Is Graffiti a relative of Cave Painting?
Why is cave painting revered as a beautiful look into the history of art, and graffiti seen as illegal ugly vandalism?
Well David Fickling and Professor Dale Guthrie (a paleobiologist from the University of Alaska Fairbanks) are on a path to disprove this theory. Or at least disproving that pre-historic cave painters are “pioneers of creativity who left a rich legacy of artistic expression.” But rather they were bored teenage boys obsessed with sex and most cave paintings were intended as an act of vadalism and fun.
Guthrie determined that the majority of cave paintings were done by teenage males (just as most graffiti is done today) by studying the hand sizes of over 1,000 photocopied hands of men, women, children, teenage boys and girls and comparing them to the hand markings left in the caves.
"'Lots of the wild animals in the caves have spears in them and blood coming out of their mouths and everything that a hunter would be familiar with,' Guthrie told LiveScience. "These were the Ferraris and football games of their time. They painted what was on their minds."
Sources:
Fickling, David: Cave Paintings are graffiti by prehistoric yobs
Carey, Bjourn: Ancient Cave Art Full of Teenage Graffiti
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