In archaeology, cave paintings are a type of parietal art, found on the wall or ceilings of caves. The term usually implies prehistoric origin. These paintings were often created by Homo sapiens, but also Denisovans and Neanderthals; other species in the same Homo genus. Discussion around prehistoric art is important in understanding the history of the Homo sapiens species and how Homo sapiens have come to have unique abstract thoughts. Some point to these prehistoric paintings as possible examples of creativity, spirituality, and sentimental thinking in prehistoric humans.
In the history of art, prehistoric art is all art produced in preliterate, prehistorical cultures beginning somewhere in very late geological history, and generally continuing until that culture either develops writing or other methods of record-keeping, or makes significant contact with another culture that has, and that makes some record of major historical events. At this point ancient art begins, for the older literate cultures. The end-date for what is covered by the term thus varies greatly between different parts of the world.
Cueva de las Manos is a cave and complex of rock art sites in the province of Santa Cruz, Argentina, 163 km (101 mi) south of the town of Perito Moreno. It is named for the hundreds of paintings of hands stenciled, in multiple collages, on the rock walls. The art was created in several waves between 7,300 BC and 700 AD, during the Archaic period of pre-Columbian South America. The age of the paintings was calculated from the remains of bone pipes used for spraying the paint on the wall of the cave to create the artwork, radiocarbon dating of the artwork, and stratigraphic dating.
Sáchica is a municipality of Colombia situated approximately 34 km (21 mi) west of Tunja in the Ricaurte Province of the department of Boyacá. Sáchica borders Sutamarchán and Villa de Leyva in the north, in the east Chíquiza, Samacá and Ráquira in the south and in the west Ráquira and Sutamarchán. Sáchica is known as the national capital of onions.
San Antonio del Tequendama is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Tequendama Province part of the department of Cundinamarca. The municipality is located along the Serranía de Subía in the Tena Valley and borders Tena and Bojacá in the north, Bojacá and Soacha in the east, La Mesa and El Colegio in the west and in the south Soacha and Granada.
Zipacón is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Western Savanna Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. The urban centre of Zipacón is situated at an altitude of 2,550 metres (8,370 ft) on the Bogotá savanna, the southern flatlands of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. Zipacón borders Anolaima, Facatativá, La Mesa and Bojacá.
Benaoján is a town and municipality in the province of Málaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. It is located within the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park. Its surface area is 32 km2. The municipality is situated approximately 17 kilometers from Ronda and 116 km from the capital of the province. It is situated at an altitude of 524 meters. Its inhabitants are called benaojanos.
The Prehistoric Rock-Art Site of Escoural Cave is a structure known for its Paleolithic-era rock-art and funerary burial site, located in the Portuguese municipality of Montemor-o-Novo, in the civil parish of Santiago do Escoural.
Piedras del Tunjo is an important archaeological park established on a natural rock shelter 40 kilometres (25 mi) west of Bogotá in the municipality of Facatativá.
Puente Viesgo is a municipality in Cantabria, Spain. Caves have been discovered near Puente Viesgo that contain rock art and artefacts dating back to the Middle and Upper Paleolithic.
The Coves de l'Aranya are a group of caves in the municipality of Bicorp in València, eastern Spain. The caves are in the valley of the river Escalona and were used by prehistoric people who left rock art. They are known for painted images of a bow and arrow goat hunt and for a scene depicting a human figure foraging honey, the earliest known depiction of bees and the oldest evidence of honey consumption by Homo sapiens.
The group of over 700 sites of prehistoric Rock art of the Iberian Mediterranean Basin, also known as Levantine art, were collectively declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1998. The sites are in the eastern part of Spain and contain rock art dating to the Upper Paleolithic or Mesolithic periods of the Stone Age. The art consists of small painted figures of humans and animals, which are the most advanced and widespread surviving from this period, certainly in Europe, and arguably in the world, at least in the earlier works. It is notable for the number of places included, the largest concentration of such art in Europe. Its name refers to the Mediterranean Basin; however, while some sites are located near the sea, many of them are inland in Aragon and Castilla–La Mancha; it is also often referred to as Levantine Art.
The Cantabrian caves' unique location make them an ideal place to observe the settlements of early humans thousands of years ago. The magnificent art in the caves includes figures of various animals of the time such as bison, horses, goats, deer, cattle, hands and other paintings. Archaeologists have found remains of animals such as bears, the remains of arrows and other material indicating a human presence; these artifacts are now found mostly in the Regional Museum of Prehistory and Archaeology of Cantabria.
The Roca dels Moros or Caves of El Cogul is a rock shelter containing paintings of prehistoric Levantine rock art and Iberian schematic art. The site is in El Cogul, in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. Since 1998 the paintings have been protected as part of the Rock art of the Iberian Mediterranean Basin, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Inscriptions in Northeastern Iberian script and in Latin alphabet indicate that the place was used as a sanctuary into Iberian and Roman times.
Alcoy is an industrial and university city, region and municipality located in the Valencian Community, Spain. The Serpis river crosses the municipal boundary of Alcoy. The local authority reported a population of 61,135 residents in 2018.
Cueva Ahumada is an archaeological site located within several canyons in the village of La Rinconada, García Municipality, in the Mexican state of Nuevo León. Cave painting in northeastern Mexico covers two types of artwork: rock engraving, also called petroglyphs. A third type of rock art, geoglyphs so far has not been detected in this region.
The Cave of Altxerri is located in the municipality of Aya (Gipuzkoa) in the Basque Country (Spain).
The archaeological site Peñas de Cabrera, containing numerous rock shelters, is located in the municipality of Casabermeja (Spain). The entire surrounding area of Las Peñas de Cabrera, rife with natural minerals, rocks and fossils, is named after one of its districts of the same name. The entire complex of mountains and valleys consists of many shelters revealing rock art of paintings and engravings.
This article describes the art produced by the Muisca. The Muisca established one of the four grand civilisations of the pre-Columbian Americas on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in present-day central Colombia. Their various forms of art have been described in detail and include pottery, textiles, body art, hieroglyphs and rock art. While their architecture was modest compared to the Inca, Aztec and Maya civilisations, the Muisca are best known for their skilled goldworking. The Museo del Oro in the Colombian capital Bogotá houses the biggest collection of golden objects in the world, from various Colombian cultures including the Muisca.
Armintxe Cave in Lekeitio (Spain) is an important Paleolithic rock art site, estimated to date from between 12,000 and 14,500 years ago.
Spain 
Castile-La Mancha 
