The World's First Theatres Mixed Music with Art

Music Combined with Dance and Art in Paleolithic Caves

Oct 5, 2008

A new study suggests that Paleolithic caves in France were used as theatre spaces where music, song and dance were performed before large cave paintings by torch-light.

Iegor Reznikoff of the University of Paris, a specialist in the resonance of buildings and spaces, noticed while visiting a Paleolithic cave in France that the spaces that contained the greater number of cave paintings, were also the most acoustically resonant.

He wondered, after singing and humming in various parts of the cave, if there might be a relationship between the paintings on the walls, and the acoustic properties of the rooms that held them.

He visited many more caves across France, including Niaux and Le Portel in Ariege, as well as Arcy-sur-Cure in Burgandy, and found the same relationships in all.

He made three observations in particular that support his theory of a connection between the cave paintings, and the acoustic properties of the caves.

Firstly, most of the paintings were located in the most acoustically resonant spaces. Secondly, the density of the paintings in those spaces is proportionate to the level of resonance of the space. Thirdly, the more confined spaces, such as tunnels or corridors where painting would be impossible, were simply marked by red lines.

This final observation suggests that the caves were surveyed for their acoustic properties, before any painting was commenced.

Could it be that cave paintings were combined with music, song and dance in some sort of ritualistic theatre? The bone flutes found in and near such caves tend to support this idea.

It is possible that what we know of as ritual and theatre have their beginnings in these Paleolithic caves found not only in Europe, but around the world.

Earlier in the last century, the cave paintings in France were believed to serve a ritual purpose to promote success in the hunt.

Dr. Nigel Spivey in the BBC documentary “How Art Made the World” presents a new theory that suggests that the paintings must have served another purpose, as many of the animals depicted in them were not quarry animals.

Dr. David Lewis-Williams, the author of this new theory, suggests the paintings were of hallucinatory visions caused by sensory deprivation in the caves, and that they served a purpose in some sort of trance-inducing ritual.

With what’s been discovered by Iegor Reznikoff regarding a relationship between the cave paintings and the acoustic properties of the caves, we can see that these visions combined with music, singing, and dance must have played an important role in the development of human culture from the earliest beginning.

Jennifer Viegas, “In Stone Age Caves, Art and Music Mixed”, Discovery News, July 1, 2008

The copyright of the article The World's First Theatres Mixed Music with Art in Archaeological Buildings is owned by Colin Sean Teatro. Permission to republish The World's First Theatres Mixed Music with Art in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.