The Chauvet Caves

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The Chauvet Caves The discovery of the Chauvet changed the importance of cave paintings because they were the oldest know, and are also the most advanced in their naturalism. They have extraordinary representation for the actual appearance of animals. When I describe these caves as being the oldest around, ill be more descriptive. These caves were found as early as 30,000 years ago. Finding such amazing descriptive pictures of animals, 60 percent of these animals painted on these walls were never, or rarely, hunted. These such, animals consisted of lions, rhinos, bears, panthers, and woolly mammoths. These animals rarely got hunted because they were almost considered sacred to these people. This was discovered by the use of color of these paintings made them very symbolic. Each color was symbolic be the location of were each painting was in the cave. For instance, the paintings that were closer to entrance of the cave were natural reds. Paintings further into the caves were painted in black due to the high amount or manganese dioxide. The Chauvet were found in France. These caves for instance may be known as gateways to the underworld and death, as symbols of the womb and birth. The general agreement of the animals in the paintings were or by species and genders, often-distinct chambers of the caves. These painting felt as if they told a story, a story we still believe to be untold. In conclusion, this discovery of the Chauvet caves changed the knowledge, research, and purpose of caves from there on out. Now every time a new cave is discovered we will always look further into finding paintings. Meaning, “ a hole in rocks,” is so much more then that, more like a “sacred

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