During the last glacial epoch, when hunter gatherers were still living in caves, the Neanderthal tool-making mentality gave way to the Cro-Magnon urge to make images.
The earliest preserved art objects date to around 30,000 BC, during the Old Stone Age, or Paleolithic period, Paleolithic artworks are of an astonishing variety.
The first art objects were the symbols of animals and people had supernatural significance and magic power.
The most striking works of Paleolithic are the images of animals incised, painted or sculptured on the rock surfaces of caves.
Most early discoveries of prehistoric art came about accidently as missionary, scholars or explorers traveled around, reporting on anything of interest which they encountered.
It seems to have been the Chinese who were the pioneers. The earliest known written reports of rock art are to be found in Han Fei Zi, written about 2,300 years ago by Han Fei.
The origin of Pre-historic arts
