02

Cave Art 101

Wooly mammoths, step bison, and other large mammals,

Mamut berbulu, bison stepa, dan mamalia besar lainnya,

once roamed alongside people across Eurasia.

pernah hidup berdampingan dengan manusia di seluruh Eurasia.

Tens of thousands of years later,

Puluhan ribu tahun kemudian,

we may have glimpse into this Ice Age world through the cave art left behind by early humans.

kita bisa mengintip dunia Zaman Es ini melalui seni gua yang ditinggalkan manusia purba.

Around 400 art-filled caves and shelters,

Sekitar 400 gua dan ceruk yang dipenuhi karya seni,

predominately located in France and Spain have been discovered so far.

yang sebagian besar berada di Prancis dan Spanyol, telah ditemukan sejauh ini.

Some of the most elaborate prehistoric artwork,

Beberapa karya seni prasejarah paling megah,

exists in caves in France known as Lascaux Grotto and Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc.

berada di gua-gua di Prancis yang dikenal sebagai Gua Lascaux dan Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc.

Cave art dates as far back as 65,000 years ago to the time of the Neanderthals.

Seni gua berusia hingga 65.000 tahun, berasal dari masa manusia Neanderthal.

Though, radiocarbon dating and other methods have revealed

Namun, penanggalan radiokarbon dan metode lain menunjukkan

most art to be less than 40,000 years old and created by Homo sapiens.

bahwa sebagian besar karya berusia kurang dari 40.000 tahun dan dibuat oleh Homo sapiens.

The majority of cave art depicts animals that humans would have encountered or hunted during the Ice Age,

Mayoritas seni gua menggambarkan hewan-hewan yang ditemui atau diburu manusia di Zaman Es,

such as mammoths, horses, lions, aurochs, and deer.

seperti mamut, kuda, singa, aurochs, dan rusa.

Some human figures and other symbols have also been discovered.

Beberapa sosok manusia dan simbol lain juga ditemukan.

Cave paintings were mostly created with red or black pigments made from rocks.

Lukisan gua sebagian besar dibuat dengan pigmen merah atau hitam dari batu.

Some artworks were painted directly onto cave walls,

Sebagian karya dilukis langsung di dinding gua,

while some were first engraved into the stone with tools.

sementara sebagian lainnya diukir terlebih dahulu menggunakan alat.

Occasionally,

Terkadang,

the artists would follow the natural contours of the stone walls to accentuate an animal's features.

seniman memanfaatkan kontur alami dinding gua untuk menonjolkan bentuk hewan.

Ever since the late 1800s, people have debated the meaning and purpose of cave art.

Sejak akhir tahun 1800-an, orang-orang memperdebatkan makna dan tujuan seni gua.

Some scholars think cave paintings were created by shamans,

Beberapa ahli berpendapat lukisan gua dibuat oleh para dukun,

who would go deep into caves and enter a trance-like state,

yang masuk jauh ke dalam gua dan masuk ke kondisi seperti trance,

Drawing animals they encountered in the spirit world.

Menggambar hewan-hewan yang mereka temui di dunia roh.

Symbols repeated across artworks

Simbol-simbol yang berulang di berbagai karya

may indicate that those symbols had agreed upon meaning among the artists.

mungkin menunjukkan adanya makna tertentu yang disepakati di antara para seniman.

Thus, perhaps cave art also represents the earliest form of graphic communication.

Dengan demikian, seni gua mungkin juga merupakan bentuk komunikasi grafis paling awal.

In reality, cave art may have been created for a variety of reasons.

Kenyataannya, seni gua bisa jadi dibuat karena berbagai alasan.

While we may never know with absolute certainty why cave art was made,

Meski kita mungkin tak akan pernah tahu dengan pasti mengapa seni gua dibuat,

or the meaning behind individual paintings,

atau makna di balik tiap lukisan,

these works give us insight into the evolving minds of our prehistoric ancestors

karya-karya ini memberi kita gambaran tentang perkembangan pikiran leluhur prasejarah kita

and the world in which they lived.

serta dunia tempat mereka hidup.

By one view, cave artists were prehistoric naturalists.

Menurut satu pandangan, para pelukis gua adalah naturalis prasejarah.

Their detailed drawings may teach us about the appearance,

Gambarnya yang detail dapat memberi kita pengetahuan tentang rupa,

and behavior of animals that have long been extinct.

dan perilaku hewan-hewan yang sudah lama punah.

But perhaps more significant,

Namun yang lebih penting,

a part of our never-ending quest to find out who we are and where we came from,

sebagai bagian dari pencarian abadi kita untuk memahami siapa diri kita dan dari mana asal kita,

cave art may provide evidence of a time when humans were first able to etch their thoughts in stone.

seni gua bisa jadi merupakan bukti masa ketika manusia pertama kali mampu mengabadikan pikiran mereka di batu.

Vocabulary List

wooly (adjective): berbulu lebat
roam (verb): berkeliaran, menjelajah
glimpse (verb): mengintip, melihat sekilas
cave (noun): gua
predominantly (adverb): sebagian besar, terutama
located (verb/adjective): terletak
elaborate (adjective): rumit, megah, penuh detail
date back (verb phrase): berasal dari masa lampau
dating (noun): penanggalan
reveal (verb): mengungkapkan
depict (verb): menggambarkan
encounter (verb): menemui, menghadapi
engrave (verb): mengukir
accentuate (verb): menonjolkan, mempertegas
shaman (noun): dukun
trance (noun): kondisi trance, kesurupan ringan
evolve (verb): berkembang, berevolusi
ancestor (noun): leluhur
detailed (adjective): rinci, penuh detail
extinct (adjective): punah
never-ending (adjective): tak berujung, abadi
quest (noun): pencarian
etch (verb): menggores, mengukir
thought (noun): pikiran