Cave Paintings appear across the world as pre-historic man expressed his nude image on his environment. The oldest paintings probably date from about 30,000 years BCE (Before the Common Era). Even though depictions of human beings are rare, they do occur; and some of them are of nude males. The paintings are drawn with red and yellow ochre, hematite, manganese oxide and charcoal. Human depictions are usually schematic.

Examples of Nude Male Art in cave paints are shown below. The first is an image of a man in close proximity to what appears to be a charging bull. The man is apparantly depicted with an erect phallus. This may indicate a prayer for masculine power in an upcoming hunt for this bison-like animal. Or it may indicate a belief that the power of the bull is greater than the procreative power of human beings, specifically males.

This example of Cave Paintings is from the paintings of the San peoples of Southern Africa. Current research has shown that a great deal of this art is related to the trance-dancing which formed, and indeed still forms, an important part of the San response to environmental pressures.

The medicine man in trance was the important link between the world of the spirits and the everyday world in which the people live. During trance, many duties such as healing of the sick, communication with the spirit world, information gathering and divination, were carried out and were formally communicated to the group through the medium of painting or engraving.

The images which the medicine man saw during the trance state were painted on the rock face and do not represent reality in many cases.