Was European Cave Art the Earliest Form of Cinema?

By ⋅ June 14, 2012 ⋅ Post a comment
Lions painted in the Chauvet Cave. (Photo: HTO/Wikimedia Commons)

Lions painted in the Chauvet Cave. (Photo: HTO/Wikimedia Commons)

Some cave paintings dating as far back as 30,000 years may have been man’s earliest entertainment.

French archaeologist and filmmaker Marc Azéma has spent 20 years studying movement in animal cave paintings in France and Spain and he’s concluded that the images were designed to be looked at sequentially, much like a cartoon or film.

The World’s Carol Hills reports on what may be the earliest form of cinema.


Discussion

6 comments for “Was European Cave Art the Earliest Form of Cinema?”

  • mapsym68

    Is it your technical problem or mine?  MS just issued some updates before my first attempt to view the video.  It says “loading” but nothing happens..

  • mapsym68

    Is it your technical problem or mine?  MS just issued some updates before my first attempt to view the video.  It says “loading” but nothing happens..

    • http://www.facebook.com/carol.hills.14 Carol Hills

      I’m able to play it. I think it may be on your end. Sorry about that. Hope it gets resolved. Thanks for visiting the Cartoons page!

  • AnnGMorrone
  • dr_mouse

    I’m very skeptical.  If Mr. Azéma takes three pictures of the same species, each in a  different position, then shows them to you in the order that he chooses, then Mr. Azéma has created animation (whether ancient cave artists intended it or not).
    When a torch light flickers, it gets brighter and darker in alternation.  Everything it illuminates also gets brighter and darker in alternation.  Two pictures of the same species that are close together on a wall (see lions at Chauvet) will BOTH get brighter and darker, at the same time.  They will not alternate which one is brighter.  I’m not sure there will be any sense of movement.
    I tried flickering a light over an 8×10 of the Chauvet lions, while standing in a dark room.  I got nothing.  Maybe you just have to be there.  Maybe you just have to believe very hard.

    • onaccounta

      What’s important to note about the cave paintings is that they are not painted on a flat surface. So flickering light over a flat sheet of paper will not give the same effect as the actual three-dimensional cave wall. If you haven’t seen it, I would recommend Werner Herzog’s documentary Cave of Forgotten Dreams, which really gives a sense of the way the paintings interact with the natural rock formations. Fascinating stuff!