Stone Age paintings

These paintings/ symbols crop up throughout the prehistoric world. These hands were painted on the walls of a cave in Rio Pinturas, Argentina. The hand forms were created by pressing all or part of the hand against the surface, after having applied paint or clay. This symbol is surprisingly rare, found at just under 7 per cent of the French sites studied. Its earliest know appearance is at Chauvet, from where it seems to have spread out in all directions. By 13,000 years ago it had fallen out of use.