Prehistoric Cave Paintings Took up to 20,000 Years to Complete Reading Answers
Prehistoric Cave Paintings Took up to 20,000 Years to Complete Reading Answers includes 14 questions which need to be answered in 20 minutes. Prehistoric Cave Paintings Took up to 20,000 Years to Complete Reading Answers consisting of two types of questions. This includes- true/false/not given, choose the correct option and match the given list. Candidates need to analyse the passage for keywords and understand the concepts to answer the questions. Candidates must read the IELTS reading passage and recognize synonyms to answer the question.
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Section 1
Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions
Prehistoric Cave Paintings Took up to 20,000 Years to Complete Reading Answers
- It may have taken Michelangelo four long years to paint his fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, but his earliest predecessors spent considerably longer perfecting their own masterpieces. Scientists have discovered that prehistoric cave paintings took up to 20,000 years to complete. Rather than being created in one session, as archaeologists previously thought, many of the works discovered across Europe were produced over hundreds of generations, who added to, refreshed and painted over the original pieces of art.
- Until now it has been extremely difficult to pinpoint when prehistoric cave paintings and carvings were created, but a pioneering technique is allowing researchers to date cave art accurately for the first time and show how the works were crafted over thousands of years. Experts now hope the technique will provide valuable insight into how early human culture developed and changed as the first modern humans moved across Europe around 40,000 years ago. Dr Alistair Pike, an archaeologist at Bristol University who is leading the research, said: The art gives us a really intimate window into the minds of the individuals who produced it, but what we don’t know is exactly which individuals they were as we don’t know exactly when the art was created. If we can date the art then we can relate that to the artefacts we find in the ground and start to link the symbolic thoughts of these individuals to where, when and how they were living.
- Hundreds of caves have been discovered across Europe with elaborate prehistoric paintings and carvings on their walls. It is thought the designs, which often depict scenes of animals, were created up to 40,000 years ago-sometime after humans began moving from southern Europe into northern Europe during the last ice age. Traditional dating techniques have relied on carbon dating the charcoal and other pigments used in the paintings, but this can be inaccurate as it only gives the date the charcoal was created not when the work was crafted. ‘When you go into these caves today there is still charcoal lying on the ground, so the artists at the time could have been using old charcoal rather than making it fresh themselves’ explained Dr.Pike. ‘If this was the case, then the date for the painting would be very wrong. Taking samples for carbon dating also means destroying a bit of these precious paintings because you need to take away a bit of the pigment. For carvings, it is virtually impossible to date them as there is no organic pigment containing carbon at all.’
- The scientists have used their technique to date a series of famous Palaeolithic paintings in Altamira cave, northern Spain. Known as the ‘Sistine Chapel of the Palaeolithic’, the elaborate works were thought to date from around 14,000 years ago. But in research published by the Natural Environment Research Council’s new website Planet Earth, Dr Pike discovered some of the paintings were between 25,000 and 35,000 years old. The youngest paintings in the cave were 11,000 years old. Dr. Pike said:’We have found that most of these caves were not painted in one go, but the painting spanned up to 20,000 years. This goes against what the archaeologists who excavated in the caves found. It is probably the case that people did not live in the caves they painted. It seems the caves they lived in were elsewhere and there was something special about the painted caves.’
- Dr Pike and his team were able to date the paintings using a technique known as uranium-series dating, which was originally developed by geologists to date rock formations such as stalactites and stalagmites in caves. As water seeps through a cave, it carries extremely low levels of dissolved radioactive uranium along with the mineral calcium carbonate. Over time small amounts of calcium carbonate are deposited to form a hard layer over the paintings and this layer also traps the uranium. Due to its radioactive properties, the uranium slowly decays to become another element known as thorium. By comparing the ratio of uranium to thorium in the thin layers on top of the cave art, the researchers were able to calculate the age of the paintings.
- The researchers have also applied their technique to engravings found in rocks around Creswell Crags in Derbyshire, which are Britain’s only examples of ice age cave art. They proved the engravings were made at least 12,000 years ago. Professor Pablo Arias, an expert on Palaeolithic cave art at the University of Cantabria, Spain, said: ‘Until about ten years ago it was only possible to date cave art by using the style of the figures, but this new technique developed by Bristol University allows that date to be accurately bracketed. We want to study how the people of the time behaved and how they felt and Palaeolithic art gives us a way of looking at the type of symbols that were important to them, so we need to know when the people who were making the art actually lived.’
