Investigating the Past!

      Archeologists study artifacts of early humans to understand our past, and find out how our ancestors are similar to us. Cave paintings help scientist understand how our ancestors were. 

Clay Sculptures-One of the sculptures discovered was of the 2 bison (probably bison). Some details about that sculpture  is that; A bison looked injured. The cause for me to think that was because that bison was leaning against the rock almost in a way humans would lean while in pain. Another detail is that it looks like one of the bison is looking at “water” behind it. The “water” looks like water because there seems to be a caved in place with blackish something in it. The bison peering over the rock made me come to the conclusion that it was looking at water (the blackish thing) with eagerness because it need to drink something. The final detail is that both the bison have cracks on them that tell me the sculpture is old. What we learnt from the sculptures is that the bison could be there to identify that certain clan. It could have also been used in important ceremonies to show that a child has become an adult (children’s footprints were found around the sculptures).

          

http://puffin.creighton.edu/bucko/courses/syllabi/images/buffalo.gif

       Shapes and Hand-Prints-Another one of the paintings was of shapes and hand-prints. The first detail is that it seems like there are gazelles panicking about some dangerous animal like a sabertooth for instance.The next detail is that there are small and large handprints printed on the wall.Another detail is that there are different kinds of lines drawn on the walls such as zigzags and circles.The final detail is that it seems like there are bugs on the picture, and the gazelles are running them over. We learnt from the sculptures that the hand-prints were the way the artists signed the painting. We also learnt that geometric shapes had special meanings in rituals. Another thing we learnt was that the areas where the painting was painted, were used for special gathering because the caves with the paintings caused voices to be the loudest compared to other caves without paintings. Finally, we learnt that the hand-prints in this cave painting were very small. Prehistoric people were probably much smaller than people are today. 

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:-hTt5moBAON8EM:http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb124/skimac/altamira.jpg&t=1Cave%20Paintings
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    Cave Painting of Animals- The final painting is of the Cave Paintings of Animals. Some details are that there is an unfinished animal painted on the wall.Another detail is that some animals look older than others in the painting because the paint is peeling. The next detail is that it looks like one of the animals are running away and jumping over the herd. The final detail is thatIt looks like the horses are running on the ledge because they are painted on a piece of rock slightly away from the rest of the painting.We learnt that the artists could have tried to capture the magical powers of certain animals. Another thing we learnt is that the painters possibly believed in spirits and created the art to honor or influence them. Finally we learnt that the paintings were used in rituals or ceremonies.

(sorry, no photo)