Writing Without Paper - Luke Locken

 Cave Paintings of America

    Chumash Painted Cave, Santa Barbara CA

Cave paintings of the Chumash people. (600-1000 years old)

Cave paintings are found all over the world, even in America. They are not as old as the well-known Lascaux or Chauvet Cave in France; however, they still show how people she the world in the time period they were created. The Chumash people used vibrant reds, yellow, white, blue, green and black to draw their paintings with. These paints came from local mineral like hematite or red ochre. Some believe the circular symbols represent a solar eclipse. This is because the painting age match when one happened. Most painting are believed to have religious meanings.

Cumberland Valley Caves, TN

 Photo by: Jan Simek et al/Antiquity Publications LTD

The oldest painting found in North America were found in the Cumberland Valley Caves in Tennessee. These are estimated to be 6,000 years old. These paintings show mankind lived in the Appalachian Mountains before previously thought. Only a few paintings in the valley date that far back. "Some are thought to be as recent as the 11th to 17th century." (15 Oldest Cave Paintings in the World, 2018).

Chumash Rock Painting, Painted Cave, Santa Barbara CA

The most destructive thing to any cave painting is vandalism. The Chumash people made some of the most elaborate and colorful paintings in the world (Cave Paining, 2022). But this did not keep people from carving their initials into the painting as seen in the picture above. These painting are now protected by the state; however, we don't know how much cave art has been destroyed throughout history. The cave painting in France were lucky to have been sealed off from people for most of their existence. Most are not so lucky. We now try to preserve these paintings to show the culture the used to be there.  These paintings are great examples of our history of communication of technology and that is why they should be preserved.

references:

15 Oldest Cave Paintings in the World (2018, 16 November). Prehistory Art Lists. Artlists.org. Received from 15 Oldest Cave Paintings in the World (artlists.org)

Cave Painting (2022).  Anthropology. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Received from Cave Painting | Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History (sbnature.org)

Cave Paintings of the Chumash People (2014). Parks and Recreation, State of California. Received from Cave Paintings of the Chumash People