01 04 art u2b

Module

2B

A World of Mystery

In the depths of their caverns, the early men
from prehistoric Stone Age left their imprint.
Mysterious paintings that date from 30.000 BC
(before Christ) left scientists speechless when
they first saw them.

(1)

(3)

but the most
magnificent caves are situated in Lascaux,
France. On September 12, 1940, four teenagers
were hiking in the area when they accidentally
found these caves covered with nearly 2.000
drawings of animals, human figures and some
abstract signs. The cavemen painted these
images onto the walls using mineral pigments,
and some figures appear to be carved on the
stone. The most famous section of the cave is
The Great Hall of the Bulls with four black
bulls as dominant figures among other bulls,
horses and 36 different animals. Other famous
caves are the great Cuevas de Altamira in
Spain, the Cave of Swimmers in Egypt and the

Bhimbetka Rock Shelters in India, to name but
a few.

(4)

we can only
acknowledge that we are truly in the presence
of the birth of art.

about the
life of primitive men. The first paintings were
merely tracings of their own hands but then,
they evolved into drawings of large wild
animals, generally bison and mammoths.
One of the earliest cave paintings is in Cueva
de las Manos near Río de las Pinturas, in
Santa Cruz, Argentina. These old murals show
dozens of hands painted in black, red and
white, (2)
But, why did they do them? Scientists believe
that these were not for decorative purposes
since the caves where they were found were
not used for habitation. It seems that they used
them as means of communication. However,
other researchers strongly believe that they had
a religious or ceremonial purpose.

Blending Techniques used by cave artists:
• Brush the colours carefully with a feather.
• Paint with paint brushes made from horse hair.

• Spray paint through the hollow bone of a bird.

English Toolkit 1 - Art

Photocopiable © Ediciones Santillana S.A. / Richmond 2011

Cave paintings


Module

2B
Activities
1Complete the text with the following sentences.
aThere is evidence of this form of art in several places around the world,
b...representing the animals they used to hunt for food.
c These early works of art help us learn more…
dWhen confronted with these paintings,

2Complete the following sentences with Simple Past or Past Continuous.
(hike) in the area when they accidentally
(find) the Lascaux caves.
b The cavemen
(paint) animals they used to hunt for food.
c At the beginning, cavemen
(use) mineral pigments to
paint the walls.
d Scientists
(investigate) when they
(find)

out that the paintings
(not to be) decorative.

3Get in groups of three and choose one of the techniques described in the box
(in the case of the brushes just use regular old brushes if you have any). Make
a poster of your own cave painting using the technique chosen.

4Write a description of the poster in activity 3 and include
an explanation of your work.

English Toolkit 1 - Art

Photocopiable © Ediciones Santillana S.A. / Richmond 2011

aFour teenagers