Rocky Polychrome Hall in Altamira Cave has been compared to a Paleolithic Sistine Chapel because of its decorated ceiling.(阿爾塔米拉洞穴里的巖石多彩大廳以其頂板的裝飾可與舊石器時代的西斯廷教堂相比擬。)

The earliest discovered traces of art are beads and carvings, and then paintings, from sites dating back to the Upper Paleolithic period.(最早發現的藝術痕跡是珠子和雕刻品，然后是繪畫，它們來自舊石器時代晚期的遺址。)

Consistent with this idea, according to the investigators, is the fact that the art of the cultural period that followed the Upper Paleolithic also seems to reflect how people got their food.(研究人員認為，與這一觀點相一致的是，舊石器時代晚期之后的文化時期的藝術似乎也反映了人們獲取食物的方式。)

Getting to the paintings themselves, virtually all Paleolithic cave art represents animals, and Chauvet is no exception.(說到繪畫本身，幾乎所有舊石器時代的洞穴藝術都代表動物，肖維也不例外。)

Shown here is a layout of an upper paleolithic hut, a form often repeated in its general characteristics.(此處展示的是舊石器時代晚期一間棚屋的結構圖，該形式的一般特征往往重復出現。)

The Paleolithic axe is an infant by comparison, merely 100, 000 years old.(相比之下，舊石器時代的斧子簡直就是個嬰兒，才存在了十萬年。)

The anthropologist Alexander Marshack has an interesting interpretation of some of the engravings made during the Upper Paleolithic.(人類學家亞歷山大·馬沙克對舊石器時代晚期的一些雕刻有一個有趣的解釋。)

If this is true, it would mean that Upper Paleolithic people were capable of complex thought and were consciously aware of their environment.(如果這是真的，那就意味著舊石器時代晚期的人們有能力進行復雜的思考，并會下意識地去了解他們所處的環境。)

FEW human records survive for long, the 16,000-year-old Paleolithic cave paintings at Lascaux, France, being one exception.(人工記錄很少能長期保存。法國拉斯科的舊石器時代巖畫是個例外，它已經有1萬6千年的歷史了。)

What inspired the Paleolithic artists to make such beautiful art in such inaccessible places?(是什么促使舊石器時代的藝術家們在如此偏僻的地方創作出如此美麗的藝術品？)