Iberian Peninsula to the indus

longue durée,
across an immense space, people, artists – different and at 
the same time linked by fruitful networks of contacts – expressed through enduring 
masterpieces their anxiety, their hopes and their faith.
C.A.

---

setting
tHe sCene

---

31
tHe BirtH of figurAtion
W
here does figuration come from? 
Homo sapiens
is in effect the only one 
in the evolutionary line of humans that feels the need to “represent”, that 
is, to depict something that no longer exists, that is absent. However, the 
appearance of lines with no practical utility dates to long before that. As far back as 
500,000 years ago, in trinil on the island of Java, a male or female 
Homo erectus
carefully etched a zigzag line on a shell valve. Around 50,000 years ago, neander-
thal man, who evolved 300,000 years ago from the African 
Erectus 
who migrated to 
europe, left perpendicular lines etched on the walls of gorham’s Cave in gilbraltar. 
more or less at the same time, slightly further north, abstract motifs were painted 
with red ochre on the walls of spanish caves in la Pasiega, maltravieso, Ardales and 
perhaps el Castillo, as well as in the prehistoric cave 
des Merveilles
in rocamadour, 
france. the neanderthal were also the first to adorn themselves with pendants or 
necklaces of perforated teeth and to bury their dead. 
meanwhile, the 
Erectus
who remained in Africa had continued to evolve, leading to 
the modern 
Homo sapiens
between 300,000 and 200,000 years ago. About 80,0000 
years ago, 
Sapiens
traced perpendicular lines on small blocks of red ochre, found 
in Blombos Cave in south Africa. it would be another 40,0000 years, however – the 
time required for their mental faculties to become more complex – before men cre-
ated the first figurative representations. this was accomplished at the two extremes 
of eurasia – in Western europe on one end and indonesia on the other. the most 
ancient paintings of all were found in indonesia, with depictions of animals – a pig-
deer and local non-ruminants – and hands printed on the walls. the theme of the 
hand, in both positive and negative, would be found later in all areas of the world. 
no doubt, this represented a way for human beings to leave their trace, using a part 
of themselves from which they were able to take some distance.
WoMen and aniMalS
in Western europe, figurative art makes its first appearance in Chauvet Cave in 
france and the caves of the swabian Jura, such as Hohle fels and Hohlenstein in 
germany, in the form of stone or ivory sculptures depicting animals or in some cases 
female figures. Chauvet Cave harbours four hundred painted animals and only one 
human figure, represented by a pubic triangle with the head of a bison. for 30,000 
years, animals and naked women with exaggerated sexual attributes would continue 
Seated feMale figure
WitH croSSed legS
Cyclades, said to be from Amorgos
Late Neolithic period
(V–IV millennia BC)
Musées Royaux d’Art et d’Histoire, 
Brussels, inv. A.3029
(cat. 9, detail)

---

33
32
to be the preferred subjects of prehistoric art; tens of thousands of animal depictions 
have been found and hundreds of women (versus the extremely rare representations 
of men).
What is the motive for these representations? on the one hand, Paleolithic hunt-
er-gatherers, whose minds were almost identical to ours, considered themselves an 
animal species like the others and certainly not the most dangerous. Consequently, 
they maintained a close bond with animals, as do many traditional populations that 
practice totemism, believing that each clan descends from a mythic ancestor with 
an animal nature. 
furthermore, 
Sapiens
were the first and only species of primates (or mammals) 
with a continuous sexuality, uninterrupted by regular intervals of infertility. this 
resulted in a state of permanent social tension, as testified in ancient texts such as