Altamira?

I titled this blog "From Altamira to Andy Warhol" with one goal in mind: to look at the development of art from its very beginnings in order to better understand art in our modern times. To root the blog, I chose two representatives from the art world from dramatically different time periods to illustrate how far art has come since the Upper Paleolithic period.
I chose Altamira to represent the earliest periods of pre-historic art because of its status as one of our best-known parietal art (a.k.a. "cave art") sites. It was also the first stone age cave site to be discovered that had paintings inside. Since it's discovery in 1879, it has opened the way for the discovery, excavation, and analysis of hundreds more Upper Paleolithic cave art sites throughout Europe.

Altamira Cave paintings

These beautiful figures in the Altamira Caves were painted in the Magdalenian phase of the Upper Paleolithic, which lasted from 20,000 to 11,000 years ago. Altamira is also the home of the oldest painted example of "art" discovered to date, the red dot discussed in a previous post. The cave ceiling is particularly grand, showing many figures of bison and other animals. It is commonly thought that the depictions represent images of a hunt, which was the predominant subsistence strategy of Upper Paleolithic peoples. If so, the illustrations may express ideas relating to animal fertility or represent a form of sympathetic magic, such that by painting scenes of the hunt, the people would have been more likely to be successful in later hunting ventures. 

The Great Ceiling at Altamira, notable for its many bison figures

Going beyond Altamira, a variety of interpretations have been proposed for the production of cave art in general, including (but not limited to): 
1. figures as representations of totems, standing for certain individuals or groups 
2. painting as an act of sympathetic magic (as suggested for the Altamira cave art)
3. scenes shown as products of shamanic hallucinogenic events
4. or simply "art for art's sake"

One of the most interesting explanations that has been recently proposed, is that these paintings are actually examples of graffiti! Dale Guthrie published a book, The Nature of Paleolithic Art, in which he highlighted that the most common themes in Paleolithic art correspond to earthly or "casual" themes. Cave art in general is dominated by hunting scenes and images of female figures, or, put more plainly, "big mammals and big women." He analyzed many instances of parietal art, and determined that the majority were done sloppily and quickly by individuals of both sexes and of all ages. The themes of the images (hunting and women) suggest that most artists were young men, however. This evidence refutes the proposition that the images were painted by senior shamans, but is based on very modern conceptions of "teenage boy" behaviors, which are highly unlikely to have been the same during the Upper Paleolithic.

Tying our exploration of early art to the present, he other namesake of this blog, Andy Warhol, emerged some 20,000 years later and produced these iconic images. It is incredible to see how art has developed from prehistory to our modern times!

 

sources:

• Bicho, N., Carvalho, A.F, Gonzalez-Sainz, C., et al. 2007. The Upper Paleolithic Rock Art of Iberia. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory. 14:81-151.
• Cave of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain. UNESCO. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/310.
• Fritz, C., Tosello, G. 2007. The Hidden Meaning of Forms: Methods of Recording Paleolithic Parietal Art. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory. 14:48-80.
• Guthrie, R.D. 2006. The Nature of Paleolithic Art. University of Chicago Press. vii-x. http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/311260.html. 

images:

• Ceiling:http://www.spainisculture.com/export/sites/cultura/multimedia/galerias/museos/mugran_techo_museo_altamira_c.jpg_1306973099.jpg
• Altamira: http://www.elpais.com/recorte/20100608elpepucul_4/LCO340/Ies/cuevas_Altamira.jpg
• Soup: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/95/Warhol-Campbell_Soup-1-screenprint-1968.jpg/170px-Warhol-Campbell_Soup-1-screenprint-1968.jpg
• Marilyn: http://utenti.romascuola.net/bramarte/pop%20art/img/war1.jpg

Seeing Red

Sites that represent early "artistic" tendencies are notable for the prevalence of the color red found in the material record, specifically in the form of red ochre. What does this mean? Could it be just that red ochre was the only material available, or does the prevalence of red at these sites indicate something deeper, like an early form of symbolism? 

Some researchers have proposed that the preference for certain colors (usually red or black) indicates that symbolic meanings were embedded in these types of materials, usually ochre. At Blombos Cave in South Africa, evidence of a 100,000 year-old "paint workshop" has been found, where ochre was fixed with marrow fat to make paint. Another site, the 92,000 year-old Qafzeh Cave site in Israel, is also notable for its ochre remains. A team of researchers working at Qafzeh Cave determined that the ochre remains found there were mined and selected specifically for their red hue. They asserted that these findings represent an early form of symbolic behavior incorporating the use of color.

A selection of common modern color-associations

Symbolic color systems are found throughout the world in modern human societies. Some scholars believe that these or similar systems were around at the time of the Qafzeh Cave occupation. This belief is supported by the notion that human brain anatomy from that time (about 92,000 years ago) was similar to that of modern Homo sapiens today. In any case, red in particular carries a lot of symbolic power throughout the world. In modern societies, it is often associated with life, success, and victory; and red is thought to have been associated with life, death, menstruation, and fertility in prehistoric times, as well. 

It is important to be aware that some scholars have proposed practical, rather than symbolic, functions for the ochre, such as in medicine or as a sealing substance. It is very difficult to draw conclusions about a subject as abstract as color symbolism, so we may never be certain about the true significance of the ochre remains at sites like Qafzeh and Blombos Caves.  

sources:

• Hovers et al. 2003. "An Early Case for Color Symbolism: Ochre Use by Modern Humans in Qafzeh Cave". Current Anthropology. 4:491-522
• Wilford, JN. "In African Cave, Signs of an Ancient Paint Factory". New York Times. 10/13/2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/14/science/14paint.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ref=johnnoblewilford&adxnnlx=1348722285-Shsqq6HAEKa6TljExgTewA

images:

• Ochre: http://www.bnminerals.com/red-ochre-mineral.htm
• Chart: https://teknonics.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/color-meanings.gif