Paleolithic Cave Art Spring 2000

The following postings are a transcript of students' responses to our unit on Functionalism: Paleolithic Cave Art. Students studied the paleolithic era using the disciplinary perspectives of anthropology and art. Students were required to discuss the ways in which a piece of art can be "read" as a primary source text analogous to the way historians interpret primary source texts. Student postings have not been edited in any way.

The assignment:

Post in the class bulletin board area your responses to the ways in which we may apply the methods of an historian in analyzing a primary source document to Paleolithic cave art.

Student postings:

Article No. 20: posted by student 32 on Wed, Feb. 2, 2000, 18:14 Subject: Cave Art If I was a historian, I would research as much information as possible. I would later look for evidence and go over it thoroughly. My analysis will be determined by comparison.

Article No. 68: posted by student 33 on Mon, Feb. 7, 2000, 23:14 Subject: Cave Art

If I were to analyze Paleolithic cave art I would look at different aspects of the art. I would look at the actual paintings itself. What was painted, style used, colors used, and etc. I would look at the circumstances of the time and try to make a fair assumption from there. If I was lucky enough to find a fossil I would definitely have it examined to see what other information I could find.

Article No. 4: posted by student 21 on Mon, Jan. 31, 2000, 21:30 Subject: Paleolithic Cave Art

If I was analyzing a source document of Paleolithic Cave Art in relation to the methods of a current day historian, I would do several things. First I would get an understanding of the area and what kind of people lived in that area from the earliest of time until present. In order to get a feel for the time that the paintings were created in a would look carfully at the craftsmanship and the type of stain used to paint the objects with. If it was at all possible, I would use C-14 dating, which is more of a archeological procedure, but historians could use it to find out dates of certain objects. Being a historian, I would be familar with the characteristics of each possible Era, so I could sufficiently determine the time period and the people that created the drawings. I would familarize myself with the worships and rituals of the time period to determine why the animals or objects were painted in the manner that they were painted in. Once I had all my information gathered and organized in a understandable manner, I would determine the date and Era of the painting/objects that we had discovered.

Article No. 115: [Branch from no. 4] posted by student 34 on Mon, Feb. 21, 2000, 09:10 Subject: re: Paleolithic Cave Art

If I was analyzing a document of Paleolithic Cave Art in relation to the methods of present-day historian i would follow these steps. First, I would find out which cave the document was discovered in and what kind of people lived in the cave. Did the people hunt and gather and what kind of tools did they use? I think in order to find out what kind of people were in a certain area you must know how they lived. I would also notice what type of colors were used in the art if any. Next, I would try to figure how far the art dates back. After I have found out the who, what, when, and where, I would let others be aware of my discoveries.

Article No. 5: posted by student 18 on Mon, Jan. 31, 2000, 23:08 Subject: Paleolithic Cave Art

If I was a historian and I went into a cave and found some cave art I would analyze it many different ways. First of all, I would see what the pictures were. If the pictures where of people killing animals I would know right off hand that these people where not vegetarians. I would also try and determine what types of tools they used to kill the animals, which would give me an idea about how smart these humans were. I would also try and see if there was any paintings that showed a "supreme being" that they worshiped. If they had paintings of women and men together this might suggest that they also had strong emotions towards one another. The type of animals in the painting also might tell me the type of animals that these people hunted and ate. With all this information I believe I could tell you what period in time these paintings came from.

Article No. 12: [Branch from no. 5] posted by student 35 on Tue, Feb. 1, 2000, 13:36 Subject: re: Paleolithic Cave Art

If I were a historian, I would first look closely at the cave art. I would find any details and then determin what the art means. I would reserch the area where I found the cave art. The art would describe may things. An animal would mean they hunt the animals and eat them. It may be a prayer to their gods to help the people hunt. The art may be food. This obveously tells us what the people ate. The details of the art are important because there are many shapes and figures in the cave drawings. I would just study the art and the area around it to interpret it.

Article No. 6: posted by student 14 on Tue, Feb. 1, 2000, 01:48 Subject: Paleolithic cave art þÿ

If I was an historian analyzing a source document,I would try to gain as much knowledge as I could about the time, the area, and the people of that time. After I gain as much knowledge as I could, I would try to analyze the painting to the best of my ability. I would look the symbols use and how good of work the are really is.

