ABSTRACT
It is usually argued that the first art was created by Modern Humans anatomically like us, on the assumption that only Modern Humans possessed the cognitive capacities that allow the creation of art. This chapter discusses one of the most hotly debated issues in archaeology today: when did we become human or, rather, what is the material culture evidence that indicates the time and place where hominids in the past started to be like us? In addressing these questions, it deals with three essential issues intricately interwoven into the notion of visual art: Who was the first artist? What was the first art? What are the first visual images that can be interpreted as being artistic images or objects? The chapter presents the related issue of the relevance of Renaissance ideas, and their use by French archaeologists to argue that the cave paintings of Lascaux were equal in terms of artistic achievement to the Sistine Chapel.
