Without written documentation, the symbolism of these paintings can’t be confirmed, but many feature animals, abstract forms, and hand shapes. Lamps would illuminate the cave, paints were stored in stones and shells, and scaffolds could be made for access to new areas. Colors were created with manganese (black), ocher (pale yellow, brown), iron oxide (red), and yellow), and could be heated for slight variations. In the Pech-Merle Cave, stones were set up as an altar before Two Spotted Horses with Hands, and in Chauvet Cave a bear skull had been placed on a rock outcrop. Other than moving a few objects, the people went out of their way to leave all natural aspects of the caves …show more content…
Its works were undisturbed and were dated between 30,400 and 28,300 BCE by the 14C method. The cave can be entered by climbing down a small hole in the top, and contains many chambers covered with about 263 animals, including mammoths, horses, and bison. Other images included patterns of red dots, abstract patterns, and handprints. Most images have softened edges of a single color (usually red or black). Volume and perspective are shown in the back limbs of animals as they reced into the picture plane, and in the frontal and ¾ view turning of heads. The similarities between all of these paintings suggest a single designer, maybe with helpers who used a similar style. The sophistication of these earlier works in comparison to simpler ones later suggests that the development of cave art was not linear or based on a goal of