Cave Paintings and Sculptures
Click on the photos to see an enlarged version
A map of decorated caves in western Europe with the names of a few notable or outlying sites. The broken line encloses caves decorated in the distinctive 'Mediterranean Style' which seems to have been little influenced by the master artists of France and Spain. It often features simple, stark animal representations together with quite elaborate geometrical designs. There are important caves decorated in the Mediterranean style in southeast Spain, the Ardèche canyons in southern France, the heel of Italy, and in Sicily.
There are now some 200 Painted caves known in southern France and northern Spain. Several new discoveries in the remote Spanish Basque country appear to be closing the gap between these two main regional groups which, in any case, certainly share many correspondences of style and theme.
But there are also outliers located far away from the major centers of activity-the engravings in the cave of Gouy near Rouen, for example, almost at the present shores of the English Channel. Three crude engravings on bone were recovered from cave entrances at Creswell Crags in the Derbyshire county of central England, dating perhaps as far back as 13 000 BC. There is no reason why cave artists should not have left paintings there or elsewhere in England, although no such traces have been found. Perhaps the sharper climate of the north has obliterated ancient cave walls through the natural forces of erosion more effectively than farther south.
In some regions of Europe where caves were absent - such as Moravia and the Ukraine - rich traditions of engraving and sculpting in bone and ivory flourished. A detailed knowledge of these carving traditions is just beginning to be acquired by scholars in the west. And there are surprises in store for those interested in such regions: for example, the isolated painted cave discovered at Kapova in the Ural Mountains is, so far, the only one of its kind in the whole of eastern Europe. A number of animals painted in red ochre were identified in the Kapova cave, although the style is quite different from those of the west.
Photo and text: 'Secrets of the Ice Age' by E. Hadingham
One of the bisons on the ceiling of Altamira in Spain, representing the final stage of polychrome art in which four shades of colour are used.
Photo: M. Burkitt 'The Old Stone Age' (1955), after Breuil.
A view near the cave entrance, which is under trees on the skyline in the centre of the photograph. To the right, the ground drops down to the valley of the river Saja.
Photo from "Secrets of the Ice Age" by Evan Hadingham.
The following is condensed and adapted from 'Cro-Magnon Man' by T. Prideaux:
In 1868 a hunter's dog chased a fox across hilly countryside about 15 miles inland from the port of Santander on the Atlantic coast of Spain. The dog fell among some boulders. When the hunter rescued the dog, he saw the entrance to a cave.
Don Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola's daughter Maria
The owner of the estate was a Spanish Nobleman and amateur archeologist, Don Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola (1831 - 88). The paintings were not discovered until November 1879 when the Don's daughter Maria, aged 5 to 9 years old, looked up from where the Don was digging for tools, and saw a herd of red animals spread across the ceiling. 'Mira, Papa, bueyes!' (Look, Papa, oxen!) she exclaimed.
Don Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola
Photo: P. Bahn, 'Prehistoric Art'
At first the discovery was pooh poohed by the academic establishment. They thought it could not be more than 20 years old. It was not until 1902, long after the Don's death in 1888, that the article 'Mea Culpa d'un Sceptique' was published by Emile Cartailhac, formerly one of Altamira's greatest critics. In 1903 he invited a young French priest, Henri Breuil, to go with him to Altamira. Breuil began making copies of the paintings, and these made the world aware of the treasures in the cave. The main picture gallery is only 60 feet long, and 27 to 30 feet wide, with an oppressively low ceiling. No wonder the artists decided to paint it instead of the walls.
The colours have lasted because they were made from permanent natural earth pigments which are minerals, and do not decay. The iron minerals give the reds, yellow and browns, while manganese dioxide gives the blacks. They were 'fixed' by mixing them with blood, animal fat, urine, fish glue, egg white or vegetable juices.
For forty years it was the world's foremost showplace of historic art, until its replacement in this respect by the cave of Lascaux.
Photo: P. Bahn, 'Prehistoric Art'
Henri Breuil (1877 - 1961). Although he trained as a priest in his youth, and remained a priest till he died, he never practised his profession. Instead he was allowed by the church hierarchy to devote his whole life to the study of prehistory. He was the son of a lawyer, and was guided in his studies by a teacher at the seminary who expounded the theory of evolution to him, and lent him books by Gabriel de Motillet, the anticlerical prehistorian.
Photo: Secrets of the Ice Age by Evan Hadingham, 1980
Left, the Abbé Breuil (wearing cassock) photographed at El Castillo, northern Spain, in July 1909, with his patron, the Prince of Monaco (sitting at right).
Breuil had a talent for drawing animals, and was co-opted by prehistorians to help with the illustration of paleolithic portable and cave art. He became the world's leading authority on paleolithic art until his death. He spent about 700 days of his life underground, exploring and painting. In some cases his drawings and tracings are the only record left of paintings that have since faded or disappeared.
Bison at Altamira
Photo: J. Powell 'Ancient Art'
He saw cave art as collections of single images of hunting magic, unlike Leroi-Gourhan who saw them as carefully planned compositions. However his stature was such that it has only recently become possible in France to criticise his work openly.
Lascaux: Paintings in the main hall.
Photo: J Pfeiffer 'The Creative Explosion'
Lascaux: (Corrèze), salle des Taureaux. Premier et deuxième taureaux.
Lascaux. Room of the Bulls.
First and second bulls.
Photo from: Agenda de la Préhistoire 2002 - 2003, a superb diary with excellent illustrations sent to me by Anya. My thanks as always.
This page last modified Monday 13 December 2004
If you have any photographs or information which would be useful for this site please contact Don Hitchcock
Webmaster: Don Hitchcock
Hitchcock Lane
Armidale NSW 2350
Australia
Email: don@donsmaps.com
A map of decorated caves in western Europe with the names of a few notable or outlying sites. The broken line encloses caves decorated in the distinctive 'Mediterranean Style' which seems to have been little influenced by the master artists of France and Spain. It often features simple, stark animal representations together with quite elaborate geometrical designs. There are important caves decorated in the Mediterranean style in southeast Spain, the Ardèche canyons in southern France, the heel of Italy, and in Sicily.
