Based on his knowledge as an archaeologist, Satuola maintained that the paintings dated from the Stone Age.
根据自己作为考古学家所掌握的知识，萨拖拉坚持认为这些画的历史可以追溯到石器时代。
However, his claims were greeted with ridicule by the scientific community.
然而，他的声明遭到了科学界人士的嘲笑和奚落。
Other archaeologists thought the colours seemed too bright and the images too lifelike to have been created by ancient man.
其他考苦学家认为古代人使用的颜色似乎太过明亮，创作的画像又太过真实。
Even though other discoveries of cave paintings soon followed, it was not until 1902 that any of these finds were accepted as genuine.
尽管紧接着又发现了其他的岩洞壁画，但是一直到1902年，这些岩洞壁画才被认为是真迹。
Researchers now believe that these cave paintings are between 10,000 and 20,000 years old.
研究者如今认为这些岩洞壁画已有1万到2万年的历史了。
We may now know the age of the paintings, but the reason why they were created is yet a mystery.
我们现在可能知道壁画的年代，但是它们被创作出的原因仍然是一个谜。
The painters may have wanted to record past hunts or tell a story, or they could have used the paintings for some kind of magical or religious purpose.
画家可能想记录那时的狩猎或是讲述故事，再或是表示某种魔力和宗教信仰。
We simply do not know.
我们的确不知道。
However, we do know that, at least in one way, Stone Age people were not so different from ourselves - they found inspiration and pleasure in art.
然而，我们确切地知道，石器时代的人们至少在一个方面与我们没有什么大的不同，那就是他们从艺术中获得了灵感和愉悦。