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Cave artists
It was a summer afternoon in 1879; Marceuno De Satuola was visiting a newly discovered cave in northern Spain. Suddenly from the depths of a side chamber, came a scream from his ten-year-old daughter, Maria. "Bulls, papa Bulls! Come quickly!"
Alarmed De Satuola darted into the room. The little girl pointed to the wall of the cave, which was covered with paintings. They were of extinct animals painted in Brown, red, yellow and black. The paintings were of a charging wild boar, a horse, a deer and a wolf.
The discovery of the paintings flung open a window to the unsuspected human history. The paintings were done between 30,000 and 10,000 B.C. They were painted over a span of time in different stages.
The cave dwellers who lived at this time are called co-magnon. They were of the same size as people today. They had straight limbs and high foreheads.
The paintings were done because of superstition. The cave dwellers thought that if they draw an animal with a spear on its side, their hunt would be successful. The cave men drew an outline of an animal, and then coloured it with colours made from powdered iron-ore, mixed with animal fat and plant juices.
Ashmitha R, VII
Bangalore: Royal School, Jayanagar
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