What do the artifacts tell us about the lives of early humans?

Artifacts show us how the early humans lived, where they lived, when they lived and what they were like. Artifacts such as cave art tools are made of sharpened stones to sculpt and engrave objects and cave walls. The paint brushes used to create the cave paintings were believed to be made out of moss, fur or even hair from a human. To make the softer texture on the cave paintings for the horses winter coats they may have also blown through hollow bird bones. Scientists believe that the paints were made by grinding minerals into powder and then mixed together with animal fat or vegetable oil to make different colours.

The prehistoric spear found in France, had a leaping horse on the top of it, scientists believe that it could have been a good luck charm for the hunter to protect him or her while they were out finding food or it could have been a symbol that represented the clan it belonged to. The artist had carved hundreds of tiny dashes on the horses head so it must have been very important to the clan. It is ten inches long and is believed to be made 18,000 years ago.

Another artifact found are two bison clay sculptures in France they were sculpted from gold coloured clay it could be that they show the cave belonged to a certain clan or it could be that they were part of a coming of age ceremony held inside the cave. The scientists think they were made about 10,000 to 14,000 years ago.

Artifacts are really interesting because they help solve mysteries of the past and are records of important events.