World History I

Chapter 1: The African Origins of Humanity
Prehistory-10,000 BCE

9: Wed, Oct 1, 2025

One of my favorite websites is the History of Art: The Origins and Evolution of the Visual Arts, which includes a large section on "Stone Age Art", including both the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods. It is a great resource on prehistoric artifacts and the current archaelogical analysis being conducted, as well some of controversies surrounding different conclusions about these artifacts.

Your text mentions several sites containing art work by Paleolithic artists (this is not an exhaustive list!)

• the oldest paintings discovered so far at El Castillo, Spain
• the monochrome paintings in Chauvet Cave in France
• the Apollo 11 Cave in Namibia
• the Bradshaw Paintings in Kimberly, Australia

I would also like to draw your attention to the number of cave paintings that include hand stencils. These may be found at

• Sulawesi - Indonesia (37 900 BCE)
• El Castillo - Spain (37 300 BCD)
• Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc - France (30 000 BCE)
• Ubirr Rock - Australia (30 000 BCE)
• Kalimantan - Indonesia (8000 BCE)
• Cueva de las Manos in Santa Cruz, Argentina (7300 BCE)
• Elends Bay — South Africa (4000 BCE)
• HandPrint Cave — Belize (1500 BCE)

Look up at least two of the rock painting sites mentioned in your text and compare them:

• Do the artists use similar tools and paints?
• Do the artists depict similar subjects?
• Do the artists use similar styles or different styles?

Then look at two different hand stencil painting sites and compare them.

What conclusions could you draw about the people who made these pictures?

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