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1. Prehistory: the Paleolithic Period
3.2. Culture and art in the Paleolithic Age
Religion
appeared when humans tried to find explanations for natural phenomena
they couldn’t explain. The Neanderthals (
Homo neanderthalensis
) were the first
to bury their dead, 100000 years ago. They may have believed in a soul or spirit
which lived on after death. This is the oldest known religious manifestation.
Sometimes they put objects like jewellery
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or tools next to the corpse. These are
called
grave goods
.
They probably practised
magic rituals
so their hunts would be successful. It is believed
they held these in caves and probably regarded them as
sacred places
.
Cave paintings
were done on cave walls in many places. The two regions which
contain the most famous examples, of different styles and from different periods, are:
❚
The Franco-Cantabrian region
: the paintings here date from the Upper
Paleolithic. The paintings in
Altamira
(Cantabria) and
Lascaux
(France) are the
most famous. They were done inside caves and were
polychrome
, meaning that
several colours were used. These were obtained by mixing mineral dust with egg
or fat to give it the right consistency. Paleolithic artists painted solitary animals in a
naturalistic style, showing
nature
realistically. They made use of the irregularities
in the rock to create relief in their drawings.
❚
The
Levantine
area
on the Iberian Peninsula: the paintings date from the
Epipaleolithic. The paintings in
Valltorta
(Castellón) and
Cogull
(Lleida) are
the most famous. These were painted in shallow caves. Few colours were used
and they were eventually done in
monochrome
(one colour). They painted
human figures and animals in hunting scenes. The style was
schematic
, meaning
they drew simplified outlines. They did not try to represent nature realistically, but
to capture a scene and suggest movement.
The
first known artistic manifestations
are around 35000 years old. They come
from the Upper Paleolithic. The most famous ones are cave paintings and portable
art.
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jewellery
:
items worn for decoration
such as rings, necklaces and bracelets
Bison in Altamira cave, Cantabria (left) and a hunting scene in the Cova dels Cavalls, Barranco de la Valltorta, Castellón
