Boy of the Painted Cave

Boy of the Painted Cave is a 1996 middle-grade historical fiction novel by Justin Denzel set 18,000 years ago in prehistoric France. The novel is told in the limited third-person point of view and follows Tao, a 14-year-old boy with a disability, who longs to be a cave painter for his clan. Tao has difficulty walking with his right foot, and he compensates for this by using a spear as a crutch. The crutch allows him to run faster than even the hunters who do not have a disability. Tao’s mother died when he was very young, and the identity and circumstances of his father are a mystery to him, as no one in the clan will provide him with information or clarity. In his clan, the Valley People, only the Chosen Ones are allowed to create images. Those Chosen are traditionally men whose fathers were leaders or Cave Painters. Tao dreams of painting, but he is unlikely to be chosen for such an elite position. He is an outcast because of his disability and his orphan status.

Plot Summary

At the beginning of the novel, the clan’s hunters return largely unsuccessful from a hunting trip. The game animals have been sparse, and the hunters and leaders are worried about their ability to feed the people. Tao, distracted by drawing animals in the dirt, forgets a rabbit he’d been carrying. The leader, Volt, tells Tao to go retrieve the rabbit and not return without it. Alone in the woods that night, Tao meets and befriends an injured, starving young wolf dog. Tao helps the young dog and names him Ram. The two form a bond and explore the Slough, a taboo area near the clan’s camp. Though the Valley People think the Slough is cursed and populated by evil spirits, Tao finds that it is a bounteous and fertile area with excellent hunting and gathering opportunities.

After a successful hunting trip in the Slough, Tao decides that he will leave the clan and live with Ram in a small cave he finds. In the cave he practices drawing and painting on the walls, defying the clan’s taboo. As he and Ram are a very effective hunting team, they can provide not only for themselves, but also for the clan. Tao is sure to bring food to Kala, his adoptive mother, but brings more for the whole clan as well. Volt questions how Tao can hunt so well on his own, but Tao knows they would kill Ram if they knew, so he dodges the question.

One day, Tao and Ram meet Graybeard, the shaman who serves all the tribes. Tao invites him back to the cave for a meal. When Graybeard sees Tao’s drawings, he furiously destroys them. He tells Tao that he may continue to draw, but that he must cover them up as soon as they are complete because if anyone from the clan were to see them Tao would be sentenced to death. Graybeard tells Tao that he will never become a Chosen One due to the clan’s beliefs but that he will still teach Tao the ways of painting and magic.

Tao and Ram continue to thrive as the seasons progress. Graybeard appears periodically to give Tao lessons. He stays only a day or two each time, then leaves for long periods. As time passes, Graybeard appears to become weaker and more ill. The great herds of animals start returning to the plains, much to the relief of the hunters. Tao is careful to keep Ram and his cave paintings hidden, but one day he sees an opportunity to show the hunters how helpful Ram can be. The attempt goes wrong and Ram scares off the deer the hunters had been tracking. Enraged, the hunters say that Ram is an evil spirit. Volt, the leader, is very superstitious and believes strongly in spirits and curses. Though he can’t remember the attack, Volt believes he was maimed by a wolf dog when he was a young child and holds a particular hatred for them. Tao intercepts a spear thrown at Ram, bringing the anger of the hunters onto himself. The boy and the wolf dog flee; Tao sends Ram across the river to hide and conceals himself in the branches of a willow tree.

The next day, Tao goes to find Ram and discovers that the wolf dog has been captured and tied up by the Mountain People, who say he is theirs now. Tao negotiates a deal with the Mountain People that will return Ram to him and allow them to hunt alone and provide food to the Mountain People. When the leader takes Tao back to the village to confer with the shaman, Tao discovers that Graybeard’s illness has worsened, and the old man is near death. Graybeard is happy to see Tao and says that they must return together to the Big Cave and Sacred Cavern to paint mammoths on the walls and ensure that the hunting goes well. Because Graybeard is too sick to do this himself, he says that Tao will sneak into the cave and do the painting; Graybeard will follow him with the rest of the hunters and convince them that Tao should be his successor. Graybeard gives Tao his deerskin pouch full of his magical implements and the graven images of the animals whose spirits they attempt to appease with their paintings.

Tao finds his way to the Secret Cavern as Graybeard intended and paints a herd of mammoth. Proud of his work, he stands back when he hears the hunters approach. Unfortunately, they appear without Graybeard and are incensed by this violation of their beliefs and sacred space. Tao insists that Graybeard will confirm that Tao was meant to do this, but the hunters say that Graybeard never arrived. They accuse Tao of killing the old man to take his place and sentence him to face Saxon, the sacred bull who delivers their punishments. No one has every survived facing Saxon. Tao’s adoptive mother, Kala, tries to free him in the night, but Tao refuses and says that he will face Saxon.

Volt tells Tao the spirits have decreed he should have his spear when he faces Saxon. As Tao uses the spear for mobility, this gives him a much better chance against the bull. Though Tao cannot defeat the bull with strength, he uses his intelligence and uses one of Graybeard’s “shining stones” to reflect light into Saxon’s eyes until the animal gives up. Volt declares that they have all seen the magic for themselves and that Tao is innocent. Saxon causes the herd of mammoths to stampede toward the group, and they all run to the safety of higher ground. Tao notices that Volt has not made it to safety with them; when the dust clears, he sees Volt below, in danger of being gored by a female mammoth whose calf lies dead near the leader. Ram appears, fending off the mammoth and saving Volt’s life. Volt declares that the curse is lifted and accepts the wolf dog. He reveals to Tao that he is Tao’s father but says that Tao does not need a father now that he is a man. Tao is instated as the new shaman. The novel ends with Tao leaving the clan on his first journey as shaman, pleased to have achieved his dream and to be following in Graybeard’s footsteps.