the origin of masks

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The Origins of Masks.

Introduction.

There is evidence that masks have been under the eye of the world for at least 20,000 years. There is evidence to prove this all over the world, which includes paintings on the walls of the insides of various different caves in Southern France, to images also painted or inscribed on the walls of pyramids in the Sahara desert of Egypt.

Although our own British culture is extremely different to that of many others around the world, we are becoming increasingly more aware of how and why masks were first invented and the repercussions of them all around the globe. This is due to television documentaries, internet pages, and books at all of our local libraries. It is this point alone which initially brought my attention to that of the African Tribal, Japanese Theatrical and the Viennese Ball masks.

Although these are all quite different types of masks, they all have similar reasons for existing, whether it is religious, celebratory, or even to shadow one's identity.

By today's standards, many people believe the creation and use of masks to be only that of historical value;