Caves are often concealed, spooky and brooding places. They can be as small as rock shelters and shallow openings into mountains, or as big as the Son Doong cave in Vietnam, which is about five kilometres long.

Near and far, walls and surfaces of many caves have been inundated with prehistoric imagery — drawings and marks created by peoples that existed before the time of written records. Cave art encompasses drawings, paintings and sculpture that include animal and human silhouettes, geometric shapes and handprints among others. The imagery suggests some insight about prehistoric cultures and humans, a comprehension of the world around them and their daily roles.

But simple as this may sound, the images in the caves tell us much more. The latest study published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA has discovered that Homo sapiens (the modern human species) were not the only ones who painted in the caves, as it was understood up till now.

Their ancient predecessors, Neanderthals (archaic human species that eventually evolved into homo sapiens 11,700 years ago) created artistic marks in Spanish caves over 60,000 years ago. Through this study, we can deduce that art making in the caves dates back longer than we had imagined and communicating through art is, after all, a basic human expression that goes back many epochs.

Recent studies have shown that art-making in caves dates back longer than we had imagined and have also challenged our stereotypes about the artists

Who were these cave artists? Whether Homo sapiens or Neanderthals, the image that pops to mind is almost always of a ragged-looking male. Our idea of the stereotypical “cave man” who is associated with hunting and mark making, in contrast to the prehistoric woman who engages with child-rearing, is jolted in a study conducted by the Pennsylvania State University.

The Cave of Hands (Cuevas de las Manos) in Argentina is renowned for wall sections that are full of naturalistic palm prints. These hundreds of handprints, dated from 10,000 to 7,000 BCE, and painted in red pigment made from dusty ochre into collages on the walls, also contain prints of folded hands, suggesting sign language. The research determined that most of these handprints are female.

Primeval and anonymous artists were not only male: these “cave women” were also dominant producers of art, expression and communication. Now, works by these unknown artists are inseparable from history of art that has, by default, always considered the male artist.

Since handprints are often accompanied by scenes of hunting, researchers deduce that women were essential role players in the post-hunting processes that included rounding up the dead animals, skins, meat, and their distribution and rationing.

The ancient cave people were also more sophisticated in charting the night sky and understanding advanced astronomy than previously thought. Animals have been frequently drawn in European caves and the Lascaux caves in France are renowned for portraits of dying men and creatures. A study published by the Athens Journal of History suggests that these drawings are positions of stars, constellations and comet strikes, and shows how this astronomical tracking occurred more than 35,000 years ago.

A site in Turkey known as Gobekli Tepe has also revealed memorials of a comet strike. It allowed the cave people to locate and mark their paths and travel to nearby lands for hunting and refuge while also making records.

Caves are diverse in their appearances. Not all cave art is alike and from the same periods. Historically, caves have also been harbingers of religious diversity. The Ellora complex is a fascinating study of co-existence of multiple faiths in ancient India. These are 34 monasteries and temples in Maharashtra, with Buddhist, Jain and Hindu monuments from the first century CE.

One of the caves contains the world’s largest single monolithic rock excavation called the Kailash or the Kailasa temple — a monument resembling a chariot and dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. More caves within the Ellora complex disclose large sculptures dedicated to the Buddha and Jain scriptures.

Similarly, the renowned 30 Ajanta caves in India contain different Buddhist masterpieces from the second century CE. Such was their appeal that they were written about in memoirs and accounts of travellers to India during the Mughal era. The Ajanta caves also contain portraits of people that reveal much about gender dynamics, society and the lives of the elites and common people in the ancient Indian subcontinent.

The images inside the caves have been exposing the secrets of our ancestors and are changing the way we have viewed history, society and gender. From hunting and astronomy to religious practices, the lives of those who used caves for record and art-making are being laid bare today for our understanding of the world and human practices.

Published in Dawn, EOS, August 29th, 2021