Archaeologists studied artifacts from early humans to learn more about how they lived.
One artifact was a sculpture of two bison that was found in a low room deep inside a cave in France It was 23 inches long and was made 10,000 to 14,000 years ago. The artist sculpted them from gold-colored clay. Carved lines show details such as the bison’s faces, coat markings and the fringe of fur below their powerful necks. Scientist have two main ideas about why these sculptures were created. One was that the sculptures belonged to a clan. Another one is that it was used for an important ceremony to show that a child has become an adult.
Another artifact was a spear thrower that was found somewhere in France.
The spear thrower was made from reindeer antler bone and was 10 inches long. It was probably made 18,000 years ago. The spear thrower has a leaping horse carved on the top. It seems that the artist carved hundreds of tiny dashes to show details in the horse’s head. The artist must have really cared about decorating this hunting tool. Some scientist believed the artist carved the horse for decoration. It also could have been a good luck charm to protect the hunter or make him/her more successful. It could have been related to the hunter’s name or which clan he/she belonged to.
Archaeologist also discovered a cave painting in Argentina (South America). The cave painting shows a shape that looks like a bull’s eye; stick like animal that look kind of like deer and several handprints. Paintings of shapes and handprints are very common in cave art, but their meaning is a mystery. Many scientists believe that the handprints were a way an artist signed a painting. Some think that the geometric shapes had special meanings in rituals. Researchers tried singing inside another painted cave in France and discovered that the sound was loudest in the places that were painted. They guess those areas were used for special gatherings.
From some of the artifacts that the archaeologists study, we can now understand more about the life of early humans.
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