Q 01/05

Cave paintings belong to which broader category of art, which also includes engravings on cave walls?

A) Mobiliary art

B) Kinetic art

C) Parietal art

D) Plastic art

Answer · why

C) Parietal art

Parietal art takes its name from the Latin paries, 'wall', the same root behind the parietal bones that wall in the top of the skull.

Q 02/05

The Sahara's Cave of Swimmers, found by explorer László Almásy in 1933, features in which Oscar-winning film?

A) Lawrence of Arabia

B) Casablanca

C) The English Patient

D) Out of Africa

Answer · why

C) The English Patient

The English Patient makes a fictional Almásy its hero and rebuilt the cave as a set. The real explorer argued its swimming figures proved the Sahara w...

Q 03/05

Besides the paint itself, what on a cave wall can be carbon-dated to show when artists were there?

A) Water stains

B) Torch marks

C) Chisel scratches

D) Bat droppings

Answer · why

B) Torch marks

Torch marks are charcoal, so they hold datable carbon. At Chauvet, smears left where visitors rubbed their torches on the walls helped prove the art w...

Q 04/05

Which subjects appear most often in prehistoric cave paintings?

A) Domestic dogs, sheep and goats

B) Big game like bison, horses and deer

C) Eagles and other birds of prey

D) Fish and other sea creatures

Answer · why

B) Big game like bison, horses and deer

Big game like bison, horses and deer fill the walls while people barely appear: humans are rare in cave art, and usually crude sketches beside the lif...

Q 05/05

Which pigments did cave painters typically use?

A) Ochre, hematite, manganese oxide and charcoal

B) Lead white, cinnabar and gold leaf

C) Verdigris, azurite and malachite

D) Indigo, saffron and lapis lazuli

Answer · why

A) Ochre, hematite, manganese oxide and charcoal

Ochre, hematite, manganese oxide and charcoal gave the reds, yellows and blacks. The charcoal proved a gift to science, since its carbon let labs date...