sadowa:

1) Clever: Ancient artists at France’s Chauvet Cave superimposed drawings of two bison to create an eight-legged beast intended to depict trotting or running, two researchers say; 2) The hunt: Another painting in the Chauvet cave. Seen lit by flickering torchlight, the images appear to move thanks to the optical phenomenon known as the persistence of vision, the researchers claim

A night at the pictures, caveman style: Prehistoric artists ‘used cartoon-like techniques to make their paintings move’

Prehistoric cave artists used cartoon-like techniques to give the impression that their images were moving across cave walls, two French researchers have suggested.

A new study of cave art across France - in which animals appear to have multiple limbs, heads and tails - has found that the paintings are actually primitive attempts at animation.

When the images are viewed under the unsteady light of flickering flames the images can appear to move as the animals they represent do, the research claims.