Young Neanderthals

Beautifully painted in shades. Cave life of the early Neanderthals (Palaeolithic period). The early Neanderthals found shelter from the hostile nature of the Ice Age in caves. Here they were protected from the bitter cold and from predators. The carefully tended fire was the centre of life and provided warmth, light and safety. In front of the entrance, a wind screen made of twigs and branches kept the wind from swirling into the cave and perhaps putting out the fire. Until humans learnt to create fire themselves through friction, the embers were kept in a hollow animal bone on the march. People had learnt to make clothing from skins and weapons and tools from stone and bone. The "Cave Life" series shows the men, women and children of a clan at work at the camp site: making tools and spearheads from sharp-edged flint, women skinning a hunted bear, tending the fire and chopping wood. A hunter returns home with prey. A wind screen, a piece of rock with tools and a pile of bones round off the scene. Conjuring spirits (Aurignac period, Palaeolithic) Magical acts to summon the spirits in nature - e.g. of hunting animals - were part of life and the first expressions of art. The magic act symbolically anticipated the desired development of things. The hunters painted animals on the cave walls and threw their spears at the picture or danced in animal masks to lure the game (engraving: Mohr).