The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1909-06-13
PREHISTORIC PAINTINGS.
Works Of Talented Artists Wond erful
Drawings OF Animals.

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Works Of Talented Artists-Wonde rful
Drawings Of Animals.
II the discoveries in the domain OF
historic research have excited our aston
ishment. the more remote and mystic
region Of the prehistoric would seem to be
in no way lacking in surprises. The
prevalent idea that the men Of the stone
ages, especially those OF the far distant
paleolithio period. were crude savages,
but little removed from the animals with
whom they associated, will have to be
considerably modified in the light Of re-
cent discoveries.
When We speak, of prehistoric art the
reader is apt to think Of rude soratchings
childlike In their simplicity. To say that
in the fer distant millennia Of the paleo-
lithio ag there were draughtsJnen.
painters and s~oulpters whose works would
far surpass those Of many existing peoples
is a statement which would probably be
received with ridicule. Nevertheless 1t
is a fact. writes ". st. Chad Boscawen in
the London Globe.
Man is the only animal hat draws. 1t
is this possession OF the graphic instinct
common to all races. from the highest
to the lowest in all times and ages, which
30 raises man above the simian family.
The most intelligent OF the ~anthropoids
has never exhibited the slightest sign OF
the graphic instinct, nor a he be taught
to draw. Man not only possessed this
innate faculty but he utilized IL at a very
early period and depicted in an aston
:.ki-- .ono-. HE .nx;r,npnont
Thanks to the artistic talent OF the
men of the quaternary period-when
west central Europe had a climate similar
to that Of Lapland-we have preserved
to us O series Of sketches OF the animals
amid whom man struggled for his exist
ence. From the caves Of the valley OF
the vezere, in the Dordogne, come a
series OF drawings, paintings and carvings
which show that man of the paleo-
lithic age was a very talented artist.
Here have been found drawings OF
the mammoth which on comparison
with the splendidly preserved specimen
in the Russian National Museum show
a marvellous accuracy. So we have
depicted for us the cave bear the bison.
the reindeer. the horse. wild boar m
other animals in a perfectly lifeiike
manner.
The wealth OF animal life in those re-
mote ages must have been
The ivory supply of Russia for years
has been obtained from the extinct mann
moths in the ice OF the north, hardly
a gold mine in Yukon is without It's de-
post OF mammoth tusks. and 1t Is calcu.
lated that in one prehistoric settlement
in France there are the bones OF over
IOO. 900 horses that have been killed for
food purposes.
Dordogne are even surpassed In artistic
merit by the wonderful paintings IN the
v Of Alnnira. near Santander. IN
Riyiere. Cartailhac and Breuii. These
drawings are remarkable for their size.
their lifelike accuracy and the brilliancy
of their coloring. Many Of the drawings
are three-auarter life in size. one picture
of a bison being six feet in length We
have here drawings OF the b'son' WHO
boar, horse and elk.
The drawings are executed with great
care and show no infantile beginnings;
but are the work Of artists OF . school
lone established. The technique Is aston
ishing; the drawing is outlined with a
stone scraper on the rock and then the en-
craving is filed in with black or RED.
and Inc uKuTe 10 'HCh ~
the best preserved specimen. the bison, or
Bos primogenus. the outline 10 hlled IN
with red. which il oxide Of iron or fer
rn9inous clay. The body Is colored with
various ochres red. yellow and brown.
So highly finished were these drawings
that for a time anthropologists remained
incredulous as to their being the work oil
the palRolithic age.
On this point the geological evidence
is beyond all possible doubt. The de-
posts which have filled up the cave are
Of the quaternary period. In the caves OF
the Gironde similar colored drawings on
bones have been found in ~palisolithic
in the grotto Of Mouthe In the Dordosne.
The animals IT fauna Of this picture gal
lery are Of a class that is now nearly
all extinct.
Lastly, We come to the most %astonish-
ing feature OF all in regard TO these ancient
works Of art. Were they found on the
sides Of ellis IN the open ar or m vel
prise us. but the drawings at Almlra
we're In the pitch dark innermost recesses
OF the cave, and high up on platform
lodges, to which the primitive artist had
10 scramble. As q proof OF the darkness,
to photograph one Of these paintings an
o,lired. and an exposure Of four hours.
The Egyptians, in long tunnelled rock
IKE that OF seti l.. which goes $50
feet into the mountain Of the Beban
Moiuk, used mirrors. but the artists OF
Almira had NO such aids, II lamps we're
though IL II true that in course OF
this would oxidize and fall away.
The prehistoric lamp must have been a
verN smoky article. probably as primitive
a. that Of the Esquimaux OF the Aleuaan
Islands, which are naturally hoilowed
rock fragments. and smoke n smell
horribly. .
Among the objects found in the caves
we're several hollow stones. primitive NOR
tars, in which ochre had been III d
and also hollow horns Of reindeer filed
With powdered oohre-the primitive fore
runners OF the modern moist PIC TUBE;
the historic in it's astonishments.
rru NAV MARRIAGES,