8/20/2019 Hand Paintings Are Depicted in Rock Art
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Hand paintings are depicted in Rock Art around the world. The
hand image would have beencreated in a variety of ways: the artist
may have used the hand on the rock as a stencil, sprayingpaint from
the mouth or charcoal powder through a reed; the outline of the
hand may have beenpainted around by brush; or simply painting the
hand and then placing it on the rock. The handpaintings were
created by men, women and children. hat ever the method, and what
ever thestyle of accompanying art, hand paintings are one of the
most common elements of rock art.
!ut what of their meaning" as this the signature of the
artist, confirming both his or her work aswell as his or her
self#awareness" as it the artist, or shaman, touching the the rock
surface inorder to acknowledge and therefore enter the spirit
world, known as the $sealing$ ritual" herethere is a spiral
incorporated into the motif, as at %a &ienega and Three Rivers
for e'ample, theymay be depictions of healing energy that channels
through the hands # the ancient practice ofReiki. There might have
been a metaphorical link between the $spraying on of paint$ with
the$spraying on of medicine$ by the shaman.
(iven that the images e'ist around the world, and cover a great
time span, clearly there must be avariety of meanings. )or all of
the hypotheses, hand painting and the $hand$ motif could
haverepresented any number of rituals, but without knowledgeable
informants from a particularculture, hypotheses they must
remain.
*n Chauvet, France, the red ochre hand prints and stencils are
found in chambers throughout thecave. These were painted during the
Aurignacian culture, possibly +,--- years ago. *n the
!runel&hamber, the four panels are comprised of /- prints of
palms covered with ochre. *n the Red0anels (allery, the 0anel of
Hand 1tencils is comprised of + red hand stencils, / clusters of
dotsand / black animals # an e2uid and a mammoth. Two of the hand
stencils sit within the outlines ofthe animals. *n the 0anel of the
Red 3ots, a cave painting located near the cave entrance,
iscomposed of a cluster of large dots, which may represent a
mammoth. *t is perhaps one of theearliest e'amples of pointillism.
The scientists discovered that the dots were created by coveringthe
palm of the right hand with wet red paint and applying the hand to
the wall. The consistency of the dots suggests that the
painting was created by one person. The artist would have had
animage in his or her mind before beginning the piece. *n other
words, it appears not to be a randomcomposition.
Cuevas de las Manos, Argentina 41panish for &ave
of the Hands5 , has an incredible panel ofhand paintings, made by
the indigenous inhabitants 6possibly forefathers of the Tehuelches5
some7,--- years ago. The hands have mainly been stencilled. ithin
the cave there are also depictions
of human beings, guanacos, rheas, felines and other animals, as
well as geometric shapes, 8ig8agpatterns, red dots, representations
of the sun, and hunting scenes. 9ost of the painted hands are
left hands, and of a si8e that resembles that of a +#year#old
boy; this may have been an initiationceremony.
*n Borneo, ean#9ichel &ha8ine has been e'ploring the remote
region of ast nlike the hand paintings found in the rest of the
world, many in the pper 0alaeolithic. )inger mutation is
certainly known in other parts of the world, such
as southern Africa where it is practiced by the
