why was the Lascaux Caves painted? Is there a specific reason?

Answer 1

Why were they painted? Nobody knows for sure. Really, everything that people have proposed is almost pure speculation.

Some say for religious purposes. Some say for magical purposes. Some say a cross between religious-magical purposes. To ensure success in the hunt. A sense of wonder. Etc.

Personally, I think that anthropologists tend to use the "for-religious-purposes" argument for anything they don't really know. Perhaps these ancient people were just imaginative and artistic for it's own sake without having a purpose other than that, just as people today create for the sake of creating.

Answer 2

The Lascaux caves are thought to have been used as a sort of assembly hall by the group of people who lived in that region in 15,000 B.C who may have gathered there prior to setting out to hunt. The images painted or scratched on the walls represent the animals they hunted - boar, ibex, bison and horses of a type known as Chinese horses . We know this, as animal bones dating from that time have been found in the region of the caves. These images may well have been thought to have some magical power ensuring a successful hunt.
The home site of the caves gives a lot of information http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/arcnat/lascaux/en/

Answer 3

Both previous answers are surprisingly good (not for them, but for Yahoo Answers). There is no way that we can ascertain why they were painted or how they were afterwards used. There are lots of hypotheses, but I don't think anything has sufficient evidence to be considered a theory.

One thing is likely: the best times in these people's lives, as a community, was probably immediately after a successful hunt. Big party, and everyone gets well-fed. When every day is a struggle for survival, that's got to be one of the high points.

Whether they did it for religion, or because it was their fondest memory, or just because they wanted to see how well they could draw and paint, we will probably never know (unless we invent faster-than-light drive, in which case we will be able to look into the past).

Jim, http://www.life-after-harry-potter.com

Answer 4

I think the cave paintings were after the flood (which is not dated in the Bible). The paintings may have come after the dispersion of peoples recorded in Genesis 11. The Bible never calls living in a cave a sin. The Bible mentions such cave dwellers, but has little to say about them.

Answer 5

Since the artists are long dead, I guess no one will ever know for sure why they were painted. All we have is speculation.