Franco-Cantabrian Art

Franco-Cantabrian art, style of art associated with a group of Paleolithic cave sites in southwestern France and northern Spain (Cantabria).

The art thus designated is found in limestone caves, such as those at Altamira and Lascaux; more than 200 have been identified to date. A few of these served as dwellings for ancient hunters, but most were apparently used infrequently and only for purposes linked to the art. This cave art featured engravings, paintings, and—in a few cases—bas-relief sculpture and (in the French Pyrenees) works in clay. In addition, a wide range of portable art was crafted during this period. Franco-Cantabrian art spans the entire Upper Paleolithic Period and is composed of often naturalistic images of animals, far fewer depictions of humans, and a great variety of geometric and highly enigmatic “signs.”