Word: altamira
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...most people, any mention of rock paintings immediately brings to mind the fabulous Paleolithic cave art at Lascaux in France and Altamira in Spain. But equally beautiful and sophisticated works can be found in great abundance on rock shelters, walls and overhangs throughout the African continent. Unfortunately, these ancient masterpieces are deteriorating at an alarming rate, and may disappear entirely unless something is done to save them...
...French cave suggests that prehistoric art did not mature in a simple linear fashion but may have been punctuated by the influence of individual geniuses. The images in the Chauvet cave date from 30,000 years ago, 12 to 18 millenniums before comparable ones at Lascaux, in France, and Altamira, in Spain, and much earlier than anyone thought possible for such realistic portraits...
When the French government last month announced that a local official, Jean-Marie Chauvet, had discovered the stunning Paleolithic cave near Avignon, experts swiftly hailed the 20,000-year-old paintings as a trove rivaling-and perhaps surpassing-those of Lascaux and Altamira. "This is a virgin site-it's completely intact. It's great art," exulted Jean Clottes, an adviser to the French Culture Ministry and a leading authority on prehistoric art. It has also reopened some of the oldest and least settled of questions: When, how and above all why did Homo sapiens start making...
...This expansion from the body to the inert surface was in itself a startling act of lateral thinking, an outward projection of huge cultural consequence, and Homo sapiens did not produce it quickly. As much time elapsed between the first recognizable art and the cave paintings of Lascaux and Altamira, about 15 to 20 millenniums, as separates Lascaux (or Chauvet) from the first TV broadcasts. But now it was possible to see an objective image in shared space, one that was not the property of particular bodies and had a life of its own; and from this point the whole...
More than 300 paintings were discovered late last year in a cave near the town of Vallon-Pont-d'Arc in southern France, the French government has revealed. Experts say the 20,000-year-old gallery may surpass the famous grottoes at Lascaux, France, and Altamira, Spain. The cavern was said to be perfectly intact, with animal bones, flint knives and even footprints preserved on the floor...