If I could do one thing in my life, it would be to visit the Cueva de las Manos in Argentina[0][1].
Every time I look at the picture of it I just get overwhelmed with emotion.
It's the artistic level that goes on in kindergartens, and yet I think it is among the most beautiful, most profound pieces of
human art in existence.
Here are the hand prints of people who lives over 10,000 years ago, and they are still so understandable. So seemingly touchable. So very human.
Nothing of these people remains. Not their names, their voices, or even their bones. But their
hand prints are still here. A simple "Hey, we were here!" message, across millenia and continents.
[0] I wouldn't actually visit it though, every breath nearby causes damage, every moment of exposure to the world
deteriorates them. Tourism means destroying the very thing you are observing. To place my hand on it
would be an act of reverence, To place my hand on it would be sacrilege.
I visited some fantastic painted caves in Southern France 2 years ago, around Les Eyzies (where you can visit the extremely famous Cro Magnon, and close to Lascaux). The most impressive is the cave of Combarelles. It's a cramped and wet tunnel where only 5 persons and a guide can enter at a time. Lighting is mostly from the guide's lamp. You're literally watching the engravings on the wall at 50 cm.
It will probably be closed to visits forever now. Like Font-de-Gaume, the last cave with polychrome paintings open to the public (you had to come at 8AM to have any chance of entering: it's limited to 40 people/day).
I just finished 'Cave of Forgotten Dreams" by Werner Herzog and highly recommend it. I was surprised at the beauty and artistry some of the 35,000 yr old paintings.
Every time I look at the picture of it I just get overwhelmed with emotion. It's the artistic level that goes on in kindergartens, and yet I think it is among the most beautiful, most profound pieces of human art in existence.
Here are the hand prints of people who lives over 10,000 years ago, and they are still so understandable. So seemingly touchable. So very human. Nothing of these people remains. Not their names, their voices, or even their bones. But their hand prints are still here. A simple "Hey, we were here!" message, across millenia and continents.
[0] I wouldn't actually visit it though, every breath nearby causes damage, every moment of exposure to the world deteriorates them. Tourism means destroying the very thing you are observing. To place my hand on it would be an act of reverence, To place my hand on it would be sacrilege.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cueva_de_las_Manos