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Section 2
Solution With Explanation
Questions 1-5:
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? Write
True- if the statement agrees with the information
False- if the statement contradicts the information
Not Given- if there is no information on this
- Cave paintings inspired Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
- It now seems that cave paintings were painted in one go and then left untouched.
- Dr Pike is focusing on dating artefacts found on the ground in the caves.
- There are a number of disadvantages to using carbon dating to date paintings and carvings.
- The Altamira cave contains more cave paintings than any other cave in Europe.
Question 1. Cave paintings inspired Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
Answer: Not Given
Supporting sentence: It may have taken Michelangelo four long years to paint his fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, but his earliest predecessors spent considerably longer perfecting their own masterpieces.
Keywords: cave painting, inspiration, Michelangelo, Sistine chapel
Keyword Location: 1st Paragraph, 1st line
Explanation: The only information which is given about Michelangelo is that he took 4 years to paint on the ceiling of Sistine Chapel and there is no information given about him being inspired by cave paintings.
Question 2. It now seems that cave paintings were painted in one go and then left untouched.
Answer: False
Supporting sentence: Rather than being created in one session, as archaeologists previously thought, many of the works discovered across Europe were produced over hundreds of generations, who added to, refreshed and painted over the original pieces of art.
Keywords: cave paintings, one session, refreshed, painted over
Keyword Location: 1st Paragraph, 3rd line
Explanation: This is the correct answer because it is clearly given in the passage that the cave paintings were painted for over 20,000 years by hundreds of generations who refreshed and painted over to the original. Therefore, the statement given contradicts this information.
Question 3. Dr Pike is focusing on dating artefacts found on the ground in the caves.
Answer: False
Supporting sentence: Until now it has been extremely difficult to pinpoint when prehistoric cave paintings and carvings were created, but a pioneering technique is allowing researchers to date cave art accurately for the first time and show how the works were crafted over thousands of years
Keywords: Dating artefacts, ground, date cave art, research
Keyword Location: 2nd Paragraph, 1st line
Explanation:This is the correct answer because Dr.Pike was focusing on accurately dating the paintings through a new technique known as Uranium series dating. So the statement given contradicts the information given in the passage as Dr.Pike wasn’t focusing on dating artefacts found on the ground in the caves.
Question 4. There are a number of disadvantages to using carbon dating to date paintings and carvings.
Answer: True
Supporting sentence: Traditional dating techniques have relied on carbon dating the charcoal and other pigments used in the paintings, but this can be inaccurate as it only gives the date the charcoal was created not when the work was crafted.
Keywords: date of paintings, carbon dating, charcoal, inaccurate, destroy
Keyword Location: 5th Paragraph, 1st line & 6th Paragraph, 1st line
Explanation: This is the correct answer because carbon dating the charcoal and other pigments do have certain disadvantages as through this technique we cannot accurately know when the painting was made but rather when the charcoal was created. Also, taking carbon samples from the painting meant destroying the painting by taking some pigment for sampling.
Question 5. The Altamira cave contains more cave paintings than any other cave in Europe.
Answer: Not Given
Supporting sentence: The scientists have used their technique to date a series of famous Palaeolithic paintings in Altamira cave, northern Spain. Known as the ‘Sistine Chapel of the Palaeolithic’, the elaborate works were thought to date from around 14,000 years ago.
Keywords: Altamira cave, elaborate works, cave paintings, Europe
Keyword Location: 7th Paragraph, 1st line
Explanation: This is the correct answer because the only information that is given about the Altamira cave is that it has a series of famous Palaeolithic paintings. There is no information given about whether it contains more cave paintings than any other cave in Europe.
Questions 6-8:
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Question 6. Dr Pike believes that
- >most caves remained undiscovered for thousands of years.
- archaeologists should not have excavated the caves at all.
- the caves were uninhabited but were treated as important.
- the paintings were painted by the people living in the caves.
Answer: C
Supporting sentence: It is probably the case that people did not live in the caves they painted. It seems the caves they lived in were elsewhere and there was something special about the painted caves.
Keywords: lived elsewhere, special, painted caves, uninhabited
Keyword Location: 7th Paragraph, last line
Explanation: It is clearly mentioned in the passage that Dr.Pike is of the belief that the people didn’t live in the cave they painted and the painted caves had some significance to them. Hence C is the correct option.
Question 7. Uranium series dating
- was previously used for other purposes.
- is a technique which was invented by Dr Pike
- relies on the presence of stalactites in the caves.
- only works with caves which are underwater.
