where humans spent their time, such as on trees in dirt are against rocks on the surface. Only the works deep in the caves were shielded from the harsh environment and preserved for us to find today. Perhaps ancient societies contained people whose sole purpose was to make art. Or maybe it was just everyday people trying to express their creativity, or even to bond with the people in their lives and make art with their loved ones. In the Rouffignac cave in France, there are finger flutings, or finger tracings found high on the walls and ceilings above the figures of mammoths and bison. These flutings were much higher than any normal human could reach. And after further research, it was found that they were likely made by children from ages two to seven, standing on their parents, shoulders, and fingerpainting. There were also entire sections of the cave that seemed to be dedicated to children's drawings, which suggests that art was a hobby, or even a rainy day activity for ancient parents and children. What they didn't know when they were putting their kids on their shoulders and letting them paint the cave ceiling is that their work would be immortalized for thousands of years.
And ultimately, that's what art is truly about. For humans to say, "I was here" to the rest of the world, from the thousands of overlapped handprints in the Cueva de las Manos, with each handprint a silent echo from the past, to Renaissance paintings which evoke beauty, passion and transcendent grace to even raunchy bathroom graffiti, riddled with misspellings and expletives. There's a connection within all of us, across time that yearns to be remembered, to immortalize the fleeting moments of our lives, and to create something that expresses our experiences and emotions. From paintings of great beasts to modern digital creations. Art in all its forms is constantly reminding us that the human experience is a thread that binds us all across the ages.
Thank you for listening to the second episode of fossil frontier. This has been a WKNC podcast. goodnight, and I love you.
The audio used in this podcast was Song Thrush nature field recording garden atmo, recorded by Garuda 1982. Used under Creative Commons License
Transcribed by https://otter.ai