Paleolithic cave art at Altamira in Spain

Photo: Engines of our Ingenuity, by John H. Lienhard, University of Houston. He attributes copyright to Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911

Ancient peoples painted the walls of 200 caves across Europe with gorgeous representations of the animals around them, on which they relied for food, clothing and shelter.

Many of these creatures were significant in their religious rituals as well. The bull and especially its horns, have been mythologically important across Europe and the Mediterranean region.

This bull is from a decorated cave wall at Altamira, in northern Spain. The painted caves there were discovered in 1868, and explored a decade later, long before the most famous French caves at Lascaux (discovered 1940) and Chauvet (discovered 1994).

The area including Altamira and nearby painted caves, with their amazing art, is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.