Evidence of artistic interest in depicting figures in motion can be seen in art as early as Paleolithic cave paintings. Animals in such paintings were often depicted with multiple sets of legs in superimposed positions. Because the paintings are prehistoric, alternative interpretations are possible, such as the artist simply deciding to change a leg's position and having no means of erasing, but it is very likely that these were early attempts to convey motion.[1]

Sequence of images that minimally differ from each other - from the site of the Burnt City in Iran, late half of 3rd millennium B.C.
Another example is a 5,200-year old pottery bowl discovered in Shahr-e Sukhteh, Iran. The bowl has five images painted around it that show phases of a goat leaping up to nip at a tree.[2][3]

An Egyptian mural approximately 4000 years old, found in the tomb of Khnumhotep at the Beni Hassan cemetery, features a very long series of images that apparently depict the sequence of events in a wrestling match.[4]

Ancient Chinese records contain several mentions of devices, including one made by the inventor Ding Huan, that were said to "give an impression of movement" to a series of human or animal figures on them,[5] but these accounts are unclear and may only refer to the actual movement of the figures through space.[6]

Seven drawings by Leonardo da Vinci (c. 1510) extending over two folios in the Windsor Collection, Anatomical Studies of the Muscles of the Neck, Shoulder, Chest, and Arm, have detailed renderings of the upper body and less-detailed facial features. The sequence shows multiple angles of the figure as it rotates and the arm extends. Because the drawings show only small changes from one image to the next, together they imply the movement of a single figure.

Although some of these early examples may seem similar to a series of animation drawings, the