You may think this is one of my stranger “The Best…” lists, but it was prompted by a very cool infographic in this month’s issue of New Scientist that compares the symbols used in cave paintings throughout the world. (thanks to Cool Infographics for the tip). You can read the entire article here.

The infographic prompted me to review related resources I’ve posted about in the past, and I was easily able to come-up with this list of resources accessible to English Language Learners.

Here are my choices for The Best Sites For Learning About Prehistoric Cave Paintings (not in any order of preference):

Obviously, the infographic I’ve mentioned previously from The New Scientist.

Many people are familiar with the French government’s useful website on the famous cave of Lascaux and its ancient paintings. Recently, though, they have created a new site that is out of this world! Go take a virtual 3D tour of the site…

You can access a number of free PowerPoint presentations on cave paintings here.

The Bradshaw Foundation has several excellent resources. They include a multimedia American Rock Art Archive and a French Cave Paintings and Rock Art Archive.

Here’s the multimedia site of The Cave of Chauvet-Pont-D’Arc.

How Stuff Works has some good, short videos on Cave Paintings, as well as some accessible text.

National Geographic has two good interactives on cave paintings.

YouTube has some excellent related videos.

Louvre on the Rocks: Cache of Aboriginal Art Revealed is an article and slideshow about recently discovered ancient cave paintings in Australia.

‘The oldest work of art ever’: 42,000-year-old paintings of seals found in Spanish cave is from The Mail Online.

What prehistoric art tells us about the evolution of the human brain is a slideshow from Slate.

Some of the earliest known cave art was recently found in Indonesia:


Confirmed: The Oldest Known Art in the World Is Spray-Painted Graffiti
is from The Atlantic.

Cave paintings change ideas about the origin of art is from The BBC.

Cave Paintings in Indonesia May Be Among the Oldest Known is from The New York Times.

Here’s A Simple Lesson On Prehistoric Cave Paintings I Did With My ELL World History Class

Here’s a 360 video from The NY Times on the Lascaux cave paintings.

TED-Ed has just published a new lesson and 360° video on cave paintings:

Feedback is always welcome.

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You might also want to explore the 400 other “The Best…” lists I’ve compiled.