Prehistory

This week, on an overcast day that didn't encourage cycling or hiking, we fortunately had a date with history, or rather prehistory. The region we are in is famous for caves that bear traces of prehistoric humans. The most famous of the caves are at Lascaux, and they are quite stunning. The Lascaux caves themselves are now closed to the public in order to preserve them. An exact replica of the caves with their drawings and paintings has been constructed for modern day visitors to experience.

Just down the road from our gîte is Font de Gaume, the last of the prehistoric caves still open to the public. We took an English language tour this week and were left searching for words to express our feelings afterward. I won't have any photos for you, since photos aren't allowed in the cave; but this link will show you what we saw.

The cave itself is not the attraction. It is perhaps 120 meters in length. The attraction is the artwork on the walls. The walls are covered with polychromatic paintings of animals - reindeer, horses, mammoths and bison primarily. These paintings have been scientifically dated as over 14,000 years old. 14,000 years! These prehistoric artists used native iron oxide (red) and manganese (black) and the natural 100% humidity of the caves to create their paintings. And they used perspective, the technique "discovered" during the Renaissance period of art. Furthermore, they used the shapes of the rocks to create figures that appear to move in the flickering light of a flame. Our tour guide said that scientists have speculated that these "primitive" humans may have "seen" the animals in the rock walls, knowing with some instinctive skill where to paint the figures.

The paintings were made over a period of a few thousand years. These people inhabited the region for quite a long time! The photos near the entrance are somewhat worn, the result of their proximity to the outside air. Farther into the cave, protected from external elements, the paintings have retained a startling detail and clarity, as if they had been painted yesterday.

We discussed the purpose of the paintings, the fact that only animals are represented (no humans or plants or stories), the fact that the caves' only purpose was to hold the paintings (they didn't live in the caves). What I kept coming back to, however, was that these people so long ago possessed such talent, intelligence, emotion and sense of the abstract. They had a life far richer than one in which they spent all their time hunting for their next meal. It was an experience both inspiring and humbling.