Chapter 2, Student Web Activities, Human Heritage: A World History, Glencoe, 2001-03

Student Web Activity

Chapter 2: Prehistoric People
"A Paleolithic Art Gallery"

Introduction
In December of 1994, a stunning discovery of more than 400 Paleolithic paintings and engravings was found in a cave at Vallon-Pont-d'Arc in the Ardèche region of France. Dating around 32,000 years before our time, these works offer a glimpse of Paleolithic humans and changed forever the scientific world's understanding of the development of prehistoric cave art. Take a tour of the cave and view the world's earliest known paintings by visiting The Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc Cave Web site.

Destination Title: The Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc Cave

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Directions
Start at The Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc Cave Web site.

Browse the Web site, taking notes as you go.
Read through the information, and then answer the following questions.

1. What traces of Paleolithic human beings are found in the cave?

2. What characteristics of the cave paintings helped scientists prove they were authentic?

3. What is remarkable about the types of animals depicted in the cave art?

4. The cave has numerable traces of a particular animal. Name the animal and describe the evidence that supports that this animal lived within the cave.

5. Imagine it is December 1994, and you are an archaeologist discovering the contents of the Chauvet Cave. On separate paper, make several sketches of the paintings and engravings so that you can share them with your colleagues back in Paris. Be sure to make sketches of the animals that were not normally depicted in Paleolithic art and label each sketch with the name of the animal depicted.