Cave Paintings Gallery

Stone-age cave paintings, Chauvet, France

Stone-age cave paintings. Artwork depicting various animals painted on the wall of a cave. These paintings are found in the Chauvet Cave, France, the site of the earliest known cave paintings (as of 2011), which have been dated to between 32, 900 and 30, 000 years ago

© JAVIER TRUEBA/MSF/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

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Prehistoric spear-thrower

Prehistoric spear-thrower. Artwork of how a spear-thrower (or atlatl) is used to throw a feathered dart. At top and centre, the dart is loaded. At bottom, it is being thrown. The angular momentum imparted means dart speeds of 150 kilometres per hour can be achieved, making this a lethal weapon in the hands of a skilled hunter. In the background is a cave painting of an animal wounded by an atlatl dart. The earliest such weapons were found at Schoningen, Germany, in the 1990s, dating to over 300, 000 years ago

© KENNIS AND KENNIS/MSF/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Middle Caicos Conch Bar Caves Turks and Caicos

Conch Bar Caves is located in Conch Bar, a village on Middle Caicos. This park protects 15mi of underground caverns, one of the largest cave systems in the Caribbean region. Some have lagoons and stalactites and stalagmites and most have colonies of bats. This site consists of the Conch Bar Cave System itself and the above ground land that covers and surrounds it. The area includes Village Hill and several nearby ponds. It is a karst cave system with specialized cave fauna and flora including bats, crustaceans and isopods. The above ground area supports rare plant and animal populations. The caves have significant human history from the pre-Columbian past to the recent colonial times. Hidden within the system of caves are underground lakes, and Lucayan Indian artifacts protected by the stalactites and stalagmites that jut from the ceiling and the ground. A colony of bats may make their home with the caves, but they are known to be harmless

© Matt Anderson Photography