El Castillo Cave

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El Castillo Cave:
Thought to hold some of the oldest cave art in Europe, which dates as far back as roughly 40,000 years ago. This site is located in northern Spain in the Puente Viesgo municipality, where a number of other sites were also discovered. This location would have been an ideal hunting environment near the Atlantic coast, and was mostly likely capable of supporting several populations during the Upper Palaeolithic. El Castillo cave contains murals of red ochre disks, hand stencils and abstract art belonging to the Aurignacian period. In addition, it also has depictions of horses, bison, deer and mammoths associated with Solutrean art.
Altamira Cave:
Found in the province of Santander, Spain. This cave dates back to 35,000 …show more content…

Due to the glacial melt of the last ice age, 3/4 of the cave art has been destroyed, and the only way to enter this cave is through an underwater entrance 40 meters below sea level. The art in this cave has both Gravettian and Solutrean period art. It consists of 177 engraved and painted animal figures, including an anthropomorphic figure of a human figure with a seal's head, and numerous hand stencils.
Lascaux Cave:
Discovered near the French city of Montignac, Lascaux cave paintings are compared to the superb quality seen at Altamira cave. Dating between 17,000 - 15,000 years ago, this cave has over 2,000 figures ranging from animals to geometric shapes and symbols. The realism and extensive use of colour pigments make this cave stand out from many others, and was named in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Rouffignac …show more content…

Located in France, this cave depicts many different animals, including 1/3 of all mammoth paintings found in Europe, which is its nick named the ‘Cave of the Hundred Mammoths’. It also includes abstract symbols, finger flutings, and is famous for anthropomorphic figures known as ‘Adam and Eve’. Furthermore, there is section in the cave called the ‘Grand Ceiling’, which hosts some of the best art in the entire cave, but is located in a seemingly difficult place to access, which probes why it would be painted there. This cave dates as far back as 14,000 years ago.
Cave Art Interpretations

Interpretations and hypotheses regarding the purpose of parietal art have constantly been fluctuating and conflicting since the recognition of Upper Palaeolithic art in the early 20th century. Whether it was simply a form of expression, the attempt to communicate, a resulting activity of ritual practices, or even unassuming entertainment. Its safe to say that there is no scientific consensus on the purpose of cave art. However, there are certain hypotheses that hold more scientific weight than

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