Long, long ago when woolly mammoths and saber-toothed tigers roamed the earth, people began creating drawings. They didn’t have paper or pencils, crayons or markers, because they were not invented yet, so they used sticks, bones, crushed minerals and cave walls to create their art. Sometimes, they even used their hands to make handprints on cave walls.
Kindergarten artists learned about La Cueva de las Manos (Cave of Hands). Inside this cave, located in Santa Cruz, Argentina, one can see hundreds of colourful handprints stencilled along the cave’s walls. The prehistoric artwork found in this desert cave is dated at around 5,000 BC. Archeologists believe that the cave dwellers created these prints using bone-made pipes and mineral pigments.
Image and information from: http://www.atlasobscura.com
We thought about the cave dwellers created this artwork. Some of the students ideas were:
-Maybe it was so that when they went for a walk they wouldn’t get lost, cause they would see the handprints.
-That’s how they would know that it was their cave!
-It was a way to tell others about themselves.
Now to create our own cave inspired art. First, the students used sponges and black, white, yellow, and red paint to create a textured look to their paper. Next, the best and messiest part…they splattered white and black paint to emulate the bone blown stenciled look. Finally, they printed white hand prints to create their masterpieces.