Cave Painting: Back to the Beginning

Cave paintings depicted scenes from the lives of early humans, often focusing on animals and hunting. Since they did not have a calendar and written language had not yet been invented, they used cave paintings as a way to share what they learned. They drew pictures of their prey, predators, and hunting techniques on the walls, to teach future generations how to find food and shelter. Cave paintings are one of the early examples of “collective learning”, which means the sharing of knowledge that is passed on. For instance, if a person came up with an idea that was a new and easy way to make a spear, the knowledge could be drawn onto their cave walls and passed along so everyone wouldn’t have to figure it out again for themselves. For all ages!