Chauvet Cave

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Drawings of horses from Chauvet Cave
Drawings of horses from Chauvet Cave

The Chauvet Cave or Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc Cave is located at N 44° 21' and E 4° 29' 24", near Vallon-Pont-d'Arc, in the Ardèche département, in southern France. It became famous in 1994 when a trio of speleologists found that it contained the fossilized remains of many animals, including those that are now extinct, and, even more significantly, that its walls were richly decorated with Paleolithic artwork. The Chauvet Cave was soon regarded as one of the most significant pre-historic art sites, along with Lascaux, Altamira, and Cosquer.

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[edit] Features

The gorges of the Ardèche region are home to numerous caves, many of them having some geological or archaeological importance. The Chauvet Cave, however, is uncharacteristically large and the quality, quantity, and condition of the artwork found on its walls has been called spectacular. It appears to have been occupied by humans during two distinct periods: the Aurignacian and the Gravettian. Most of the artwork dates to the earlier, Aurignacian, era (30,000 to 32,000 years ago). The later Gravettian occupation, which occurred 25,000 to 27,000 years ago, left little but a child's footprint, the charred remains of ancient hearths and carbon smoke stains from torches that lit the caves.

The soft, clay like floor of the cave retains the paw prints of cave bears along with large, rounded, depressions that are believed to be the "nests" where the bears slept. Fossilized bones are abundant and include the skulls of cave bears and the horned skull of an ibex.

Hundreds of animal paintings have been catalogued, depicting at least 13 different species, including those which have rarely or never been found in other ice age paintings. Rather than depicting only the familiar animals of the hunt that predominate in Paleolithic cave art, i.e. horses, cattle, reindeer, etc., the walls of the Chauvet Cave are covered with predatory animals: lions, panthers, bears, owls, rhinos and hyenas. Typical of most cave art, there are no paintings of complete human figures, although there is one possible partial "Venus" figure that may represent the legs and genitals of a woman. Also a chimerical figure may be present; it appears to have the lower body of a woman with the upper body of a bison. There are a few panels of red ochre hand prints and hand stencils made by spitting pigment over hands pressed against the cave surface. Abstract markings—lines and dots—are found throughout the cave. There are also two unidentifiable images that have a vaguely butterfly shape to them. This combination of subjects has led experts in pre-historic art and cultures to believe that there was likely a ritual, shamanic, or magical aspect to these paintings.

The artists who produced these unique paintings used techniques not often observed in other cave art. Many of the paintings appear to have been made only after the walls were scraped clear of debris and concretions. This left a smoother and noticeably lighter area upon which the artists worked. Similarly, a three dimensional quality is achieved by incising or etching about the outlines of certain figures. This visually emphasizes some of the animals and allows torch light to cast shadows about the edges.

[edit] History

The cave was named after Jean-Marie Chauvet, who discovered it on December 18, 1994, together with Christian Hillaire and Eliette Brunel-Deschamps.

The researchers found that the cave had been untouched for 20,000-30,000 years.

The cave contains the oldest known cave paintings, supposedly dated at about 32,000 years old[citation needed]. However, there is controversy over that dating, and three archaeologists (C. Züchner, P. Bahn, and P. Pettitt) believe that the age of the paintings has been exaggerated for publicity purposes.[citation needed]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • Dawn of Art: The Chauvet Cave by J.M. Chauvet, E.B. Deschamps and C. Hillaire (1996) Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York. English translation by Paul G. Bahn from French edition La Grotte Chauvet ISBN 0810932326 (cloth)
  • Clottes, Jean (2001). Return To Chauvet Cave, Excavating the Birthplace of Art: The First Full Report. Thames & Hudson, 226. 

[edit] External links


Coordinates: 44°21′00″N, 4°29′24″E

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