Answer: A
Supporting sentence: Dr Pike and his team were able to date the paintings using a technique known as uranium series dating, which was originally developed by geologists to date rock formations such as stalactites and stalagmites in caves.
Keywords: uranium series dating, originally developed, other purposes, rock formation
Keyword Location: 2nd last paragraph, 1st line\
Explanation: It is explicitly mentioned in the passage that Uranium series dating wasn’t
developed by Dr.Pike. He only used the technique to date the paintings. It was previously used for other purposes like to date rock formation. Hence, A is the correct option.
Question 8. Professor Pablo Arias
- is sceptical about the benefits of the new dating technique.
- is enthusiastic about what the new technique will achieve.
- used the technique to successfully date Creswell Crags.
- believes it is necessary only to study the symbols in the art.
Answer: B
Supporting sentence: Professor Pablo Arias, an expert on Palaeolithic cave art at the University of Cantabria, Spain, said: ‘Until about ten years ago it was only possible to date cave art by using the style of the figures, but this new technique developed by Bristol University allows that date to be accurately bracketed.
Keywords: new technique, date accurately, enthusiastic,
Keyword Location: Last Paragraph, 2nd last line
Explanation: This is the correct answer because Professor Arias is indeed very optimistic about the Uranium dating series which is used by Dr.Pike to date paintings and he feels that this technique will enable them to accurately bracket the date as well, which obviously means he is very enthusiastic about this technique as he sees its usefulness in the field.
Questions 9-14:
Choose your answers from the box and write the letters A-H next to Questions 9-14.
What is said about each of these things found in the caves?
- When this is removed, it damages the painting.
- This can damage the stalactites and stalagmites in the caves.
- Over time, this turns into a different element.
- We could determine when it was made, but not when it was used.
- This is produced as a result of radioactive decay.
- Scientists used to think that this was a mineral.
- This contains no carbon-based elements at all.
- This can act as a firm coating over something.
- charcoal
- pigment
- carving
- uranium
- calcium carbonate
- thorium
Question 9:
Answer: D
Supporting sentence: Traditional dating techniques have relied on carbon dating the charcoal and other pigments used in the paintings, but this can be inaccurate as it only gives the date the charcoal was created not when the work was crafted.
Keywords: carbon dating, charcoal, used, created
Keyword Location: 5th Paragraph, 1st line
Explanation: This is the correct option because it is given in the passage that carbon dating inaccurately dates the painting because primarily carbon dating accurately dates when the charcoal was created not when it was used in paintings in the
1st line of the 5th para.
Question 10:
Answer: A
Supporting sentence: Taking samples for carbon dating also means destroying a bit of these precious paintings because you need to take away a bit of the pigment.
Keywords: destroy, painting, removing, pigment
Keyword Location: 6th paragraph, 2nd line
Explanation: This is the correct answer because the only thing mentioned which damages the painting is when some pigment is taken from it for carbon dating the painting.
Question 11:
Answer: G
Supporting sentence: For carvings, it is virtually impossible to date them as there is no organic pigment containing carbon at ail.
Keywords:carvings, no organic pigment, impossible to date
Keyword Location: 6th Paragraph, 3rd line
Explanation: This is the correct answer because organic pigments need to be present for it to be carbon dated but carvings cannot be carbon dated because it contains no organic at all.
Question 12:
Answer: C
Supporting sentence: Due to its radioactive properties, the uranium slowly decays to become another element known as thorium
Keywords: radioactive properties, decays, another element, thorium
Keyword Location: 2nd last paragraph, 4th line
Explanation: This is the correct answer because Uranium being a radioactive has the property of decaying into another element over time- this characteristic is mentioned in the 3rd line of the 8th para.
Question 13:
Answer: H
Supporting sentence: Over time small amounts of calcium carbonate are deposited to form a hard layer over the paintings and this layer also traps the uranium.
Keywords:hard layer, painting, calcium carbonate
Keyword Location: 2nd last paragraph, 3rd line
Explanation: This is the correct answer because small amounts of calcium carbonate over time can form a hard layer over the paintings that can act as a firm coating, which is clearly mentioned in the 3rd line of the 2nd last paragraph.
Question 14:
Answer: E
Supporting sentence: Due to its radioactive properties, the uranium slowly decays to become another element known as thorium.
Keywords: radioactive, decay, thorium, uranium
Keyword Location: 2nd last paragraph, 4th line
Explanation: This is the correct answer because uranium, which is a radioactive element, has a property of decaying into another element which is thorium, which means thorium is produced due to the decay.
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