I can go with women did it.
There was a whole process, undercoating with a sap binder, then the collection of prepared pigments, gathered from far away, some heat treated, then crushed and ground to a powder. Unless you think of men crushing nuts, grinding grass seed, and being attracted to color and processes that would be discovered at the hearth, where burned gray rocks turn bright red. Ocher.
The other side is some of these paintings are miles underground, and seven meters up.The places that were painted do not show signs of habitation, but unpainted places close by do, smoke stained ceilings, bones, foot prints, of all sizes, showing the whole group likely wintered there. That was a lot to carry, firewood, logs, dragged for miles, then used to reach the ceiling, with pots of sap, prepared pigments, sticks chewed for brushes, and some designs etched on slate, small, that are then painted large, and in color. Some of the slate sketches are found far away.
It seems several images were made, the best kept, sap and materials for pigments gathered over the year, processed, and taken to winter camp, where a mental image was shared. In the flickering firelight those painting moved, stories were told, songs sung, children taught.
The role of the men in winter camp would be to go out and hunt fresh meat, and drag in more firewood.
One painting from the Urals shows a painted tent, in a cave. tents, sleds, clothing, would all be colored. So it was not just caves, art came with life, and everyone can tell good art from bad. The best painters did the cave paintings, used ten gallons of prepared undercoating, and pigment binder, to produce a billboard sized image twenty foot up.
Some think the cleaning of the stone, application of hot binder, might have happened the year before. It was well done, lasted 40,000 years, and all caves are damp.
A lot of labor, a lot of hours, materials prepared, it was not the work of one, or done without planning.
There is a lot to learn of the Mesolithic, that was forbidden by religious history.
Evolution was just as bad, claiming everyone before your grandfather was a dumb brute.
There is evidence of some form of written symbol language, math beyond counting numbers, and chemical knowledge.
Modern people are not smart enough to survive an ice age.
The hearth was the center of the world, during the Age of the Great Mother, and the hearth was the domain of women.
15 Oct 2013, 3:59 pm
Let's brighten this cave up some!! !