Article No. 7: [Branch from no. 6] posted by student 11 on Tue, Feb. 1, 2000, 07:19 Subject: re: Paleolithic cave art

If I were a historian trying to analyze cave art, I would start off by looking at the paintings as a whole picture. Then Iwould look for symbols, which may have been used as their system of communication. I would also look at the paintings and try to figure out how their society was built. For example if they were hunters or food gatherers, if women were valued, or even something about their religious beliefs. I believe that their paintings can be seen as a form of art, because it was a way for them to express their feelings.

Article No. 113: [Branch from no. 7] posted by student 22 on Fri, Feb. 18, 2000, 11:37 Subject: re: Paleolithic cave art

If i were a historian analyzing art i would first find its origin. I would determine the purpose the functin and purpose. Then i would try to link its purpose to the type of reaction that the particular piece of art got to decide wheether or not it really had a function.

Article No. 8: posted by student 1 on Tue, Feb. 1, 2000, 09:03 Subject: Assignment for Feb. 1

The art could be some sort of religious ceremony since the most elaborate pieces are drawn where it is hard to notice. Plus, the fact that the art is painted over many times shows they did not cherish the piece forever. Also, they tend to draw animals mainly, so they could have been praising the animals or praying for a good hunt. I think whatever the reason, it is amazing that they could draw some of the animals the size of real life. That shows the uniqueness of the artists.

Article No. 9: posted by student 9 on Tue, Feb. 1, 2000, 10:08 Subject: Paleolithic Cave Art

There are several steps I would take to analyze a source of Paleolithic cave art. I would study other cave art found in relatively close regions. I would look at what each historian concluded about the art he/she was examining. Then, I would research the area I was studying to the maximum capacity. I would learn what kind of people had lived, migrated, and dominated in the area from the beginning of dirt until the most recent time period. I would then determine which time period of art I was to be analyzing. If some pictures were painted on top of other pictures, I might have to look into more than one time period. I would look into religious rituals and methods of entertainment to decide whether or not the pictures on the wall were drawn as entertainment or for a purpose. I would also study how the people hunted in that time period so that I could determine whether or not the cave walls were used as a religious hunting ceremony or for just plain target practice. At last, I would use all of my research and data to make a reasonable theory of the time period, the people, the animals, and what their cave art represented. -

Article No. 10: posted by student 8 on Tue, Feb. 1, 2000, 10:33 Subject: Paleolithic Cave Art

If I were a historian I would first look at the cave art and try to distinguish what the pictures represented. For example, animals would probably represent the animals that were hunted for food; this would tell me what kind of animals they ate for food. There also might be pictures of the different types of weapons they used to hunt with. There would probably be pictures of spears and bow and arrows. You might could also tell what kind of religious beliefs they practiced. Maybe there could be pictures of the different gods or symbols of religion. There are many things that you can learn from art in ancient times and present times.

Article No. 13: [Branch from no. 10] posted by student 3 on Tue, Feb. 1, 2000, 14:44 Subject: re: Paleolithic Cave Art

We can learn a lot from the cave art from the Paleothic Era. From the cave art, we can learn about their religious pratices. Some of the drawings could represent their gods and the animals they may have held holy or sacred. From seeing the animals in the cave art, we can assume they relied on the animals for food. Since the cave art had hunters with bow and arrows, they probably hunted with bow and arrows instead of guns. We can also assume from the cave art that this may have also been one of their forms of communication. These are the assumptions I would make about cave art if I were a historian.

Article No. 14: posted by student 29 on Tue, Feb. 1, 2000, 18:52 Subject: paleolithic cave art

If I were analyzing a primary source document to a paleolithic cave, I would look for the remians of anything left in the cave. These findings can tell you many things. They can reveal thte progress of humankind throughout history. The earliest remains are almost four billion years old. Many things found in caves can tell someone a lot about time periods, the people, and their way of life.

Article No. 15: posted by student 8 on Tue, Feb. 1, 2000, 23:12 Subject: paleolithic cave art

If I were a historian analyzing a primary source in a cave, I would look at several things. I would first observe the dirt and natural surroundings of the cave. Nature is always a huge help when analyzing historical sources and documents such as cave art. I would also pay close attention to the art work itself. The types of drawings are historical evidence. The sizes are also a clue. I would try to figure out the tools used by the artist. Hopefully, by studying the peice of cave art I would be able to learn something about the history of the artist and his civilization.

