#cavepaintings — Public Fediverse posts

“Let us leave a splendid legacy for our children… guard it well, for it is far more precious than money… and once destroyed, nature’s beauty cannot be repurchased at any price.”*…

From the National Archives, an extraordinary collection of Ansel Adams‘ photos of National Parks in the U.S…

In 1941 the National Park Service commissioned noted photographer Ansel Adams to create a photo mural for the Department of the Interior Building in Washington, DC. The theme was to be nature as exemplified and protected in the U.S. National Parks. The mural project was halted because of World War II and never resumed, however the photographs remained.

Much later in 1962 the photographs were accessioned into the holdings of the Still Picture Branch at the National Archives and Records Administration. The original prints created for the project now reside within the series 79-AA: Ansel Adams Photographs of National Parks and Monuments, 1941 – 1942, while the negatives were originally retained by Adams at the time. Ansel Adams would later visit the Still Picture Branch and review his photographic prints in 1979.

The holdings of the National Archives’ Still Picture Branch include 226 photographs taken for this project, most of them signed and captioned by Adams. They were taken between 1941 and 1942 at the Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Kings Canyon, Mesa Verde, Rocky Mountain, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Carlsbad Caverns, Glacier, and Zion National Parks; Death Valley, Saguaro, and Canyon de Chelly National Monuments. Other pictures were taken at the Boulder Dam; Acoma Pueblo, NM; San Idelfonso, NM; Taos Pueblo, NM; Tuba City, AZ; Walpi, AZ; and Owens Valley, CA. Many of the latter locations show Navajo and Pueblo Indians, their homes and activities.

The Kings Canyon photographs were taken in 1936 when the establishment of the park was being proposed. These prints were added by Adams to the mural project. The one photograph of Yosemite (79-AAU-1) was a gift from Adams to the head of the Park Service, Horace Albright, in 1933.

In addition, there are eight photographs taken by Adams of Yosemite in the General Photographic Files of the National Park Service (79-G)…

Many, many more at: “Ansel Adams Photographs of National Parks.”

“It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment” – Ansel Adams

###

As we wonder, we might recall that it was on this date in 1940 that an ancestor of the art featured above was discovered: a teenager named Marcel Ravidat found the entrance to cs in southwest France when his dog investigated a hole left by an uprooted tree. Ravidat collected three friends, then followed his dog down what turned out to be the narrow entrance into a cavern, where they came upon (part of) the now-storied collection of wall markings— 15,000- to 17,000-year-old paintings, consisting mostly of animal representations– that are among the world’s finest examples of art from the Upper Paleolithic period.

See also: “To practice any art, no matter how well or how badly, is a way to make your soul grow.”

 source

In painted #caves, ancient #human #DNA clings to the walls
Traces could someday help link #prehistoric #paintings to the people who made them
Study cannot link DNA to artists behind #cavepaintings. But the knowledge that human DNA can be preserved on cave walls for thousands of years may enable future work that probes role of women in ancient art, traces the movement of artists and brings clarity to the debate over #Neandertals’ artistic abilities.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/ancient-human-dna-cave-walls
https://archive.ph/TNBC3

Ice Age cave paintings in the Basque region followed a structured pattern, study finds

Ancient artists who painted caves in the Basque region between 16,000 and 14,000 years ago followed a clear visual plan, according to a new study. The research found the paintings were arranged using shared rules instead of being placed at random, pointing to a graphic system with an ordered structure...

More info: https://archaeologymag.com/2026/07/ice-age-cave-paintings-in-the-basque-structured-pattern/

Follow @archaeology

#archaeology #iceage #cavepaintings #Basque

Scientists Use Charcoal Analysis to Accurately Date Ancient French Cave Paintings

📰 Original title: Hidden charcoal reveals the true age of ancient cave paintings

🤖 IA: It's clickbait ⚠️
👥 Users: It's clickbait ⚠️

View full AI summary https://en.killbait.com/scientists-use-charcoal-analysis-to-accurately-date-ancient-french-cave-paintings.html?utm_source=mastodon_world&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=killbait.mastodon_world

#archeology #cavepaintings #radiocarbondating

Prepare for a deep dive into Networking 101, where we learn the groundbreaking revelation that data travels in packets 🤯 and sometimes even through wires! 🌐 Get ready for a history lesson that starts before computers existed—because who knew, cave paintings were the OG tweets? 🙄
https://fazamhd.com/mental-models/networking/ #Networking101 #DataPackets #HistoryOfTechnology #CavePaintings #OGtweets #HackerNews #ngated

‘They take you out of life, out of time’: a journey into Spain’s astonishing cave paintings.

For tens of thousands of years, these Palaeolithic artworks were unseen. When they were rediscovered, onlookers marvelled at their vivid beauty.

One of the world’s leading experts took me up close.

https://mediafaro.org/article/20260602-they-take-you-out-of-life-out-of-time-a-journey-into-spains-astonishing-cave-paintings?mf_channel=mastodon&action=forward

#CavePaintings #Spain #Archaeology #Art #Palaeontology #Science #History #Palaeolithic #Longread

I pulled some more prints from my #gelplate on my #horse theme. I was thinking of the extraordinary #paintings on the walls of caves in Southern France created by our ancestors tens of thousands of years ago.

