Profs and Pints Online presents: “Prehistoric Cave Art,” a look at the lessons and mysteries of ancient cave paintings, with Justin M. Jacobs, associate professor of history at American University and scholar of the history of archaeology.

[This talk will remain available in recorded form at the link given here  for tickets and access.}

Get ready for a scholarly adventure deep in the earth with Justin M. Jacobs, who has given a host of fantastic Profs and Pints talks on the ancient world and efforts to learn more about it. You’ll see stunning images of cave art while learning powerful lessons about our species’ development of abstract thought, a key to its survival.

Tens of thousands of years ago, our earliest ancestors left cryptic images painted all over the walls and ceilings of dark caves. They depicted herds of bison, swimming stags, oversized aurochs, horses, and bears. Also among them were legions of handprints, creepy insect signs, baffling geometric designs, and even a “unicorn.”

But why were they left there? What did they all mean?

We’ll tackle such questions by heading into the bowels of three of the most spectacular caves in Europe—Altamira, Lascaux, and Chauvet---with Dr. Jacobs, who is teaching an upcoming Great Courses series on UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

He’ll discuss various interpretations of the images found in them, and he’ll walk us though popular explanations dealing with “hunting magic,” voodoo ceremonies, and secret initiation rites. He'll also tease out patterns in the data to get a better sense of just why our Paleolithic ancestors ventured into these caves to paint what one scholar has described as the “Sistine Ceiling” of prehistoric cave art.

By the end of this talk, you will have taken a vicarious trek through the aptly named Skull Chamber and caught a glimpse of such memorable creatures as a mammoth with three tusks, a bison with seven legs, and the long extinct Megaloceros.

Through it all, Dr. Jacobs will highlight the ways in which this mysterious cave art reveals the secret weapon of our species that gave us the cognitive tools to outpace all our evolutionary competitors and ultimately conquer the world. (Ticket: $12. )

Profs & Pints Online: Prehistoric Cave Art