Article No. 22: posted by student 10 on Wed, Feb. 2, 2000, 21:39 Subject: Paleolithic Cave Art

If I were a historian and had just come across new cave art, first I would research the area and the people who once lived there. Hopefully this could give me some clue as to who the artists were. After that I would use some sort of dating method to determine exactly how old the paintings were. I would also be very interested in what types of dyes and tools were used in creating the art work. Locating any artifacts would also be very helpful. Possibly by determing what time period the art was created and what kinds of tools were used a general idea of who these people were and what the painting were could be determined. Was there some sort of symbolism involed, or were they for religious perposes, or even target practice.

Article No. 57: posted by student 7 on Fri, Feb. 4, 2000, 13:25 Subject: Paleolithic Cave Art

If I was a historian and I found a new cave I would look at many factors within the cave. The first thing I would examine would be the drawings themselves. These drawings are composed for a reason and once that reason is discovered I would be able to know a little about the people of the cave. Most of the drawings in the caves are usually layered on each other. This fact shows that the animals drawn had some meaning to the people. Two meanings that have been analyzed are for hunting reasons or ritualistic or worshiping reasons. I would also like to find how they got the color for the drawings and what tools were used to make the art. From knowing only these few facts about the drawings, I believe that we would know more about the people of the cave and their surroundings.

Article No. 58: posted by student 2 on Fri, Feb. 4, 2000, 13:36 Subject: Cave Art

If I was a historian and looked at cave art I would want to learn more about the cave people. I would want to know what the paintings mean and why they were drawn on the walls. I would be interested in finding a few tools which were used to make these drawings, also. The use of color is amazing so I would like to know how the color was composed in the early years. One fact that has already been discovered is the Cro Magnon people would spit on the walls to project these images. This is only one of many that I would be interested in if I was a historian. I believe that the cave drawings are very unusual.

Article No. 59: posted by student 30 on Fri, Feb. 4, 2000, 13:37 Subject: Paleolithic cave art

If I was a historian I would think about the people who made the art, their rituals, how they lived and see if the art expressed their spiritual meetings or whether the pictures were used to communicate to each other. Like the animals would be spiritual, I think so. I think the other designs and letters would either show events that happened or tell of a legacey. I think that the pictures they drew are kind of like when we put events on our calendars at home.

Article No. 60: posted by student 20 on Fri, Feb. 4, 2000, 17:07 Subject: Paleolithic Cave Art

If I was a historian analyzing the cave art I would probably visit the caves and look at all the images the Cro Magnon Cultue produced. I would know these images were from the Cro Maganon culture because they were the first artists. I would be interested to learn from these images, on what knids of animals lived and how the people hunted, and even how they lived. It is interesting how these people could produce certain paints to write with that have lasted for years after. I think these people wanted others to learn of their culture and how they lived and maybe even how the people in the present could learn from them and the images they left for us to see.

Article No. 64: posted by student 17 on Sun, Feb. 6, 2000, 12:55 Subject: Paleolithic Cave Art

There are many ways in which I would examine the cave paintings if I was an historian. I would begin by determing things such as its color, composition, mood and lighting. I would see if it portrayed unity and balance or if it portrayed movement. I would notice in these cave paintings that I found that they all portrayed animals. I would assume from this that it was used as maybe a ritual from a good hunt, or animals were highly praised. I would also determine that the caves were very sacrid because they were so difficult to get to. I would imagine they were scary due to the poor lighting available. I would also notice that they were sometimes painted over each other maybe because a new image was needed. I would conclude by trying to see if their was an underlying meaning that they were trying to express, and from these conclusions I would try to determine the feeling they must have enured during their life time.

Article No. 69: posted by student 24 on Tue, Feb. 8, 2000, 00:16 Subject: Paleolithic Cave Art

A historian's definition of a primary source would probably be any form of written or visual record of a time period. An example of this is art which is a good expression of what occured during that time period. It could express the ways in which people worked, people's views, or just the ways in which they survived. The cave paintings in Lascaux expressed the ways of life during the Paleolithic culture. The people during theis time were hunters of animals such as deer, lions, bulls and zebras. Through different methods of studying, historian's have discovered that the caves were a place of prayer for these humans. The women of this time were considered healers and nuturers and their images represented pregnancy. The main goal of the humans was to in their own way, manipulate nature.

