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Chauvet Cave
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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 after a trio of speleologists found that its walls were richly decorated with Paleolithic artwork, that it contained the fossilized remains of many animals, including those that are now extinct, and that the floor preserved the footprints of animals and humans. The Chauvet Cave was soon regarded as one of the most significant pre-historic art sites, along with Lascaux, Altamira, and Cosquer and, based on radiocarbon dating, it contains the oldest known cave paintings.
The cave is named after Jean-Marie Chauvet, who, together with Eliette Brunel Deschamps and Christian Hillaire, discovered it on 18 December 1994.
gorges of the Ardèche region are home to numerous caves, many of them having some geological or archaeological importance.
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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 after a trio of speleologists found that its walls were richly decorated with Paleolithic artwork, that it contained the fossilized remains of many animals, including those that are now extinct, and that the floor preserved the footprints of animals and humans. The Chauvet Cave was soon regarded as one of the most significant pre-historic art sites, along with Lascaux, Altamira, and Cosquer and, based on radiocarbon dating, it contains the oldest known cave paintings.
The cave is named after Jean-Marie Chauvet, who, together with Eliette Brunel Deschamps and Christian Hillaire, discovered it on 18 December 1994.
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. Based on radiocarbon dating, the cave 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 footprints, the charred remains of ancient hearths and carbon smoke stains from torches that lit the caves. After the child's visit to the cave, evidence suggests that the cave had been untouched until discovered in 1994.
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.
Dating
The cave contains the oldest known cave paintings, based on radiocarbon dating of "black from drawings, from torch marks and from the floors." Clottes concludes that the "dates fall into two groups, one centred around 27,000-26,000 BP and the other around 32,000-30,000 BP." As of 1999, the dates of 31 samples from the cave had been reported, with the earliest being 32,900±490 BP.
However, some archaeologists have questioned these dates. Züchner, based on his archaeological dating, is of the opinion that the red paintings are from the Gravettian period (c. 28,000–23,000 BP) and the black paintings are from the Early Magdalenian period (early part of c. 18,000–10,000 BP). Pettitt and Bahn believe the dating is inconsistent with the traditional stylistic sequence and that there is uncertainty about the source of the charcoal used in the drawings and the extent of surface contamination on the exposed rock surfaces. New stylistic studies show that some Gravettian engravings are superimposed on black paintings proving the paintings' older origins.
See also
External links
- French Ministry of Culture information site; includes an interactive map with photos.
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- A brief article by Jean Clottes of the French Ministry of Culture, responsible for overseeing the authentication of the contents and art of the cave
- on the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Timeline of Art History
- abstract of April 18, 2003 New Scientist article by Jenny Hogan
- The cave paintings and rock art of Chauvet, with contributions by Dr Jean Clottes.
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- enthusiast site with photographs and articles
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