Page:Outlines of European History.djvu/32

 Middle Stone Age art 8 Outlines of European History It is not a little astonishing to find that these Middle Stone Age hunters could draw and even paint with the greatest skill. In the caverns of southern France and northern Spain their Fig. 4. Drawings carved by Middle Stone Age Man ON Ivory I, marching line of reindeer with salmon in the spaces — probably a talis- man to bring the hunter and fisherman good luck (see p. 9) ; ^, a bison bull at bay (not on ivory but incised in the rock of a cavern wall ; over one hundred fifty caverns containing such paintings and carvings are known in France and Spain) ; j, a grazing reindeer ; ^, a running rein- deer. These carvings are the oldest works of art by man, made fifteen or twenty thousand years ago. The work was done with the pointed and edged tools of flint shown in Fig. 2. See Ancie7it Times, Figs. 9 and 10 paintings have been found in surprising numbers in recent years. Long lines of bison, deer, or wild horses cover the walls and ceil- ings of these caves. They are startling in their lifelikeness and