Who created African primitive rock paintings?

Africa is one of the cradles of world civilization. Since18th century, many prehistoric primitive rock paintings have been found on the mountains and cliffs of this ancient continent. Most of these rock paintings mainly show animals, including bison, wildebeest, striped antelope and spotted donkey ... although rough, they are all vivid. African rock paintings are very typical primitive tribal rock paintings, although they did not appear as early as European rock paintings. But it is far older than Oceania, and unlike European rock paintings, which are only concentrated in France and Spain, they are widely distributed. More than 65,438+00 countries, such as Algeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, Angola, Mozambique, Kenya and Botswana, have preserved this original artwork. What is more noteworthy is its large number and wide spread. Only 30,000 rock painting sites have been found in the Sahara region, half of which are in Tahiri.

The earliest discovery of African rock paintings was in 172 1 year, which was more than 50 years earlier than the original European rock paintings. At that time, a Portuguese tour group from Venezuela visited Mozambique. By chance, the members of the tour group found the first rock painting with animals on the rock wall, and they immediately made a report to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Lisbon. 1752, by e? Answer? The African expedition led by Frederick discovered several more rock paintings on both sides of the Fish River on the east coast of Africa. 1790~ 179 1 year, the expedition led by grosvenor found more rock paintings on African soil. Surprisingly, people later found a huge pigment bank in eastern Algeria, which is located in the Sahara desert, which is 800 kilometers long. Ennahir Mountains, 50~60 kilometers wide, are rich in red sand deposits, and red sand is the main pigment of rock paintings. In this vast mountain area, a French expedition discovered more than 1956 works. According to the contents reflected in these rock paintings, scientists infer that before the Sahara became a desert, Paleolithic and Neolithic people lived here. They live by hunting large aquatic animals and herding sheep. A large number of archaeological data confirmed that from 8000 BC to 2000 BC, Africa was a wet period of CAMBRIAN in geology. At that time, the Sahara was still a grassland full of tropical plants, suitable for hunting, not a desert, and it was an important soil for hunting art.

The discovery of African rock paintings is undoubtedly of great significance to the study of primitive culture in the world, which enables us to understand and investigate the origin of aesthetic consciousness and the characteristics of primitive art of African primitive tribes, and better understand the life and social form of African primitive tribes at that time from rock paintings.

So who made these primitive rock paintings? The world archaeological community is mainly divided into two factions around the rock painting authors. One school thinks that rock painting is a native product of Africa, has its own system, and has not stepped out of the border of Africa. Most of this school thinks that it was created by local indigenous Bushmen, such as Alexander, a world-famous scholar and archaeologist. r？ Wilcock, H? Breyer pt? k？ Cook and others, among them Alexander believed that Sahara was the cultural center of Bushmen, and African rock paintings took place in this central area, and then spread around, reaching Tahiri in the north, Spain in the northeast and south-central Africa. East to Egypt. Many experts point out that the image of African aborigines' hips towering in rock paintings is the national characteristic of some African tribes, which is impossible in prehistoric rock paintings in Europe. As for African rock paintings and European rock paintings, there are similarities between rock paintings, which is not a reason. Because the art of hunting is all over the earth. The consistency of lifestyle has brought some similarities to the theme and even the expression of hunting art. In this genre, Cook believes that it was jointly completed by many primitive residents in Africa in a long historical period. In his book "The Art of Rock Paintings in South Africa", he proposed that the rock paintings of Saharans were made 5,000 years ago, that of Horner was made 4,000 years ago, that of Kenyans was made 1500 years ago, and that of South Africans was made 6,000 years ago ... The painter and traveler Christie thought that rock paintings were made by.

The other school, dominated by European scholars, insists that African prehistoric rock paintings are the product of the spread of foreign cultures, and some are only copies of European prehistoric rock paintings. They believe that around 50000 BC, the first European immigrants Neanderthals came to Africa, and 4000 years later, farmers from Kroma moved to Africa in large numbers. It was they who created prehistoric rock paintings in Europe and brought them to Africa. In addition, they also found the Neolithic ethnic types of Kroma Nong and Karp in Europe in northern Africa, and the Bushmen knew nothing about perspective. However, this view lacks sufficient facts to prove it. Although the rock paintings in eastern Spain, North Africa, Sahara and Egypt are indeed similar, some archaeologists speculate that hunters and hunting artists in distant times drifted from the Mediterranean to the Cape of Good Hope. When they roamed to the green and rich Sahara and the Great Plains of East Africa at that time, they found the ideal hunting area, and then stopped moving when they reached the mountain plateau, so they created many earliest African rock paintings there. However, these are just their unconfirmed subjective guesses and speculations. As for Bushmen who don't understand perspective, they can't prove that rock paintings are not their works. Because extinct Bushmen painters may also have rock painting knowledge and skills that later Bushmen did not have. This kind of knowledge and skills are taught in secret, and only a few people can master them, so it is not surprising that the later Bushmen can't understand the rock paintings painted by their predecessors. What's more, because many rock paintings have been blurred for a long time, it is difficult for future generations to recognize them, and racial prejudice based on ethnology is even less convincing.

Which of the above views is correct? As far as the existing evidence is concerned, it is still difficult to determine, and historians need to continue to textual research.