Article No. 79: posted by student 23 on Tue, Feb. 8, 2000, 22:24 Subject: Paleolithic Cave Art

If I were an historian, who is analyzing cave art this is what I would do. First I would try to identify anything in the art that looks familair. Then I would look at the art and try to determine a sequence of which it was painted, and even if there is a sequence. Secondly, I would document any form of animals or humans used in the art. Thirdly, I would try to determine what was used to draw the art onto the cave. Fouthly, I would take pictures. I would then find about the history of where the cave was found and see if I could make any connections. After all of that is done, I would go back to the cave and analyze some more.

Article No. 99: posted by student 16 on Tue, Feb. 15, 2000, 10:18 Subject: Paleolithic cave art

Personally I see cave art as a way of showing an art form without really calling it art. When the composers of these wall paintings did them, they did not think thousands of years down the road they would have someone finding them. They were simply recording events of the day in a way they could express themselves. Through the drawings they told events of every day occurances such as hunting and gathering, but they also explain many things such as weather patterns, changes of landforms, and things that did not occur every day which help us understand the way life was so many years ago. The way the paleolithic people expressed their daily occurances is the way we see what they did as art.

Article No. 102: posted by student 36 on Tue, Feb. 15, 2000, 14:16 Subject: Paleolithic Cave Art

I have read many of my classmates responses about cave art and I agree with many of them. The creaters of what we now call cave art weren't trying to create art, they were just simply displaying what they knew. This turned out to be great for us because we can and do use it (cave art) as a tool of learning about history. By unintentionally recording their lives they gave us the ability to understand how we have evolved. One day people will look back at the things we do and the way we do them and maybe they will consider something that we don't even think about as art.

Article No. 104: posted by student 37 on Tue, Feb. 15, 2000, 19:50 Subject: Paleolithic Cave Art

If I were a historian studying a primary source of cave art. First I would determine what it was, to the best of my knowledge, the the art was depecting. Then I would perhaps study similar cultures of the time and I would compare what beliefs of the more known cultures to the things I was studying in the primary sources. I know that different cultures believed different things, but perhaps it would shed some light on what it was that I was studying. I would also look at the surroundings of the area and see if perhaps they had an influence on the culture in any way, and I would also use them to syudy the source.

Article No. 114: posted by student 4 on Sun, Feb. 20, 2000, 15:21 Subject: Paleolithic cave art

When trying to locate a primary source for the paleolithic cave art, I would focus on finding information within the actual caves the art is displayed. The information and evidence stored in these caves are non replacable and reveal information of no other secondary sources. The people and the surroundings of the area would be helpful in finding information within the culture which may lead to some answers to what the art means and represents. Artifacts are a great primary source to learn about the tools that were used to construct these great works of art. The art could possibly reveal information leading to certain religous practices as well as the different animals hunted by the paleolithic people.

Article No. 117: posted by student 31 on Mon, Feb. 21, 2000, 19:27 Subject: paleolithic cave art

Paleolithic cave art was created by humans and it relfects the way of life that was experienced at that time. The cave art can be used as a primary source since it contains information that was important to the cro magnon. The tools used to make the cave art are important in the work of a historian since it tells so much about what resources were available. Historians believe that the pictures were drawn to show a hunting ritual. Artifacts are a primary source and there were many artifacts used in the caves such as thumb notches, pebble tools, and the Oldwun industry.

Article No. 27: posted by student 6 on Wed, Feb. 2, 2000, 22:54 Subject: Paleolithic Cave Art

If I were a historian looking at Paleolithic cave art, I would look for some essential characteristics of paintings to associate with the cultures from the Paleolithic Era. For example, if there were a painting of a man with a sloping forehead and a chin that was close to the neck region, then I would associate that painting with the Neanderthals. Another example of Neanderthal art may be a painting of someone in a fetile posotion or a painting thtat suggests afterlife. Art that may suggest Cro-Magnon art would be paintings or carvings of animals. These animals may represent hunting rituals or the inability of the Cro-Magnon people to distinguish between themselves and nature. so, if I were a historian, I would focus on the facts I already knew about the Paleolithic Era and try to associate, as closely as I could, the art to the group of people that would make that kind of art.

Article No. 115: [Branch from no. 4] posted by student 34 on Mon, Feb. 21, 2000, 09:10 Subject: re: Paleolithic Cave Art

Article No. 10: posted by student 11 on Tue, Feb. 1, 2000, 10:33 Subject: Paleolithic Cave Art

Article No. 14: posted by student 27 on Tue, Feb. 1, 2000, 18:52 Subject: paleolithic cave art

Article No. 15: posted by student 8 on Tue, Feb. 1, 2000, 23:12 Subject: paleolithic cave art

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