What was the purpose of the cave paintings?
Some historians suggest that the caves are less galleries than sanctuaries. The way the animal figures are placed within the winding tunnels and caverns of the cave suggests the paintings may have had a religious or mythological significance within the Magdalenian culture. Of all the animals depicted, the bison, or aurochs, is often the most prominent. These early hunters knew their prey intimately. The true-to-life details of the animals-the curve of the horn, the tuft of the tail or mane, the grace of motion-are obviously the result of close observation. Cave artists even observed their subjects with “x-ray” vision, sometimes showing an animal’s innards. Since many of the animals are shown pierced by spears, some scholars suggest that the paintings played a role in hunting magic. Seldom pictured, except in the cave in Chauvet, France, are threatening carnivores-lions, panthers, bears, hyenas. The discovery of this cave in late 1994, with its surprising gallery of images of predatory
