What Materials Did Our Ancestors Use to Make Paint?

Take our mini-quiz and find out

Grotte Chauvet - UNESCO World Heritage Site

What materials did the Aurignacians use to make their paint? (2019/2019) by Fanny Le BagousseGrotte Chauvet - UNESCO World Heritage Site

Where did Aurignacians get their paint from…

A. A fine arts shop or B. Nature

The correct answer is…

B. Nature

They chipped off and ground down red, yellow, or black pieces of rock containing iron.

They mixed the resulting powder with water to make it either runny or thick, depending not only on the paintings they wanted to produce, but also the type of rock they would be painting on.

Animal fat could be added to form an effective binder, giving the final product a specific consistency.

What kinds of images did they paint most? (2019/2019) by Fanny Le BagousseGrotte Chauvet - UNESCO World Heritage Site

Let's see if you can answer another prehistory question!

What images did our ancestors paint most?

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