Used for art, burials, and even killings: explore 6 mysterious caves of ancient humans (photos).

Caves have served as natural shelters for humans throughout history, providing protection and space for artistic expression, burials, and food preparation. In various regions and time periods, prehistoric people left traces of their lives in these underground spaces, writes Live Science.

Lascaux Cave

One of the most famous sites is Lascaux Cave in southwestern France, where, according to the French Ministry of Culture, there are approximately 680 frescoes and 1,500 engravings created around 21,000 years ago. The drawings depict animals, including horses, bison, deer, bears, and aurochs (Bos primigenius), an extinct species of wild cattle.

Geometric patterns such as dots and pentagonal shapes are also present. One drawing features a human figure with a head resembling a bird, which may represent a masked face.

At the time these images were created, people lived as hunter-gatherers, so the cave may have been used for ritual purposes.

Chauvet Cave

Chauvet Cave, located in southeastern France, contains some of the oldest known cave paintings, dated to about 32,000 years ago, according to the Metropolitan Museum.

The images include a variety of animals such as horses, bears, lions, rhinoceroses, and mammoths, as well as handprints left by the earliest visitors.

Some works are done in red or black ochre, and one impressive image depicts the lower half of a woman's body next to what appears to be a bison.

Zhoukoudian Caves

In China, the Zhoukoudian caves near Beijing hold traces of Homo erectus, often referred to as "Peking Man." Although many fossils from this site were lost during World War II, recent excavations uncovered stone tools used for scraping and softening animal hides, likely made into clothing.

The dating of the cave occupation remains a topic of discussion, but evidence suggests that H. erectus occupied this area at various times between 800,000 and 200,000 years ago. Homo sapiens also utilized the caves much later, with burials dating to approximately 18,000 to 11,000 years ago, as noted by UNESCO.

Swimmers' Cave

In the arid region of southwestern Egypt, there is a place known as "Swimmers' Cave." It contains rock paintings depicting figures that seem to swim, as well as images of people walking or running.

According to the British Museum, among other drawings are handprints and what appears to be an engraved impression of an antelope's hoof. The age of these drawings remains uncertain, although they are estimated to have been created between 6,000 and 9,000 years ago, during a time when the environment was much wetter than today.

Atapuerca

The Spanish caves of Atapuerca bear witness to human activity lasting nearly a million years. According to UNESCO, they were used by many hominid species, including Neanderthals, Homo sapiens, and possibly Homo antecessor, Homo heidelbergensis, and H. erectus.

Remains of butchered bison indicate that the caves were used as processing sites about 400,000 years ago. In addition to tools and bones, researchers found rock paintings featuring animals, human figures, and abstract geometric patterns.

Altamira Cave

Another significant Spanish site is Altamira Cave, inhabited between 36,000 and 13,000 years ago, as reported by the Bradshaw Foundation. The cave stretches about 270 meters and contains a large number of rock paintings.

Among the most striking examples is the ceiling adorned with paintings of 25 bison, each measuring 1.7 meters in length, as well as images of horses and a deer. To create these vibrant images, prehistoric artists employed engraving techniques to outline the shapes before filling them in with ochre-based pigments.

These ancient caves provide invaluable insight into the artistic and cultural practices and survival methods of prehistoric people. The preserved artworks and artifacts offer a glimpse into the lives of those who inhabited these spaces, revealing deep connections between early societies and their environment.

We also reported on a 4,500-year-old cemetery in Germany. While exploring the burials, scientists discovered remarkably well-preserved graves of warriors.