The Washington herald., 1911-02-05
NEW DISCOVERIES
THROW LIGHT ON
PREHISTORIC ART

In searching the records Of prehistoric
man nothing is more interesting than
to witness his early efforts In the arts.
Almost from the moment he began to
show human intelligence man begAn to
make drawings and ornamental objects.
Drawings dating from the Old Stone Age
have been found in the Magdalena caves
in vezere and other parts OF Southern
France. These drawings are probably
20ooo years old. and they show a consid-
cradle degree Of artistic skill.
A clever French artist, NJ. Paul Jamfn.
has painted a picture representing one
Of his colleagues of the Old Stone Age at
work. The palaeolithic artist is paint
ing on a rocky wall a picture of an an
rochs, an extinct European bison, which
is found over and over again in the
ancient cave drawings.
The artist does his work surrounded
by an admring group of Old Stone Age
women of attractive appearance, scantily
attired in skins. The artist wears an air
of intense self-satisfaction- He is plump
and evidently lives In luxury, supported
by the women and the men who hunt and
fight The titbits of the bear and bison
are saved and cooked for him.
An ancient warrior tells the artist about
the aurochs and IT'S habits. for the man
of art probably has no personal expert
ence with the dangerous beast. He must
stay at home and keep his hands soft and
fit for the brush and the craving instru-
ment
Worked Under Difffculties.
In a new book about these ancient
cave drawings, Louis Peralte, a French
artist. says:
THE firmness, the sure technique with
which they are executed is surprising.
There is. in the details of the bodies Of
the animals. in the limbs, and in the
attachment of the roofs, a fine observa-
ton
This work seems more remarkable
when the difficulties under which 1t was
executed are considered. Many of the
drawings are over six feet long and
usually on the walls of low caverns.
This compelled the artist to stoop or
lie on his back while making them. He
was thus deprived Of the opportunity to
step backward to consider the ensemble
Of his work, a habit which the modern
artist finds necessary in his work. In
many cases he must have labored by the
light of little clay lamps, remains OF
which have been found.
The efforts of prehistoric man were
by no means confined to pictorial art
From the earliest times he sought to
give al dlUStiC ana pledSiNg 10TH 10 tne
simple articles of domestic use which
he constructed. Many of these objects,
thousands of years old, are so we'll de-
signed that they delight the eye of the
art dealer to-day.
Examples in Peru.
Some Of the most interesting discov-
cries in prehistoric art have been made
in South America where extinct and
forgotten races have left extensive ruins
of all kinds. The British Museum has
just acquired from Hewitt Meyring, the
explorer. a large collection Of pottery
made by the ancient Cimus Of Peru.
1t IS estimated that these vessels are
more than 1000 years old. They are
we'll made and of attractive form. Some
of them are decorated with human fig
ures, which show that the men of those
times were as fond of elaborate bonncts
as the women of to-day.
The more Investigators dive into the
records of the past the more they are
impressed with the antiquity Of civiliza-
ton. 1t seems impossible to discover a
period of human society when men did
not possess a considerable degree of
skill.
The men Of the Old Stone Age. which
was immeasurably before the dawn of
any recorded history, carved their flintS
in a very intelligent manner. With the
horn and bene of the reindeer they made
knives, lance heads arrows, and needles,
not only with skill, but with artistic
taste.
Compared with these prehistoric men
the savages of to-day appear to be
rather degenerates than men in an early
stage OF development.