Question

Answer the following question in 3-4 complete sentences.

A handprint is outlined by dark speckles on a cave wall. The cave wall and the hand are the same color. A black cave drawing of humans and animals created without rounded lines.
The image on the left is an example of cave art from the Upper Paleolithic period. The image on the right is an example from the Neolithic period. Compare and contrast these two examples of cave art.

Answer 1

Both images are prehistoric cave paintings that use pigment on rock to record human presence and images of people and animals. The Upper Paleolithic example is a hand stencil made by spraying or spattering pigment around a hand, producing a direct, personal negative impression of the body. The Neolithic drawing is later, executed in black linear strokes without rounded contours, more schematic and stylized in its depiction of humans and animals. Together they show a change in technique and emphasis over time: Paleolithic marks are intimate and immediate, while Neolithic compositions tend toward deliberate, abstracted representation and different social or symbolic concerns.