#cavepaintings #gelli #printmaking #gelplateprinting #painting #art

I've been watching a lot of #Nebula (highly recommended) of late as I'm feeding the child or expressing milk, and some of that time was spent watching a variety of rock art and #CavePainting documentaries.

I found the #handprint cave paintings particularly moving, so I traced baby Lilith's hands onto cardboard, got some spray paints, and decorated an otherwise dull nursing top.

I love how it turned out. ❤️

#clothing #CavePaintings #RockArt #prehistoric #art #textiles #TextileArt #prehistory

Thanks for joining me for this edition of Afternoon Art Critic.
May it echo across time… even half as well as those paintings did.

#AfternoonArtCritic #PrehistoricArt #CavePaintings #GuardianLongRead #EshuElegbaraWasHere

Grotte de Font-de-Gaum in Les Eyzies, France

Among Europe’s most spectacular Ice Age painted caves still accessible today.#caves #cavepaintings #prehistoric #section-Atlas
Grotte de Font-de-Gaum

Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa

A million years ago, our ancient ancestors were cooking with fire in this cave.#cavepaintings #caves #fires #fire #archaeology #ancienttechnology #inventingtheworldinternal #section-Atlas
Wonderwerk Cave

Over time, grooves have formed in the rock that look like works of art, and that is exactly what they are: nature's own art. Nature photography Lappeenranta Finland. https://www.kuvaajankulma.com/valokuvaaja

#HistoryInStone #AncientHistory #RockArt #CavePaintings #CulturalHeritage #HistoricalArtifact #AncientArt #Petroglyphs #StoneCarvings #Archaeology#photography #photographer #naturephotography

https://blogmagazine2025.blogspot.com/2025/05/mysterious-discovery-ancient-cave.html
#ancient #cave #history #Egyptian #cavepaintings #painting

Ancient Art of Tassili n’Ajjer: 12,000-Year-Old Window into Sahara’s Past

https://streetartutopia.com/2025/04/20/ancient-art-of-tassili-najjer-12000-year-old-window-into-saharas-past/

12 Astounding #Facts about the #LascauxCavePaintings

The astonishing #cavepaintings were discovered by accident in 1940 and offer a tantalizing glimpse into #prehistory.

https://www.mentalfloss.com/lascaux-cave-paintings-facts

Man Destroys a Cave Painting for a Facebook Photo https://petapixel.com/2024/08/09/man-destroys-a-cave-painting-for-a-facebook-photo/ #cavepaintings #socialmedia #vandalism #spain #News

Through layers of history, we uncover the universal language of our ancestors, https://fineartamerica.com/featured/healing-hands-a-vintage-modern-fresco-olena-art.html etched in the handprints and hieroglyphs of their artistic legacy. https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/lena-owens?tab=artworkgalleries&artworkgalleryid=602875
Healing Hands A Vintage Modern Fresco
https://www.elephantstock.com/products/healing-hands-fresco-vertical-by-olena?frame-color=black&frame-type=floating&layout=framed-canvas&esaid=ree4w3
showcasing textured backgrounds
artwork #handprints #hieroglyphs #vintage #fresco #prehistoricart #cavepaintings #ancientsymbols #logos #grayspiral #conchshell #ancientsymbology #earlyhumanartforms #mixedmedia #artisticlegacy

La Sarga Cave Paintings in Alcoy, Spain

These 7,000-year-old cave paintings depict life in Neolithic Spain.#history #archaeology #neolithic #cavepaintings #caves #section-Atlas
La Sarga Cave Paintings

Brilliantly visualised @Nature essay by @dyanilewis, photography by Ulet Ifansasti, on the stunning 45,000 year-old #CavePaintings in #Sulawesi, Indonesia - now threatened by dissolution and irretrievable loss:

https://www.nature.com/immersive/d41586-023-03818-5/index.html

Truely stunning 🤩

https://www.openculture.com/2023/12/take-a-virtual-tour-of-the-lascaux-cave-paintings.html

#CavePaintings #AncientArt #CaveArt #History #Lascaux #Prehistoric

Bingling Temple in Tianshui, China

A hidden Buddhist gem accessible only by boat.#history&culture #history #archaeology #boats #rocks #clay #statues #fresco #cavepaintings #caves #ancient #temples #buddha #buddhism #section-Atlas
Bingling Temple

The oldest known Neanderthal art found after 57,000 years sealed in a cave
#art #evolution #cavepaintings
https://bgr.com/science/the-oldest-known-neanderthal-art-found-after-57000-years-sealed-in-a-cave/

57,000-year-old Neanderthal wall art uncovered in France | The Independent
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/neanderthals-oldest-cave-engravings-france-b2362012.html

#CavePaintings
#Neanderthal
#France
#LaRocheCotard
#CentreValDeLoire
#Loire
#PlosOne
#FingerPainting
#FingerFlutings
#Marquet
#Symbolic
#SocialBehaviours

“Smoke archaeology” reveals early humans were visiting Nerja Caves 41,000 years ago - Enlarge / María Medina of the University of Cordoba working in the Nava... - https://arstechnica.com/?p=1937907 #paleolithiccaveart #smokearchaeology #gaming&culture #cavepaintings #anthropology #archaeology #prehistory #nerjacave #science

Cave paintings in the mountains in southern Arizona. Location secret.

#CavePaintings #AncientArt #Arizona #TohonoOodham