Explore cave paintings in this 360° animated cave - Iseult Gillespie

How to view this TED-Ed animated 360° video:

If you have access to a Google Cardboard viewer and a smart phone:

1. Open this video in the YouTube app on your phone.
2. Hit pause on the video.
3. Tap the 3 vertical dots on the top right corner of the view window. This will slide up a sub-menu where you will choose the quality setting of your video stream. Choose "2160s." Note that if you are not streaming over Wifi, YouTube will only allow "720s" quality.
4. Tap on the “Cardboard viewer” icon on the bottom row of the video window (it looks like a mask). This will present the video full screen in prep for the Cardboard viewer.
5. The screen is now divided into 2 halves, separated by a thin white line that runs halfway up the screen. Make sure to rotate your phone so that this thin line is coming from the bottom of the screen. This ensures proper stereoscopic depth.
6. Insert your phone into the Cardboard viewer and press play. The video will begin. Enjoy!

If you do not have access to a Cardboard or smart phone:

1. You can watch on your browser. Use your mouse to drag and explore the space above, below, and behind you. Enjoy!

View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/explore-cave-paintings-in-this-360-animated-cave-iseult-gillespie

The paintings of our ancestors have been preserved in caves all over the world; the oldest we’ve found were made up to 40,000 years ago. What do these images tell us about the ancient human mind and the lives of their creators? In this special 360° TED-Ed animation, explore an ancient cave and its surroundings as Iseult Gillespie shares a brief history of cave paintings.

Lesson by Iseult Gillespie, directed by Lippy.

Check out our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/teded

Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible.
Ryan Mehendale, Mary Sawyer, Katie Winchester, Michel Reyes, Dominik Kugelmann, Siamak H, Stephen A. Wilson, Dwight Tevuk, Manav Parmar, Jhiya Brooks, David Lucsanyi, Querida Owens, Fiona Prince, Scott Gass, Anthony Kudolo, Nicole Heang, Mrinalini, Yanuar Ashari, Antero Semi, Ivan Todorović.

In 1879, amateur archaeologist
Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola

and his young daughter Maria
explored a dark cave in Northern Spain.

When Maria wondered off by herself,
she made an amazing discovery.

They were standing inside
a site of ancient art,

the walls and roofs decorated with
prehistoric paintings and engravings,

ranging from 19,000 to 35,000 years old.

Similar marks of our ancestors have been
preserved in caves all over the world.

The oldest we've found were made up to
40,000 years ago.

What do these images tell us
about the ancient human mind

and the lives of their creators?

These early artists mixed minerals, clay,
charcoal, and ochre with spit or animal fat

to create paint.

They drew with their hands and tools,
like pads of moss, twigs, bones, and hair.

In many instances, their images follow
the contours of the cave

to create depth and shade.

The most common depictions
are of geometric shapes,

followed by large mammals, like bison,
horses, mammoths, deer, and boars.

Human figures appear rarely,
as well as occasional hand prints.

Some have theorized that these artworks
are the creation of hunters,

or of holy men in trance-like states.

And we've found examples created by
men, women, and even children.

And why did they create this art?

Perhaps they were documenting
what they knew about the natural world,

like modern scientists,

or marking their tribal territory.

Maybe the images were the culmination
of sacred hunting rituals

or spiritual journeys.

Or could they be art for art's sake,
the sheer joy and fulfillment of creation?

As with many unsolved mysteries
of the ancient world,

we may never know for sure,

barring the invention
of a time machine, that is.

But while the answers remain elusive,

these images are our earliest proof
of human communication,

testifying to the human compacity
for creativity

thousands of years before writing.

They are a distinct visual language
that imagines the world outside the self,

just like modern art forms,

from graffiti and painting
to animated virtual-reality caves.