Whether the caving paintings of Lascaux were made to ensure successful hunting.
1、Some of the animals people hunt are not appearing in the cave paintings, such as rhinoceros and cats. Reindeers should be in the painting, however they are not. Also, there are just a small group of wounded animals in the painting, and no evident shows the relationship between these animals and people.
2、The real meaning of the human figures in the cave painting is still unknown. We can see that in these paintings, human figures are not standing up, they seem to be horizontal, a
The cave painting of Lascaux (near southwestern France) dating back to 15,000 B.C.E, is among the finest examples of prehistoric art. Ever since it was discovered, scholars were puzzled over its purpose. According to a widely discussed interpretation, the cave painting was made to ensure the success of hunting. Several considerations are made to support this view.
1、First of all, there are animal subject matters in the cave painting. The animal figures are almost exclusively large mammals. These animals are bison, wild horses and extinct animals which are hunted by paleolithic hunters. Some animals are wounded by arrows and spears. The figures even include seasonal migration of these animals.
2、Second, the figures of human in the cave painting include that people that appeared to have animal heads. These people could be hunters. In some traditional cultures, hunters usually disguise themselves with animal heads when they are hunting to avoid themselves from being discovered by animals they are hunting.
3、Third, the description of events on cave painting is believed to happen in reality. In many cultures, from Paleolithic age to ancient, to modern times, figures in the cave painting are not merely for decoration, they are believed to have magic power and usually have cultural meanings. So the paleolithic people who create the cave painting of Lascaux might hope that they would hunt successfully by painting figures of successful hunting on the cave.