What is the Paleolithic art period?

The Upper Paleolithic (Late Stone Age, c. 50,000 to c. 12,000 years ago) is the period in human prehistory when we see the emergence of art. Upper Paleolithic art is usually divided into two categories: rock/cave art and portable art such as animal and anthropomorphic figurines.

Did any paintings survive from the Paleolithic period?

Yes, there are surviving cave paintings from the Paleolithic period. The most famous ones include Altamira Cave in Spain, and Lascaux Cave and Chauvet Cave in France.

Paleolithic Art

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by Ibolya Horváth
published on 11 June 2024

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Paleolithic Cave Painting in Altamira Cave

by Dario Lorenzetti
published on 13 November 2015

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Paleolithic Cave Painting in Altamira Cave — View Full-Size Image

Upper Paleolithic art in Altamira Cave, in Santillana del Mar (Cantabria region), Spain. The paintings in the cave date from the Middle Magdalenian to the Gravettian period.

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Questions & Answers

What is the Paleolithic art period?: The Upper Paleolithic (Late Stone Age, c. 50,000 to c. 12,000 years ago) is the period in human prehistory when we see the emergence of art. Upper Paleolithic art is usually divided into two categories: rock/cave art and portable art such as animal and anthropomorphic figurines.
Did any paintings survive from the Paleolithic period?: Yes, there are surviving cave paintings from the Paleolithic period. The most famous ones include Altamira Cave in Spain, and Lascaux Cave and Chauvet Cave in France.

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Original image by Dario Lorenzetti. Uploaded by Dominique Chapman, published on 13 November 2015. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. When republishing on the web a hyperlink back to the original content source URL must be included. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.