Fingerprints to Footprints: Thoughts on the Past

After watching the film Cave of Forgotten Dreams I learned about the Chauvet Cave. The caves had so much information about the past and because it was so perfectly preserved we are able to tell important facts about the past as well as the people who where in the cave. Their art was very advanced and beautiful and it was something I was not expecting. I have seen cave paintings before, but these told stories and showed amazing skill. The thing that stuck with me the most was the red dots seen when first entering the caves. These simple dots told so much about the painter. He had a crook in his little finger that helped the researchers to follow him deeper into the cave. They also could figure out how tall he was because of his reach. This fact reminded me of something in my own life. At my work there is a storage closet. In the closet, way at the top of the wall there are footprints. I did not even notice the prints until working at my job of a few months. These footprints fascinated me for so long. From these simple footprints I began making conclusions about the person who made them, most likely 15 years ago. I started to make conclusions about the man who made them. I assume it was a man because of the size of the feet. They look to be almost twice the size of my own feet (I have small feet about a 7 in women’s which is about a 5 in men’s). I also concluded that this man most likely was tall, also due to the size of his feet and the way that he’s weight distributed in the prints. I also came to the conclusion that he was a construction worker who most likely walked over the piece of drywall before it went up on the wall all those years ago. I find I amazing that we can try and figure out so much from the past just from a few little details left behind, whether it be 15 years in the past or 30,000 years.