Documentary lost caves of altamira how to#

They had to crawl through small openings carrying torches or some other sputtering light source, fully aware that if it went out, leaving them in darkness so profound they couldn't even see their hand in front of their face, they would probably die there. How and why did the ancient ones do it? The underworld cathedrals of Paleolithic times were dark, dangerous, dank and depressing. They are the cathedrals that witnessed the birth of religion. The mysterious painted caves point to the time we began to probe the boundaries of spirituality. In any case, this is when the great awakening of symbolic, often called religious, thought began. They wonder if the realms to which the shamans journeyed actually exist out there in a huge universe of mysterious dark matter. He believed that the paintings were representations of hallucinogenic illusions, dismissing parallel dimensions out of hand. Upon their return they painted what they saw during their 'trips.'ДЄncient altered perceptions.

Documentary lost caves of altamira how to#

David Lewis-Williams decided they were the work of Paleolithic shamans who, beginning some 40,000 years ago (although recent discoveries of similar caves in Indonesia push this date back an astonishing 164,000 years!) figured out how to induce a trance state, either naturally or through the use of psychedelic plants or mushrooms, in which they would 'journey' to what they perceived as parallel spiritual dimensions. This was a predominate theory for years, popularized in the вЂ70s by the late Joseph Campbell.Дў. Henri Breuil believed the paintings were meant to serve as magical aids to increase the success of the hunt or to initiate young boys into the society of men. Though their work may not be as polished, coming from a different culture, using primitive material for pigment and working under extremely harsh conditions, the sensory effect is the same.ДЄfter the initial shock of discovery wears off you are forced to wonder what could have inspired these ancient, creative artists.Д®xplanations abound, but two are most popular:ДЎ. The ancient artists who created these masterpieces can stand toe to toe with Michelangelo. Great Hall of the Bulls, 15,000вЂ“13,000 BCE, Paleolithic rock painting, Lascaux, France В©MinistГЁre de la Culture et de la Communication (Steven Zucker/ CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 ) The famous Hall of the Bulls in Lascaux is a gallery that will easily accommodate fifty people. Bison, bear, deer and mammoths abound, painted in such a way that the very rock formations of walls and ceiling accentuate their features. You are greeted by a whole menagerie of hauntingly beautiful representations of animal images. To enter the famous European caves of Lascaux, Chauvet, Altamira, Pech Merle and many others is to enter another world.