the world's oldest art- and other ramblings

I'm reading this interesting article in The New Yorker about ancient cave paintings in southern France. Art history has always been a primary interest of mine, and I've also found archeology to be fascinating. Art can tell us so much about different cultures in history, even non-recorded history from Neanderthals. The word Neanderthal conjures up a distinct image in my mind, of a crude cave dwelling person, wearing skins and beating things with clubs. But really, we have no idea just how sophisticated these early humans could be...until we analyze their art. The cave paintings show advanced techniques such as pointillism, and bas-relief. Of course it's impossible to know exactly what these paintings mean, it is an almost completely unknown part of early human life. There are huge secrets to be unlocked. It reminds me of how I feel about the universe- whenever I think about it, I get overwhelmed- what on earth is out there? our solar system could be the blood in the veins of a larger creature. it's very possible that we are just ants in the world of a much larger, more sophisticated being.