Cave Art – 5 Fascinating UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Cave art has fascinated us for centuries. The term cave art, or cave paintings, refers to images that have been placed on the rock walls of caves by prehistoric peoples. (The term petroglyph actually refers to “rock engravings” where the design is obtained by removing part of the rock surface.)

Prehistoric cave art can be found in all parts of the world. The UNESCO World Heritage committee, which seeks to “catalog and conserve sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common heritage of humanity”, has identified several cave art sites.

Below are five UNESCO cave art sites that can be visited by the public, everywhere from North Africa to South America, from Asia to Australia.

1. Cueva de las Manos, Argentina. Although this cave contains images of wild animals and scenes of nature, the cave gets its name from the remarkable collection of the stenciled outlines of human hands. These are actually seen on the screened entrance to the cave.

The paintings were made with ground natural mineral pigments, mixed with a binder. Local minerals that have been identified include iron oxides for red and purple, and manganese oxide for black. The silhouettes of the hands were created by spraying paint through “pipes” made out of bone, which have been found at the site.

While this cave was last inhabited about 700 CE, the art in this cave dates from 9,000 to 13,000 years ago.

2. Tassili n’Ajjer, Algeria. Located in the lunar landscape-like mountainous region of the Sahara Desert, the prehistoric cave art here dates from the Neolithic time when the region was moist and savannah-like.

Here is found an exceptional density of images. More than 15,000 have been identified that record the historical climate change over a period of about 10,000 years. Amazingly, the art depicts water-dependent animals such as the hippopotamus and other tropical and Mediterranean species.

Much of the art in what archaeologists call the “Cattle Period” depict daily life such as the taming of horses and cattle.

3. Kakadu National Park, Australia. The “Alligator Rivers” area of Australia’s Northern Territory has been inhabited for 40,000 years. The cave paintings here depict life from the time of the prehistoric hunter-gatherers to their descendants, today’s Aboriginal peoples who continue to live in the region and claim the land.

Ubirr is a group of rock outcroppings that provided shelter for the prehistoric tribes, and is where the greatest concentration of cave art in the area is found. The paintings include hunting scenes, depiction of religious ceremonies, and even images of the mischievous Mimi spirits.

4. Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape, Azerbaijan. Located in a hill and mountain region near the west bank of the Caspian Sea, this site has a collection of over 6,000 images dating back 40,000 years.

These paintings represent a cultural continuity from prehistoric up to Medieval times, encompassing the Upper Paleolithic to the Middle Ages. The prehistoric pictures of hunting and fishing activities are of a way of life that has disappeared  having been painted during a time when the climate and vegetation were more sub-tropical in nature.

5. Serra da Capivara National Park, Brazil. Representing one of the oldest human communities in South America the many cave shelters in this area of northeastern Brazil are thought to perhaps date back as far as 25,000 years, a dating that is controversial in the archaeological scientific community.

Most of the paintings are in various shades of red and were done using ocher which is naturally obtained from the surrounding exposed rock. The images not only include hunting scenes, but also battles, dances, and even supernatural beings.

The cave art found in South America is dated much later than in other parts of the world, as it is thought that the Americas were not populated by human beings until the crossing of the Bering Straits “land bridge” some 30,000 years after homo sapiens outlasted the Neanderthals in Europe and Asia.

If visiting as many UNESCO World Heritage Sites as you can is one of your travel goals, you’ll discover that encounters with prehistoric cave art will be one of your highlights.

Alice Perkins is a timeshare travel blogger for RedWeek.com, the largest online market place for timeshare rentals, where vacationers can find luxury accommodations for less than the cost of a typical hotel room

Photo Credit: UNESCO